News Archive 2025

Wonderful to see charities like Disability Rights UK (DRUK) and the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) - and the people they support - speaking out to demand the UK Government introduces legislation to compel businesses to accept cash. There are 16 million people in the UK with some form of disability, so this is definitely not a fringe issue. The British public - including the 16 m....

Sir John Hayes CBE, the MP for South Holland and The Deepings for over 25 years, strongly support's cash and Payment Choice. Sir John pays in cash whenever he can and enjoys visiting the shops in his constituency, rather than giving his business to Amazon. Sir John sees the interaction between residents and local businesses as essential to fostering and maintaining genuine community life. ....

Great coverage of important issues from the Guardian, this time with Rupert Jones producing a first-class analysis of the risk posed to financial and societal inclusion by the increasing domination of smart phones and apps. True Payment Choice means being able to use cash, cards and apps, when and where you choose. And that is what we - ALL OF US - are going to get in the UK, very soon. Source:....

Good to see the Treasury Committee out and about, seeing for themselves the importance of cash and Payment Choice. When did HM Treasury itself last bother to genuinely consult with the public and small traders in the streets and in the markets of the UK? NEVER. Some of the traders speaking to the Treasury Committee in Darlington reported that 90% of their sales continue to be in cash - but this....

What a great quote! “As long as the public still WANT banknotes, we will still provide them” Nick Mclaren, Head of the Future of Money Division, Bank of England That one word - WANT - signifies a great victory for the British public. For years, the future of cash was framed as a diminishing NEED, with the underlying message being that soon cash wouldn’t be NEEDED, given all th....

It was excellent that BBC TV Scotland covered the recent increase in cash use. The PCA Chair Ron Delnevo was very happy to discuss the statistics and stress once again that over 45 MILLION British adults WANT to continue to have the option to use cash. Cash is NOT a fringe issue! Source: youtube.com/watch?v=eakELfDx8DU

The owners of the lovely Dunham Barns tearooms in Cheshire have made an appeal to their customers to use cash to help them survive rising costs.   The Payment Choice Alliance hopes ALL their customers listen to - and act on - this heartfelt appeal.  Use cash - YOU know it makes sense! Source: cheshire-live.co.uk/news/chester-cheshire-news/village-tearooms-makes-heartfelt-cash-309....

There is now no point in trying to stop banks closing their branches. The Which ? Campaign to save such branches has clearly failed. 8000 have been lost in the last decade. The last realistic opportunity to stop bank branch closures was ended at the December 2019 General Election, an election which saw the Labour Party pledge to stop banks closing their branches. They lost - so the banks accel....

Contact foodbanks? Did you ever in your life expect to see this advice for customers who have been let down by a banks IT failures? However, to reassure: “Our ATMs are unaffected by this technical issue so customers can withdraw cash to make payments." Only IF their customers cash is accepted by retailers and other businesses! Emma Reynolds, Economic Secretary to HM Treasury, should be ....

Sweden - another country that knows that legislation is required to protect the status of cash, including universal cash acceptance. Well done to the Sveriges Riksbank for supporting legislation. Let’s see the Bank of England , Payment Systems Regulator and Financial Conduct Authority show a similar regard for the Public Interest as they develop the UK’s National Payments Vision. A....

Another victory, as the campaign against “cashless” gathers strength! Well done to Wakefield Council for putting the Public Interest first - and to Tony Gardner at the BBC for breaking the story. 2025 is going to be a hugely important year for cash and Payment Choice in the UK. By the end of this year, legislation MUST be in place to guarantee the British public can spend their cash....

The Payment Choice Alliance has already sent a letter of welcome and congratulations to Emma Reynolds, the new Economic Secretary to HM Treasury. It was on Emma’s desk when she arrived for her first day in her new role. Emma, who first entered Parliament in 2010, should be a breath of much needed fresh air at 1 Horseguards. In her previous role as Pensions Minister, Emma Reynolds pledged ....

This headline in The Guardian misses the point. Supporters of cash as a Payment Choice are NOT looking for any “crown” to be restored. They simply want to be able to use their cash, when and where they choose. It was Mastercard that announced their “War on Cash” in 2010. Supporters of cash did not reciprocate by declaring a “war” on cards- there are enough wa....

Post Offices still handle only a relatively small percentage of the total cash circulating in the UK. However, their share of the cash market is increasing every year, as bank branches and ATMs disappears. That’s why the Payment Choice Alliance believes the Post Office needs a ten year contract from British banks, guaranteeing revenue for a decade and allowing the Post Office to invest in ....

Good article by Rupert Jones at the The Guardian. But there is no surprise. Nationwide Building Society have kept their branches open and their ATMs operating. The British public - their 17 million customers and everyone else - know they can rely on Nationwide for cash. Cash was not dying of natural causes -the public not wanting to use it; cash was the victim of attempted murder. That is ove....

It’s only the 6th of January and already brilliant news for cash and Payments Choice! The Netherlands's will soon be the latest of the UK’s neighbours - joining Belgium, Denmark, France, Norway and Spain - to give their citizens the legal right to spend their cash, when and where they choose. The mandatory acceptance provision was included in anti-money laundering legislation and....

This is an absolutely shocking story. Britannia Hotels Ltd have apparently decided to inflict “cashless” on customers at some or all of their 53 hotels. At their hotel in Portland Street in Manchester on the 2nd of January 2025, a lady with mobility issues and memory difficulties was refused the right to make a £1.20 payment in cash and initially told her booking would not be h....