New data recently released from financial industry champions UK Finance has revealed that cash payments across the UK rose for the first time in a decade during 2022, with approximately one million people using it for the majority of their transactions.
Financial experts believe the reason behind this resurgence is the cost-of-living crisis, with cash becoming the clear winner when it comes to helping Brits navigate the many challenges this time of austerity has brought about.
Mike Severs, Head of Sales & Marketing at Volumatic said: “All of our own research from recent years has been pointing towards cash making a welcome return and the UK Finance data, backed up by the stats from The Post Office proves that cash is very much still alive and well and continuing to rise. While it’s true that other forms of payment are also rising, the key finding here is that consumers still want the choice of how to pay for things, and that very much includes cash.
“We have seen an increased demand in customers looking for cash handling solutions this year, including some who went cashless and then reversed that decision in the wake of public demand and loss of profits. As cash handling experts, we can help businesses find a cash handling solution that suit specific needs – and in doing so we will help businesses make savings to help combat the continually rising credit card fees. It’s so important to give your customers choice and find the most efficient way to process your takings each day.”
Consumers say they find it easier to manage their money using cash, and many businesses too are once again returning to accepting cash. Not only will this move help remove the risk of losing customers, but more cash transactions will also help them reduce the ever-growing fees charged by credit card companies to process card transactions.
The number of cash transactions increased by 7% from 2021 to 2022, meaning 6.4 billion payments were made in physical cash. This equals 14% of total payments, making cash the second most popular payment option behind debit cards.
And while the cash usage levels are not back to pre-pandemic levels in some places, this rise in the demand for cash has recently been echoed by The Post Office network, who have also seen a huge increase in cash transactions in 2022, continuing into this summer, peaking in July and August 2023.
The fight-back against a cashless society in the UK is already in full swing with the announcement earlier this year of forthcoming legislation that will require bank and building societies to provide free cash withdrawal facilities within three miles of both consumers and businesses.
Severs adds: “Cash usage across the UK has been a subject of debate for many years now, and in 2023 in particular, it’s a subject that has evoked passionate debate from businesses and consumers alike, with many keen for it to remain the vital cog it always has been in our economy.
“As cash handling experts we can help businesses process their cash takings in the most efficient way possible as both access to cash and the rise in cash usage continue to improve. Now is the time to be embracing cash and giving your customers choice once again.”
Volumatic offers a wide range of cash handling solutions that will enable business owners to process cash more efficiently and more accurately, saving time and money.
For a quick and simple way to count cash, Volumatic’s range of CountEasy money counting scales can help and can count the contents of a till drawer in less than a minute.
The CounterCache intelligent (CCi) is a discrete and innovative solution that validates, counts and securely stores notes at POS. The CCi ensures staff only touch notes once, and not only improves security but makes banking process smoother and smarter, when paired with Volumatic’s intelligent and newly upgraded software, CashView Enterprise.
