So much for the cashless society ... the number using it has gone up!
WITH millions of us now making everyday payments on our contactless cards, it is often said cash is on its way out.
But, according to the Bank of England, reports of paper money’s demise are greatly exaggerated. Chief cashier Victoria Cleland, whose signature is on every banknote the Bank issues, said the number of families who rely on it has actually increased.
The Central Bank found 2.7million British people pay almost entirely with cash, a figure that has risen by 500,000 in the past two years. The end of notes has been predicted for decades, first with the rise of bank cards and now the internet revolution.
Miss Cleland said that further fuel had been added to the fire by the surging use of contactless cards, which tripled to 7 per cent of all payments in last year. But she insisted that demand for old-fashioned money was also growing fast.
Bank notes in circulation last year jumped 10 per cent, the fastest growth in a decade – hitting more than £70billion as Christmas neared. Cash, she said, accounted for 40 per cent of all payments, and a survey by ING found 79 per cent of UK consumers said they would never go completely cashless. Miss Cleland believes the fact paper money never suffers technical glitches and is easy to use are two key reasons for its continued popularity.
She said: ‘For consumers, a key benefit of cash is its tangibility. It can be a useful budgeting tool, and it is a quick and easy payment method which works even when, for example, card terminals do not.’
Miss Cleland also argued retailers favour physical money because it is cheap to accept, in contrast to the expensive card transaction fees they are forced to pay.
The Bank of England launched a new £10 note last month, printed on plastic rather than paper to be more hard-wearing, as with the new £5 note last year.
The £10 features author Jane Austen after a high-profile campaign to have more women appear on British banknotes. A new £20 is due to enter circulation in 2020.