Kevin Peachey
Cost of living
Getty images
Stores and service companies will not be forced to accept money, said a government minister, despite concerns that millions of vulnerable people count.
Emma Reynolds, the new economic secretary of the Treasury, was pressed in cafes, trains and leisure centers excluding people by no longer accepting money.
But she told the deputies within the Treasury Committee that there was no chance that the United Kingdom will become without species anytime soon.
She said the government was focusing on the guarantee that everyone had access to species, as through new banking centers and on the improvement of people’s digital skills.
The species is legal in the United Kingdom, but companies are not forced to serve people who only want to pay with tickets and parts.
Some countries, such as Australia, envisage rules that would oblige essential services to accept species.
But Ms. Reynolds indeed excluded such a decision in the United Kingdom.
“We do not intend to regulate companies – large or small – to force them to accept money,” she said.
She said that the United Kingdom was “not at all” being a society without species, with convenience stores that planned to accept notes and parts for years. But she said that the fight against digital exclusion was always essential for those who could have trouble.
Committee members reported evidence that they had received victims of domestic and economic violence that said they had only an escape with money.
Even after having fled, some found that they were unable to pay for their children’s school dinners with money.
Card payments dominate the means to pay and consumers are increasingly using their smartphones to pay things.
However, notes and parts were used in a fifth of store transactions last year, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), as buyers found that species helped them to budget.
It was the second consecutive year that cash use in stores increased after a decade of falls.
“ Two -level society ”
Recommendations will be made in the coming weeks of the Treasury Committee after its investigation into the acceptance of money.
The evidence of Ms. Reynolds were the last session, but earlier, they heard disadvantaged persons who are still counting on cash payment.
Addressing the BBC after testifying, Constantine Louis said he wanted the choice to pay.
“For the elderly, when they use money, they feel like they are controlling,” said the 84 -year -old man, who lives in a room apartment.
“Young people will age one day and can have the same problems we have – they can start forgetting their pin numbers.
“For those who get on the bus and pay with their mobile – it suits me. But I can’t do it. I don’t know how to do it.”
Caroline Cawley, Edinburgh, has a handicap and said that every penny had in her life.
“Money is important for budgetary reasons, mainly,” said the 41 -year -old man after testifying.
“It is much easier to keep an eye on what you have if you have it physically in your bag.”
She said digital payments have risked her to win and cope with unmanageable interests and fees.
The fact of not accepting cash, which was the case if she wanted to go swimming in her local leisure center, created “a two-level company,” she said.
