The ACS has given evidence on the acceptance of cash and whether current regulations are fit for purpose to a Treasury Committee.

The news comes as note and coin usage in shops has been revealed to have risen for the second consecutive year, according to a survey by the British Retail Consortium (BRC). The BRC Payments Survey found cash usage grew from 18.8% in 2022 to 19.1% in 2023.

In addition, almost half of all transactions in the convenience sector are conducted with cash, according to the ACS.

During the evidence session, ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “The cost-of-living crisis saw an increase in the use of cash, particularly as people used that as a way of managing cashflow and finances in their own household. We see cash as being a very important part of a number of payment methods that consumers are going to be using for a long period of time.”

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Lowman went on to highlight the importance of banking services, particularly in areas where customers may be more likely to use a convenience store to access their money.

Evidence submitted to the session by the ACS included the vital role cash played during the CrowdStrike outage, with many consumers struggling to pay for their items as card transactions were unavailable in some retail businesses.

“If we’re serious about keeping these services available to local communities, part of that has to be allowing retailers to accept payment for that on a viable economic basis, but retailers are reporting increasing card costs that are inadequately monitored and regulated,” Lowman continued.

“The Payment Systems Regulator must do more to ensure that transaction and processing fees aren’t allowed to spiral out of control.”

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