Let's get a grip and treat these stories with a pinch of salt. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. Martin Lewis has said that shops are within their rights to only allow card payments during the Covid-19 pandemic- and are not breaking the law by refusing to accept cash. While the viral posts correctly identify cash as legal tender, they misunderstand the legal consequences of that status. Contactless: Now, one in seven transactions is via contactless technology. We can be creative in how this is done, and it's going to require us to bring together banks, government, the post office, charities and regulators to work together on solutions. Banks warn over negative interest rates: Big lenders urge caution as BoE weighs up whether to go below zero for the first time in history, 'UK equities could be the perfect way to play a global reopening at a fair price': Tom Becket talks opportunities for 2021 on the INVESTING SHOW. They have to take my cash! “I know retailers can refuse to accept too many coins, but in my case, I didn’t even have the time to take the notes out of my purse.” Apparently, it is not illegal to refuse cash payment. There will come a point (and there are many examples already) when the easiest thing for a retailer to do is to stop accepting cash. Yes. If … Martin Lewis has settled the argument about whether shops are allowed to refuse cash payments on his ITV show But the use of cash has declined steeply in recent years, and it … Or lose their independence because their ways of coping simply don't work in a digital economy? "You are allowed to take card only as long as it's not discriminatory for race or disability or something.". As to whether it's time to switch to a cashless society, Martin had made an excellent point. This change needs to be managed properly, not just by encouraging innovation which enables more people to participate in the digital economy, but also by planning for a viable cash infrastructure which means people aren't left behind. But for many, this is not an answer - cash is vital. Steve Webb replies. Any business does have the right to refuse to provide a service, however, it’s important to ensure this is not discriminatory. There isn't yet an easy alternative for the elderly person living alone who has a neighbour help with occasional shopping – giving over a £20 note limits their risk to £20, whereas handing over a card risks losing all of their savings. A business is well within its rights to dictate its terms of trade to its customers. He pointed out that in some parts of the country, the only thing that's legal tender is, in fact, coins. - I don't want that, because there are many vulnerable people who need cash," he said. Would you shrug your shoulders and use a card, or be irritated that someone else had decided how you should pay? Like a jet for the road: Hennessey reveals the 311mph Top Gun-style supercar that it claims will be the most powerful on the planet, Is the collapse of the high street impacting YOUR business? Just like if you went in with a jar of pennies and wanted to pay for something. And critically, do we want to leave people behind? Yes, they can. Or, for someone living on the breadline, of making sure that they cannot go overspent – after all, with cash, you either have it or you don't. Experts fear there may be … Yes, it’s been common over the years to see businesses put up signs saying they don’t accept “high denomination” currency such as a $50 or $100 … British marque completes reborn 1920s racer, Lord Blunkett 'never envisaged' disabled Child Trust Fund issues, Electric cars could reap benefits from new green number plates, 'UK shares can do well when the world reopens': Tom Becket, Kar-go Delivery Bot: UK's first autonomous electric delivery vehicle. For retailers, as fewer customers pay in cash - particularly in towns and cities, and where there are fewer bank branches - the process of cashing in or collecting notes and coins at their bank becomes increasingly expensive. For companies providing cash machines, they will simply look to close them in areas with low transaction volumes. "And with the closures of ATMs and bank branches that will be useful. Richard Miller, Addlestone, UK As ever in the UK this is somewhat muddy - and my advice is to check with your solicitor. To pay more for what they buy? First, how robust is the digital system when we have seen multiple IT failures in recent months alone that restrict access to online banking and card payments? This is Money is part of the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday & Metro media group, Get a discount code to save on your internet security, Listen to podcasts and books for less with these offers, Get the ultimate broadband and entertainment bundle, Get great deals on existing and new plans, Have a clean house and save money with these offers, The most vulnerable time of the year: Britons bombarded as fraudsters impersonate DPD and Royal Mail to grab personal and card details. If they decide it's no longer commercially viable to undertake that activity, then cash in circulation could simply stop. They don't take cash. Details in this link . "I know many people are saying 'why don't we just switch to a cashless society?' It is the poster child of a 'cashless society', with only 15 per cent of Sweden's payments currently made using cash. We've been using physical cash for centuries. We do not write articles to promote products. They are legal currency and therefore count as cash all over Britain. These are vulnerable groups such as elderly people, the disabled and people in debt or with low incomes, or those who live in rural communities where digital payments simply don't work. Sweden's central bank forecasts the country could be cashless within a decade; others suggest it may be much sooner. Surely you can see that. I know Ken has the wonderful idea to get cash of the buses in London, but surely they have enough change for a tenner. For some, cash is still the most convenient method of payment. There is no single point of regulatory oversight that controls the way this infrastructure is managed. For example, some states require that a landlord accept rent payments in cash. in the UK you can refuse to take fake money, but you cannot take it off the person and go to the police with it. So when a business refuses to take cash payments, they are just refuses that method of payment. This new £60,000 BMW iX3 electric SUV has a soundtrack... Would a 'wealth tax' work in Britain and could it help pay off the Covid-19 debt. That includes: the printing of new notes, the running of cash machines and the distribution networks that supply ATMs and retailers with cash. PrayPal: The Church of England now accepts contactless donations. I can understand a business not wanting to make change for a $100 dollar bill on a $5 dollar footlong, but can they legally refuse? But on Monday, San Francisco Police Department Chief Bill Scott said that businesses that refuse to accept cash are breaking the law. Bacteria is everywhere. A number of stores are refusing to take cash and are only accepting card payment. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether to accept cash unless there is a state law that says otherwise. “There is … no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person, or an organization must accept currency or coins as payments for goods or services," the nation's central bank says on its website. “They are likely to use informal services, which are more open to being exploited.” And yet, the reality is that while more of us prefer to use cards, phones or even our watches, cash will be needed for decades to come. This is Money interviewed chief cashier of the Bank of England, Victoria Cleland, last year. The short answer is yes, a store can refuse to take cash. How would you react if a shop you used regularly stopped taking cash? "No, they are not breaking any rules," he said. It does not prevent a shop from rejecting a payment in cash. The question arose on ITV's The Martin Lewis Money Show, where one person asked: "If cash is legal tender, are businesses breaking rules by only accepting cards". This might be something you've already experienced. Pros and cons of refusing cash Ultimately, it’s up to the business to decide whether or not they want to accept cash payments (unless there is a state or local law that says otherwise). Twenty years ago, when around three out of four of all payments were made using notes and coins, the high cost of storing and moving cash around made sense. Published: 07:57 GMT, 18 October 2018 | Updated: 09:51 GMT, 18 October 2018. "In Scotland, no notes - neither Bank of Scotland nor Bank of England, are legal tender.". In the last few weeks, since writing a column about Britain going cashless, I spotted the annual 'cash is filthy and full of germs' story that gets picked up by the press. This can’t be legal. explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. This should raise many questions for regulators and policymakers in the UK. "It means if you have a court awarded debt against you, if someone tries to settle and they're paying in legal tender you cannot refuse it. This new £60,000 BMW iX3 electric SUV has a soundtrack written by composer Hans Zimmer: Will it hit the right note with drivers? Last year, debit card payments overtook cash as the main way we pay for things, according to banking trade body UK Finance. The short answer: yes. Our energy supplier went under days after I switched for a better deal - but I was £100 in credit: Will I automatically get money back? Some links in this article may be affiliate links. There is no law which says that business must accept cash money. Which was pretty surprising considering there was 60+ people on the bus. There are around 2.2million people who are almost entirely dependent on cash to live their lives. 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