Britons have been issued a huge warning after major supermarkets including Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s stopped accepting cash payments in many stores.
The supermarkets are said to be cutting cash payments in some of their outlets in a bid to reduce queue times.
Martin Quinn from the Campaign for Cash has explained the decision as “mad” arguing that elderly customers or retirees may prefer to order in person rather than through a computer screen.
Quinn said “As the vast majority of cafe-goers will be cash users, what they’re essentially saying is that they don’t want your business.
“People will rightly vote with their wallets and take their custom elsewhere. It’s an utterly soulless experience.”
A full list of shops going cashless including major supermarket locations has emerged.
Many retailers have all launched card-only retail outlets
PA
While all the major supermarkets still accept cash at most of their stores, many retailers have launched card-only retail outlets.
In August, Tesco announced it would be going cashless at 40 UK cafe sites.
The cafes ask customers to order food on a digital self-service screen and then accept only cards or contactless phones as payment.
Asda has also gone cash-free in nearly 270 petrol stations, where customers can only pay by card at the pumps to fill up.
The supermarket giant said it made the decision because more than 90 per cent of payments at its petrol stations were already via card or contactless.
Cashless shopping became more popular after the COVID-19 pandemic when many retailers, pubs, cafés and restaurants were forced to go card only.
However, a YouGov survey commissioned by the Payment Choice Alliance in early June 2023 revealed that only three per cent of the adult UK population have stopped using cash entirely.
Concerns were also raised in March when a tech meltdown left Sainsbury’s stores unable to take contactless payments, causing chaos.
This was followed by a global tech outage in July, that left many retailers unable to accept contactless payments.
What supermarkets are going cashless?
Tesco
Tesco has gone cashless at 40 of its cafes, with the supermarket chain asserting that this will reduce customer wait times and enhance shopping experiences.
Asda
Asda has confirmed that nearly 100 of its kiosks across 82 petrol stations are going card-only. Out of 300 petrol forecourts attached to Asda superstores, 14 are already cash-free and 68 more are set to join them.
The spokesperson added: “The colleagues who worked on these sites are moving into the store so they can better serve our customers.”
The full changeover is expected to be complete ‘later in 2024’ but comes as the government is being called to introduce laws that force businesses to accept cash.
Co-op
Co-op accepts cash payments across its 2,400 convenience stores. Some of Co-op’s self-checkouts accept cash, while others are card only.
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Morrisons
Morrisons offers customers the opportunity to pay by cash in all of its outlets.
While it has card-only self service checkouts in some stores, its manned checkouts all accept cash payments. The supermarket also accepts cash in its cafés, petrol stations and other concessions.
Sainsbury’s
Sainsbury’s has said the vast majority of its stores and petrol stations accept cash payments. However, it has not provided details of those areas of its 1,500 stores that do not accept cash.
Aldi
Aldi has said that all of its stores accept cash across both manned tills and self-service checkouts.
Waitrose
Waitrose accepts cash at all cafés and manned checkouts. The supermarket’s self-checkouts only accept card payments and have not taken cash for more than a year.
