Time to embrace cash, Volumatic says as new report reveals rise in use

Cash handling experts Volumatic has offered businesses in the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors advice on how to save money and increase staff efficiency when handling cash as new findings from the British Retail Consortium has shown that shopping with cash has risen for the first time in a decade.

“As a cash handling company we have always championed cash usage, but as industry leaders we are also well aware that cash is a vital cog and plays an important role in the UK and across the globe. We are not against card or mobile payments but want to demonstrate how cash is reliable and anonymous and can really help businesses in these uncertain times,” Mike Severs, sales and marketing director at Volumatic, said.

“This is only the beginning of the revival of cash. We know that both card and mobile payments will continue to rise over the next decade and beyond, but there is undoubtedly still space for cash and not only has the last year seen a rise in cash usage, but now the Government is taking steps to ensure it continues to grow.”

Under new government legislation, the facilities to make free cash withdrawals and cash deposits need to be made available within a mile of those living in urban areas and at least three miles from more rural areas, and fines will be issued to banks if money cannot be withdrawn or deposited, suggesting that cash is once again being taken seriously.

“The findings published by the BRC are really important because they prove what we and other industry experts have been saying for many years – cash should be embraced by businesses, both to keep customers happy and to boost profits at a time when so many people are struggling,” Severs added.

“We are seeing many retailers, who chose to go cashless during the pandemic, now accepting cash once again. Cash has so many advantages and hopefully this BRC report gives cash payments yet another boost!”

Advice on how to embrace cash

The first step is obviously to make sure you accept cash. Many businesses went cashless after the pandemic but a large number of shoppers today who want to pay with cash are still finding that they are being pushed towards card payments.

A white paper from leading industry experts including Enryo, Vaultex and Volumatic shows there is still an appetite from the majority of the UK to use cash for some transactions. In addition, a YouGov report earlier this year showed only 3 per cent of the UK never use cash and that shoppers most definitely want to retain the choice of how to pay, rather than being restricted to one payment method.

This means that businesses should be accommodating shopper demands, and in doing so will also reduce some of the sky-high card processing fees they are currently having to pay.

Invest in cash handling technology

While card processing fees continue to rise, cash processing fees can be easily reduced by investing in the right technology. Compared to expensive card handling fees, cash handling can be dealt with quickly and easily for a fraction of the price, and retailers, using the CCi from Volumatic for example, typically see a reduction of up to 75 per cent in their cash processing costs.

Volumatic offers a wide range of solutions that can help businesses not only save money, but also become more secure and more efficient. From the basic CountEasy cash counting scales and secure cash storage solutions to the award-winning CounterCache intelligent (CCi), Volumatic has a cash handling solution to suit every business and every budget, helping process cash more effectively.

Promote that you accept cash

Shoppers are becoming familiar with seeing ‘card only’ or ‘cashless’ signs at till points all over the UK, but why not let shoppers know that cash is happily accepted again?

Cash Welcome is an independent organisation that champions cash usage and has the support of many industry leaders. They provide an easy way for local businesses and communities to demonstrate their support for cash by providing ‘Cash Welcome’ stickers to display.