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One High Street in Manchester has gone ‘cashless’ for a day, with the shops only accepting card payments as part of an experiment.
All 32 businesses in Beech Road, Chorlton, attempted to trade without cash on the weekend, reports The Guardian.
Earlier this month, the BRC (British Retail Consortium) said that cash being used as a form of payment has decreased 14 per cent in the past five years. Plus, the UK Cards Association revealed that three quarters of retail spend is by debit or credit card.
Similarly, London buses will go ‘cashless’ from July 6th, with passengers being required to use their Oyster cards.
Patrick Hall, proprietor of The Laundrette, a pizza restaurant and cocktail bar, said: "We are increasingly in a world where cash is disappearing, and this is a chance to prepare ourselves for that. The big chains automatically offer customers several ways to pay and some small independents can lag behind."
Sarah Raine, manager of Epicerie Ludo, an independent deli, wine merchant and grocery store, added: "Given that we bake bread and pastries and sell a lot of individual items with a low transaction value, and given that we have a minimum value of £5 to pay by card, I don’t think it will be possible to go completely cashless – but I am going to promote card payments as much as possible."
The news comes ahead of Independent Retailer Month 2014 which takes place in July.
