UK households told to ‘hoard physical cash’ as millions rush to act
UK households have received an advisory to ‘hoard physical cash’ amidst economic uncertainty and concerns about outages, with Brits taking action in response to worldwide instability.
The Bank of England’s chief cashier has observed that families are creating emergency cash reserves as they did during past crises related to Covid and living costs.
On Tuesday, Victoria Cleland highlighted the trend of UK households amassing a cash contingency pot, noting the substantial rise in banknotes circulating in recent months. “At a time of uncertainty, at a time of crisis, people do move to cash. They want to make sure they have literally got something under the mattress,” stated Cleland.
However, she pointed out consumers’ preference for having cash available rather than actively using it.
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info
An opposition to some retailers’ refusal to accept cash was voiced by Ron Delnevo, chair of the Payment Choice Alliance, last year when he slammed such practices as “completely unacceptable” He argued, “The vast majority of the public want cash to be honoured as a payment,” accusing businesses of failing their customers, reports Birmingham Live.
Labour Party MP for Jarrow and Gateshead East, Kate Osborne, who backed the early day motion, insisted, “It is a fundamental right that people should be able to use cash as a legal tender.
“When you are trying to budget, particularly if you are on a low income, cash is a simple way of doing it. I understand that many people are not using cash much of the time, but there should be choice for all.
“We are seeing more and more retailers offering card-only payments, and it causes problems in constituencies like mine where we’ve got a high number of people who are digitally excluded or may choose not to do electronic banking.”
Over the coming years, it is likely that alternative digital payment methods will become ever more widely accepted and used, the Bank of England has said.
In fact, in 2017, debit cards overtook cash as the most frequently used payment method in the UK.
Read more @bristolpost
