London turning cashless faster than rest of UK, figures show (2024)

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London turning cashless faster than rest of UK, figures show? ›

Londoners are moving away from cash faster than the rest of the country, according to new data. Figures from Link, the firm behind the majority of the UK's cash machine network, shows the capital's residents and workers are taking out £500m less every month from machines compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Britain is moving in a decidedly cashless direction. In the decade between 2012 and 2022, cash payments fell from 54 per cent to 14 per cent according to UK Finance.

While cash use is dropping, there's no sign it's going to die out completely in the UK. Recent laws will help to keep cashpoints open and accessible. Going cashless does have multiple benefits, especially around being able to more easily pay for things and recover money in the event of theft.

“China is one of the top countries for using cashless payment systems, but penetration is not 100%,” says Sara Hsu, an associate professor at the University of Tennessee, specialising in supply chain management. “Elderly Chinese still often prefer to pay with cash and some struggle with using mobile payments.”

Sweden, the first European country to introduce banknotes in 1661, became the world's first cashless society on 24 March 2023. Finland and the UK are top–ranked to become cashless societies as well. Poland, on the other hand, has scrapped plans to limit cash payments to ensure freedom of choice.

And while no societies are 100% cashless at the moment, some countries, like Sweden and China, appear to be headed that way.

Norways is the most cashless country, with only around 2% of payments being made by cash, and 100% of the population having a bank account.

This author says that's a false narrative. If it's been a long time since you pulled out actual dollars and coins to pay for something — here's a conversation for you. It might seem like cash is slowly becoming obsolete. But, Brett Scott says it's a false narrative that we're all pining for a cashless society.

Why Eliminate Cash? Cash can be used in criminal activities such as money laundering and tax evasion because it is difficult to trace. Digital transactions or electronic money create an audit trail for law enforcement and financial institutions and can aid governments in economic policymaking.

Is the US moving toward a cashless society? ›

The US is moving toward cashless payments, with a substantial increase in the use of mobile wallet apps and contactless cards. A report from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco found that payments made using cash accounted for just 18% of all US payments in 2022.

Cash is still king in Japan, but digital payment usage is steadily gaining traction. Digital payments made up 39.3 percent of the private consumption expenditure in 2023, almost reaching the government's target of 40 percent by 2025.

When people are handling less cash, bank robberies, burglaries and corruption drop. Because cash is essentially untraceable, it's a useful tool for criminals, where digital currency is less easy to exploit, and can be shut down quickly if it falls into the wrong hands.

The Drawbacks of a Cashless Society

Without cash, we would be forced to leave a record of everything we buy. While this may not bother some, there are many who worry that governments and/or corporations could use our purchasing histories as a way to track us, monitor us, and even intimidate us.

Westpac, ANZ, CommBank and NAB have ruled out going cashless, but the banks have shuttered branches across regional Australia, leaving some customers without the option to bank with cash.

Sweden is one of the best examples of the results of efforts to create a cashless society. Sweden is exceptional in that the amount of cash in circulation has reduced substantially.

In another attempt to manage limited budgets, the number of payments made using physical cash increased by 7% last year, compared with 2021, to 6.4 billion payments. It was the second most popular method of payment, but still only accounted for 14% of the overall total, having been dwarfed by card use.

Cards accounted for the overwhelming proportion (85%) of money spent, with debit cards taking three-quarters of this spending. They are used more often than credit cards but for smaller value transactions. Meanwhile, cash increased to 11% of consumer spend (8% in 2021).

Londoners are moving away from cash faster than the rest of the country, according to new data. Figures from Link, the firm behind the majority of the UK's cash machine network, shows the capital's residents and workers are taking out £500m less every month from machines compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Some shops will only accept cash. However, the vast majority of businesses will accept both cash or card payments. As others have said, most shops etc. will take cash and some independent convenience stores have a minimum spend to use cards.