Should shops always accept cash? Yahoo readers have their say

Yahoo UK's poll of the week lets you vote and indicate your strength of feeling on one of the week's hot topics. After the poll closes, we'll publish and analyse the results each Friday, giving readers the chance to see how polarising a topic has become and if their view chimes with other Yahoo UK readers.

The debate over whether people should still be able to use cash in shops and businesses is continuing as a committee of MPs called for evidence on whether new rules are needed to make it mandatory to accept physical cash.

The use of cash in the UK has declined over the past decade, with industry data showing it was used in just 12% of transactions in 2023. The number of people who don't carry cash has trebled since 2019, according to research by ATM network LINK, despite 71% of people still relying on cash to some extent on a daily basis.

There are currently no regulations which require businesses to accept cash, which the Treasury committee suggests could be a problem for some institutions and vulnerable people.

Setting out a new inquiry into the issue, the committee points to research suggesting that cash "can provide a vital lifeline to groups such as those with long term poor health or people at risk of economic abuse".

It says the Bank of England has "noted that the decline in cash usage is increasing the infrastructure costs of retaining physical cash as a viable payment method, which could lead to disruption for businesses and consumers".

Yahoo News UK asked our readers whether shops should be forced to still take cash, here are the results:

Our poll asked: 'Should the Government require shops to always accept physical cash?'

It received more than 5,000 votes and showed the majority of Yahoo readers think cash should still be king.

Some 95% of voters said yes, with just 5% saying they don't think shops should be required to accept cash, and 1% said they weren't sure.

Yahoo News UK readers were also asked: 'How much do you care about your ability to use cash?'

This poll received more than 5,800 votes with the most common vote being that people care strongly about being able to use cash, accounting for 90.5% of the vote, compared to 6.1% who said they didn't care at all.

A similar YouGov poll in 2023 asked members of the public 'Do you think shops should or should not be required by law to accept cash payments?' and found that 73% said they should, 16% said they should not be, and 11% said they didn't know.

Read more of Yahoo UK's Poll of the Week articles