Will people need cash in the future?

This week the Access to Cash report was published. This independent survey found that the many people in the UK, primarily the poor, continue to rely heavily on cash. Indeed

17% of adults surveyed would find it difficult to manage without.

Other reports can be found on the main review website

Yet at the same time Link data from ATM shows trends in declining withdrawal of cash: a useful source on this are its monthly ATM report

British Retail Consortium showed 75% of sales in September 2018 for its surveyed members were by card

Faster Payments Statistics – which is now part of UK Payments has details on the volume of faster payments made by chaps, cheques cash etc.

Bank of England records high levels of bank notes still in circulation.

The issue perhaps then is the background of the user.

In 2018 Which? summarised what it found to be the risks of cashless society.

There are still large numbers of people in the UK who don’t have a bank account.  In 2017 a Lords Committee report on financial exclusion concluded that more than 1.7 million people in the UK were without a bank account.
This Toynbee Hall research report from 2017 makes interesting reading on the reasons why.

For further facts and links to key agencies dealing and researching financial exclusion see this useful summary handout from the Resolution Foundation.