Independent. In control. Confident.

This is how cash makes people feel, John.

From Belfast to Norwich, hundreds of Positive Money supporters have shared what cash means to them; how using it can be a lifeline, and why it’s so important that the right to access and pay with cash is protected.

Sharing personal stories helps us to keep shining a spotlight on how important cash is to people, like we’ve been doing on social media, and now bringing these together in a new blog post.

Your stories show how the move to a cashless society is leaving people locked out - like Gwyneth from Shropshire: forced to drive away from cashless parking meters for fear of not being able to press the right buttons.

And these stories are being heard. Back in April, the Treasury Select Committee published a report (citing evidence that Positive Money submitted!) warning that we are ‘at risk of a two-tier society’ if the government doesn’t act on cash - we’re yet to see them heed this warning. [1]

Because yes, many of us need to use cash, but millions more of us want to use it too. A recent survey showed 80% of people believe it’s important to have the choice to pay with cash - that’s over 40 million of us. [2] Are you one of them?

Join Mike, Gwyneth, and Jacky in sharing why cash is important to you 👇

The move to a cashless society is robbing people of their right to pay how they choose - people like Shauna from Yorkshire, who wants to support small businesses, or John from Hampshire, who prefers to use cash to help with budgeting.

Above all, cash is our last form of public money - without it, we’re at the mercy of American card companies like Visa and Mastercard. That’s why we’re campaigning to #KeepCashAlive, building support with a petition, and sharing people’s personal stories to raise awareness.

We know we can do this - we've won protections on free access to cash before, back in 2023. [3] Now it’s time for the government to take this next step and protect our ability to use it.

Together with community stories and support, we’re building a movement to push the government to #KeepCashAlive.

Because no matter what shop, supermarket, or pub you want to pay in, we believe they should accept the cash you give them.

Thanks so much for your support,

Kate

Kate Benson

Campaigns Assistant, Positive Money

P.S. If you haven’t yet, make sure you sign our petition to #KeepCashAlive

Notes:

[1] UK Parliament: Risk of ‘two-tier society’ if Government does not act on cash acceptance

[2] LINK Scheme: Half of UK adults say they’ve had issues paying with cash

[3] UK Government: Free access to cash protected

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