News Archive 2023

The anti-cash brigade try to paint the picture that cash is only for the old, badly financially off or technologically challenged. This is just one of the MYTHS that the opponents of cash spend £millions every year promoting. Of course, cash is really for EVERYONE who values CHOICE! Only 3% of British public strongly support the UK becoming “cashless”, which is oddly the same ....

Martin Quinn of the PCA speaks to Lord Bird about starting the Big Issue and the continuing importance of cash for its vendors...

Cash has been touring the country - or at least the country’s BBC Radio Stations in the last week or so! Ron Delnevo, the PCA Chair, has been on air on BBC Radio Wales and the local BBC Stations for Berkshire, Cumbria, Devon, Manchester, Merseyside, Norfolk, Shropshire, Somerset, Surrey, Tees and Worcester! Here’s just a sample of the coverage, in this case with Ron speaking to Chris....

Louise O'Hara, Campaign Director of the PCA speaks to Lord Bird about his early life and the importance cash played in turning his life around...

The Irish government stepped in when a big Irish High Street bank tried to make branches “cashless”. Just a simple “NO” from the government was enough to stop the bank in its tracks. When contractors running services on behalf of the Irish government announced they were going “cashless, what happened? Just a simple “NO” from the government was enough to....

Great news for cash. The British Retail Consortium, which represents the UK’s “Big Box” retailers, reports that in 2022, 19% of retail sales were made using cash, as against 15% the previous year. This means cash sales increased by more than a quarter, an unprecedented increase! On top of that, the Consortium also reported that their members would welcome the increase in cash ....

Lord Bird, founder of the Big Issue and a campaigner for the end of poverty in the UK speaks with Payment Choice Alliance Chair, Ron Delnevo, about the importance of cash when it comes to poverty prevention.

It is quite wrong to suggest there are currently too many ATMs in the UK. The 37,000 remaining free-to-use ATMs in the UK are actually providing the public with the same amount of cash as they were pre-pandemic. The Big Five UK banks, who call the tune at the LINK ATM Network, want to force a reduction in ATM numbers. They only operate around 10,000 ATMs at their remaining branches, branches wh....

The “Big 5” UK banks - Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Nat West, Santander - started closing their branches and removing ATMs 20 years ago. 90% plus of the British public have accounts - are customers of - those Big Five banks. The decision of the bank Boards to leave High Streets meant it was inevitable , like it or not, that those customers were going to be forced to use online banking. It....

Zoe Partington has owned The Lord Nelson for 13 years but is now paying 30p for a £5 pint in each contactless transaction. Zoe explained: “It’s harder for independent traders whether it’s a convenient shop or hairdressers is struggling now.” Martin Quinn, Campaign Director of the PCA said: “Local pubs, in particular, are being hammered with very high card fees,....

Small businesses in the UK are having their profits squeezed by the Big Five High Street Banks and their card scheme collaborators. An estimate from the Payment Choice Alliance of when the British public and businesses will be ready to go “cashless”? Source: thelincolnite.co.uk/2023/11/card-is-king-but-lincoln-businesses-not-ready-to-give-up-cash-yet/

In this podcast, Martin Quinn, a Campaign Director for the PCA, talks to Money Marketing magazine about CBDC’s privacy implications and highlights accessibility challenges for digitally excluded groups. With a general election approaching, Martin suggests addressing inflation and the cost-of-living crisis should take precedence over prioritising a CBDC, emphasising the importance of support....

There is a HUGE continuing public demand for cash. However, the Big 5 High Street Banks are proving VERY successful in their efforts to impose “cashless” on the British public. Soon there are likely to be no towns with under 35,000 residents with either a bank or a bank ATM. This is an absolute disgrace - but it seems neither the current Government nor any UK Regulator has the gumpt....

The leader of a Scandinavian grassroots movement, Björn Eriksson, has warned that Britain should not follow Sweden towards becoming a cashless society. He urges Britain to keep the two systems side by side (digital and cash), a view the PCA wholeheartedly supports. If you're unable to use digital tools you will, in many ways, be excluded from society - our society will become extremely....

