AS the numbers of businesses refusing to accept cash in the UK continues to increase, the sinister and relentless march to become a cashless society grows apace.

I say it’s now time that the brakes were pressed on this rushed, ill-thought-out transition and that legislative checks and balances and enforcement measures are introduced to protect cash sterling as a legitimate form of payment on our High Streets, particularly in our hospitality, leisure and tourism sectors, where some operators who were queuing up, desperate for emergency Covid grants during the pandemic, are now refusing to take customers cash as a legitimate form of payment, forcing them to pay by card or take a hike.

Not a great situation to be in, I assure you, especially if you haven’t been informed at the outset that it's card-only and you only find that out after you’ve already eaten, had a swallie, but are not carrying a card.

In January 2021, research from Which? found that during the pandemic, one in three people had cash payments refused and that “unacceptable” blanket bans on cash by retailers risked excluding the most vulnerable in society. It was a discriminatory practice which had a deep emotional impact on those who were blocked from paying in cash. Over three-quarters of consumers whom were caught cardless at the till said the experience had left them feeling frustrated, anxious or embarrassed, or indeed a mix of all three.

You don’t say, I would also add in rage. I was once pointedly told on arrival at a popular tourist castle in Perthshire that admission was by card payment only. Cash was not accepted. Even though I had my cards on me, I dug my heels in and refused to be cajoled into using them, especially when there was no prior warning or signage saying that this was now their policy. I turned the car around and drove off fuming, happy only that they had lost my custom and that I would never return.

Which? estimated that around 10 million people were not ready, or able, to give up cash and that nearly 22 million people, a staggering number, had said that cash was an essential backup.

Yet despite the Bank of England’s swift reassurance, issued during the early weeks of the first lockdown, that the risk of catching Covid from banknotes and coins “was no greater than touching any other common surface, such as handrails, doorknobs or credit cards”, around 28% of consumers surveyed said they were refused the option of paying cash when buying groceries and 24% when paying for leisure activities, such as a visit to a pub or restaurant.

Sadly, this ominous trend has accelerated, not helped by the calculated, insidious increase in bank closures and removal of cash machines. Even the Government’s own proposal that the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) should oversee the protection of cash in the UK has been forgotten.

Many retailers including Aldi, Asda, Co-Op, John Lewis and Lloyds have pledged to continue accepting cash. Other like Greggs and Caffe Nero have now returned to accepting cash. But many others like Brewdog, Cote Brasserie and Prezzo are strictly card-only. Some, including the troubled Calmac, are now actively trying to discourage customers away from using cash.

According to the UK Cash Supply Alliance, 40 million people still use cash more than once a month yet incredibly, in these very worrying times, when every pound is a prisoner, some businesses don’t have tills to ring, even with Christmas approaching. The mind boggles.

Unlike France, which has banned businesses from refusing cash, and big cities in the US, such as New York and San Francisco which heavily fine operators for denying cash payments, there is no legal obligation in the UK for businesses to accept cash. Well that law should be changed, and the book should be thrown at those who refuse to accept cash payment.

The days of cash being king may be over, but the days of having a choice on how you pay shouldn’t be.

Read more by Donald MacLeod:

There may be little Christmas cheer for our pubs and clubs

Super-rich celebrate as ordinary folk suffer