News Archive 2025

PCA Chair Ron Delnevo was delighted to talk to the BBC again about all things cash and payment choice. One important issue discussed was the fact that the Financial Conduct Authority had found via a survey that 76% of consumers thought the contactless limit should be the current £100 limit or lower, yet the FCA had decided in its “wisdom” to remove the limit entirely from March ....

The Council of Europe is intent on strengthening the role of cash in Europe. The telling quote: “….the Council indicates its wish to effectively ban non-acceptance of cash by retailers or service providers…”. Meantime, in the UK, work on the “National Payments Vision” has deliberately excluded proper consideration of cash. Starting on 5 January 2026, the Pa....

At a recent meeting with the Financial Conduct Authority, the PCA told them that they should be stopping organisations publishing data deliberately underplaying the use of cash in the UK to further the cause of those trying to impose “cashless” on the British public. Here’s the AI answer to the question - What percentage of sales in the UK are in cash? “Cash Transactions (....

Lloyds Banking Group is closing the last bank branch in Okehampton in March 2026. The population of the Okehampton built-up area was 9,112 in the 2021 UK Census, having risen from 7,647 in 2011 - around a 20% increase - making it a growing market town, nestled by the Dartmoor National Park in Devon. A growing market town that will have lost ALL four of its bank branches when Lloyd’s desert ....

For Hedon - population of around 8000 - to receive a “Banking Hub”, Cash Access UK, would need to intend to open at least 700 such Hubs. They don’t. They intend to open 350 by 2029, which is the absurdly low number Cash Access UK has promised the Labour Government. The four banks that own and fund Cash Access UK - the Big 5 minus Santander - do not want to spend the money crea....

This restaurant chain first opened for business in Lewes in Surrey in 2000. Founded by farmers son Bill Collison as a store to sell farm produce, a cafe was soon added. It was great. The original cafe/greengrocer offered great food and a delightful ambience. Now Bill's Restaurants operate over 40 sites around the country. And they have, sadly, lost their way. That first site, of course, ....

A telling quote from New Zealand: “Small firms are especially exposed, with 72% of New Zealand’s small businesses saying they’d be adversely affected if cash stopped being an option.” Why is the Bank of England not asking the same questions AND publicising the responses in the UK? Why is it being left to anti-cash elements in the UK financial services industry to continu....

The provisions of new law cash access law in Ireland are inadequate - an up to 20 kilometre round trip to get cash is NOT convenient access to cash. However, where it is vastly better than the nonsense inflicted on the British public by HM Treasury is that the law actually mentions ATMs! In a now infamous statement on “reasonable” cash access issued in 2023 by HM Treasury, there was ....

Now the Irish Government is joining so many others around Europe in urging citizens to keep cash at home to deal with inevitable - and frequent - “Digital Downtime”. Meantime, all we hear about in the UK ( usually sponsored by Mastercard ) is how “EVERYONE ” is going to be “Digitally Included”, whether they WANT to be or NOT. Let’s just call it for what ....

The idea that the The Payments Association and Mastercard have the faintest clue about “Delivering the UK’s Financial Inclusion Strategy” is quite simply risible. Even though they are prepared to devote one whole hour of a pre-Christmas webinar to the subject. Mastercard, who announced their “war on cash” in 2010, have done a great job for their shareholders - but Z....