A starting point for rethinking UK cash access and acceptance is dispelling once and for all the notion that the recent HM Treasury Policy Statement on Cash Access was intended to preserve cash access. IT WAS NOT. It was a piece of puffery, designed to allow the High Street banks to continue their programmes of bank branch closures and ATM removals. The Treasury Policy Statement did not even me....

A quote from this article really tells the whole story: “....the Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed a ban on cashless businesses.” UNANIMOUS. So the “We are cashless” signs will soon be coming down. Those entrusted with running Los Angeles considered what “progress” REALLY means - and decided “cashless” in no way qualified for the label.....

Louise O'Hara of the Payment Choice Alliance speaks with PCA Ambassador Patrick Hutchinson about the continued importance of cash for young Brits.

Ann Clark, a Labour Party activist from Mole Valley in Surrey, talks to the PCA about all things cash.

Cash needs to be safeguarded, not just for people of the UK, but for the tourists on which the UK depends. This take on using cash as a tourist makes so much sense, but as the writer also states “the reasons why cash’s eradication might not be to society’s total benefit do not demand much head-scratching Source: telegraph.co.uk/travel/travel-truths/when-cities-go-cashless-its-to....

John Howells, CEO of LINK ATM Network, has been in his role for ten years. In this interview with Payment Choice Alliance Chair Ron Delnevo, John confirms that there must be an ATM on every UK High Street and that LINK will spend whatever it takes to ensure this happens.

Well done to the Royal Albion Hotel in lovely Broadstairs - they are again offering their customers Payment Choice! As the Payment Choice Alliance has been highlighting for some time, the tide is turning against “cashless” - and not just down on the South Coast. Most sensible and moral businesses, the ones who truly care about their customers, won’t wait for the UK Payments Cho....

Bob Lyddon is one of be UK’s leading consultants on international banking, with a special focus on payments and cash management. In a wide-ranging interview with the PCA , Bob explains his views on many issues and emphasises his strong support for cash and Payment Choice.

Martin Quinn, Campaign Director of the Payment Choice Alliance spoke with Anne Meacock, from the shopworkers' union USDAW on the challenges her members face from increased digitalisation of payments in shops, and the removal of cash as a payment method.

Reading Borough Council has introduced “contactless” payments on their buses, whilst continuing to accept cash. Excellent! That’s Payment Choice, which everyone in the UK should be entitled to enjoy. Similarly, Reading car parks continue to accept cash. Well done to this progressive AND caring Council! They are Top of the Class in terms of providing Payment Choice to all who l....

While nearly every major digital platform will now trade your digital identity for “tokens”, we must ensure that no such “trials” should be allowed in the UK. A Payment Choice Act will ensure that people’s freedom of choice on how to pay, and right to privacy, remains. unherd.com/2023/10/welcome-to-the-cashless-dystopia

Ria Cash, Labour Party Activist from Nottinghamshire, talks to Ron Delnevo about the continuing importance of cash to her and many others in her local community.

Mike Wordingham, Policy Manager for the Royal National Institute of Blind People, tells the PCA about the importance of cash to the estimated 2 million people with eyesight challenges in the UK.

Martin Quinn, a Campaign Director of the Payment Choice Alliance, reminds the British public that cash can be 100% trusted to work, even if the systems of banks like Barclays disintegrate. Martin recommends that EVERYONE should carry some cash, to protect themselves from inevitable bank "hi-tech" failures. Unlike banks, cash NEVER lets the public down. gbnews.com/money/barclays-online-banking-do....

Yvonne Fovargue - the MP for Makerfield - confirms that she supports the passing of a Payment Choice Act, to guarantee everyone in the UK has the right to use cash, when and where they choose.

Thomas Tudor, Chairman of Pembrokeshire County Council, gives his views on the crucial role cash plays in Haverfordwest and other communities in his county.