Should there be a power outage, ATMS, electronic payments and Apps could be disrupted, whether due to accidents or a cyber-attack.

Declining cash acceptance must be addressed, a new report by the Treasury Committee finds, or risk disadvantaging society, especially in the event of power outages such as Spain and Portugal have suffered.

The acceptance of physical currency for goods and services in the UK is not currently specified in any legislation. This means UK businesses and organisations could choose not to accept cash with no legal duty to accommodate customers’ varying needs. When appearing before the Committee, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury stated, “we have no plans to regulate businesses, big or small, to compel them to accept cash”.

The report highlighted the national resilience benefits of maintaining the ability to spend physical cash, particularly in relation to recent bank outages which Members were told led to a surge in cash withdrawals.

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