18/05/2009 - UK 'won't become cashless economy'
A report claims Britons will continue to rely on notes and coins and not credit and debit cards as a result of the recent financial crisis.
According to the study carried out for ATM operator Bank Machine, Britain will not evolve into a completely cashless society because of the long-term psychological impact of the downturn.
It added that older people`s resistance to change and concerns over a surveillance society will ensure cash continues to be widely used.
The report by James Woudhuysen, Professor of Forecasting and Innovation at De Montfort University, said that people would also be reluctant to use cards to pay for things by touching them against a reader because it would reduce the amount of human interaction people had on a daily basis.
It added that the removal of notes and coins threatens community activities such as car boot sales or farmers' markets and fundraising efforts would also be negatively affected, as it would not be commercially viable to install contactless payment systems for these events.
A reduction in cash flow would also hit church and charity collection tins, office whip rounds for birthdays and leaving presents and even children's pocket money.
Copyright © Press Association 2009
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