The findings highlight the crucial role cash continues to play in the UK retail sector. In contrast, outdated cheques are preferred by less than one in eight retailers (12%) and even debit cards are the chosen method by only one in four (24%).
The survey also reveals that almost two thirds (63%) of small and medium retail businesses view dealing with credit cards and cheques as too expensive and half (49%) think cash is both cheaper and easier to manage.
According to Alliance & Leicester’s analysis of the findings, the humble coin and note is still very much the lifeblood of the retail industry with 53% of businesses handling more than GBP100 in cash every day. Furthermore, almost one in three (31%) retail companies surveyed say that if customers stopped making cash payments it would have a negative effect on their business, with 49,000 fearing they would be forced to close down.
