Lili K

Do I need services to take cash as well as card payments?

Yes! Absolutely, I do. I need everywhere that accepts payment to accept cash and to continue to accept cash rather than become a cashless venue.

I find it much easier to stick to our budget with cash as it is impossible to overspend, even if I am unwell, not able to concentrate or feeling impulsive due to mental ill health. I know a lot of other people with Bipolar and impulsivity issues find this too. If we only have cash, not a bank card in our purse, it is a form of damage limitation, we can only spend what we actually have, and not access more. It is actually written in my care plan for my partner to remove my bank card and issue me a small amount of cash, when I begin to experience impulsivity symptoms. If services did not accept cash it would prevent me buying small personal items, interacting with staff and remove my independence and autonomy during periods of mental ill health.

If services did not accept cash, it would become extremely difficult to teach children and give them experience of money, budgeting, spending and saving which is a vital life skill.

People in crisis and desperate situations also rely on cash being accepted, to survive or escape domestic violence, homelessness and destitution. When I was homeless and couldn't access my personal documents or bank account, cash was a lifesaver.

Complete dependence on card payments is catastrophic when the systems crash or get hacked and people can't even buy a loaf of bread or a train ticket to work.

Apart from the practical matters, for many people, especially the elderly, isolated, people with learning disabilities and mental health conditions going to make a purchase and paying cash to a human cashier may be our only social interaction outside the home that day. Paying by card at a machine (whilst good to have that option as well) further isolates those on a very tight budget, the oldest and youngest members of society, adults and those who survive hand to mouth, day to day. In short the least wealthy and most vulnerable people in our communities would suffer, struggle and become further isolated, alienated and our lives impoverished if the UK became a cashless society.