Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to encourage businesses to accept cash payments following the end of covid-19 restrictions.

The government recognises that the ability to transact in cash remains important to millions of people across the UK and has committed to legislating to protect access to cash.

Last year, the government held an Access to Cash Consultation on proposals for new laws to make sure people only need to travel a reasonable distance to pay in or take out cash. The government’s proposals intend to support the continued use of cash in people’s daily lives and help to enable local businesses to continue accepting cash by ensuring they can access deposit facilities.

The FCA has published research on cash acceptance by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which found that the primary motivation for accepting cash is to provide customers with choice. While it remains the individual retailer’s choice as to whether to accept or decline any form of payment, including cash or card, nearly all (98%) of surveyed businesses stated they would never turn away a customer if they needed to pay by cash.