Cash payments in the UK remain a “necessity” – -money that is too electronic too quickly or not conducive to everyday transactions

Today, people are using less cash in the UK: : It is more convenient to use a bank card (or smartphone) to pay for everyday items than to rummage through a stack of notes (or a pocket of coins). But with the global popularity of digital payments, it is inevitable that many people will not keep up with this fast-forward pace.

When many British people come back from their travels to China, they usually complain: Nowadays, we have to pay cash for everything we buy and take a large amount of cash with us when we go on a long trip. It is very inconvenient. Can’t our country learn from China?




In the United Kingdom, the British people generally use credit CARDS for transactions –——It is very convenient to swipe the chip card with contactless payment function with a consumption of 30 pounds for a local credit card in the UK. It would be better to bi directly on the pos machine. Besides, Apple Pay is very popular, Visa and Master are available for payment.

According to UK Finance, more than a tenth of people aged 25-34 have used paper money and COINS no more than once a month in the past year.　

Almost 3m people use little cash, according to UK Finance.

But cash remained the most popular form of payment across all age groups.

　
The data show that 6% of the UK’s adult population do not use cash more than once a month, but this figure has risen to more than 10% among people aged 25 to 34. In the population aged 55 to 64, this percentage dropped to 2%.



Meanwhile, 5 per cent of the UK adult population — 2.7m — relied almost entirely on cash in 2016, according to UK Finance.

However, families with lower incomes are more likely to rely heavily on cash than those with more wealth.

In 2016, more than half of the consumers who rely mainly on cash earned less than 15,000 pounds a year.

Although the number of mobile and credit card payments is increasing, why is cash still a “necessity” in the UK?

A report called “Cash Use review” is a wake-up call for us. The report notes that cashless may cause some groups to be in a “dangerous” situation.

According to the report, cash is currently an “economic necessity” for about 25 million people in the UK. Nearly half of the respondents said that a cashless society can cause many problems, and 14% of this group of people said they could not cope with a cashless society.

Those at risk include the elderly, rural populations and the poor with limited access to formal financial services.

Even now that the number of bank branches and ATMs is dwindling, the dominance of the physical currency remains in place. Natalie Ceeney, a former chief executive of the Department of Financial Ombudsman Services, points out that about three-fourths per cent of convenience store purchases and a similar proportion of charitable donations are done through banknotes and coins. Almost all of the homeless and street performers receive physical money.

UK Finance, the banking group, has said the number of debit card transactions in the UK in 2017 exceeded cash payments for the first time ever.

However, the lower frequency of cash use in daily transactions does not mean that the Bank of England’s currency printing volume is reduced. The number of British banknotes in circulation has reached a stable level, at more than twice times the number at the turn of the century. Some people hoard cash because they don’t trust banks or want to keep payments private. Tax evasion is also an important reason. The report cites estimates that Britain’s underground economy could be as large as 11 percent of the country’s GDP, or 223 billion pounds ($282 billion).

In addition, as the use of cash decreases, the cost of enterprises is becoming higher and higher. At the same time, some Banks chose to close branches, it takes more time for companies to do business on the spot, and cash processing costs are rising.

In addition, some small retail stores prefer to use cash, they usually refuse to pay the fee to the card issuing company.

90% of respondents said the reasons why cash is more important now and in the future are roughly:

• faced with security risks, those without CARDS are safer than those with CARDS

• cash is easier to provide, quicker and more direct

• cash with a picture of the queen is more indicative of national identity

Electronic payment is a good thing, and the reasons are numerous. However, banknotes have existed for about a thousand years, and any major changes in technology may have shortcomings. Eliminating these risks is the only way to ensure that no one is allowed to fall and the whole society is better.