‘Cashless Society’ Would Leave Millions Struggling

A report into the potential effects of implementing a ‘cashless society’ has found that millions of people would be left struggling, with many vulnerable people being heavily reliant on physical tender.

A report published on Wednesday has found that a shift to cashless society would considerably disadvantage and disenfranchise millions of people, and would also risk harming many vulnerable people reliant on physical notes and coins.

In particular, the study found that 15 million people in the UK are heavily reliant on physical currency for budgeting purposes, with ATM use also remaining high in some of the country’s most economically vulnerable areas compared to pre-pandemic levels.

According to research conducted by the Royal Society of Arts, a number of demographics are extremely reliant on the use of physical cash, including older people, as well as many young people who use tangible currency to help with budgeting.

The research also found that, while ATM use overall went down during the Chinese Coronavirus pandemic and has not since returned to pre-2020 levels, one in seven people found themselves using cash more because of the crisis.- READ MORE