Cash usage plummets among older generation
Two-thirds of over-55s don’t want a cashless UK, despite the majority of them using physical money much less often than they did five years ago
- 83% of people over 55 admit to using cash less often than five years ago
- Digital payments, bank branch closures and fewer ATMs cited as reasons
- More than two-thirds are uncomfortable with the idea of a cashless society
Cash use has fallen sharply among the over 55s, despite more than two-thirds being uncomfortable with the idea of Britain becoming a cashless society.
According to research from Paragon Bank, more than four in five people over the age of 55 admit to using cash less often than they did five years ago.
It found that 83 percent now use cash less than they did five years ago, and 63 percent stated their use had dropped significantly.
Cash purge: More than two-thirds of over-55s are uncomfortable with the idea of a cashless society
The convenience of card or digital payments was the most cited reason, although security, bank branch closures and the reduction of ATMs were also cited as important reasons.
When shopping, only 6 percent said they mostly paid in cash, with 81 percent opting for a debit or credit card and 11 percent for their phone or smartwatch.
Dennis Reed, director of senior group Silver Voices thinks that millions of elderly people are becoming financially isolated as a result of increasing digitalisation.
“While most senior citizens use less cash than they did five years ago, it still remains an essential element of basic transactions and household budgets,” says Reed.
“From paying for necessities at the corner store to paying merchants such as window cleaners, cash is easy to use and the most trusted means of paying small bills.
“The relentless push for digital transactions via smartphones and apps isolates millions of elderly people from modern society and is completely unnecessary.
“If cash disappears, it must be reinvented almost immediately, to lubricate the wheels of commercial transactions.”
Despite the decline in the use of cash, it seems that many Brits still carry cash as a security measure.
While more than a quarter of over-55s say they never or rarely carry cash, nearly half say they always make sure they have cash on them at all times.
Meanwhile, two-thirds of those over 55 said they are uncomfortable with the idea of Britain becoming a cashless society.
‘Remorseless drive’: Dennis Reed of Silver Voices says smartphone and app payments isolate millions of elderly people from modern society and are ‘totally unnecessary’
The Paragon survey found that older savers are the least comfortable: Three-quarters of over-85s are not happy about money disappearing, compared with 69 percent of those aged 55 to 64.
Yet the harsh reality is that many Britons are finding their access to free money increasingly restricted.
Only 3,300 UK ATMs have ‘protected’ status and are guaranteed to remain free.
In February, the number of free machines fell below 40,000 – less than half of eight years ago, with bank branch closures the main cause.
The UK’s 20 largest banks and building societies had 9,870 branches at the start of 2015, but plans announced so far will have a total of 5,579 closed by the end of 2023, according to consumer group Which?.
It calculated that the number of closures increases to 54 per month.
In February, the number of free machines fell below 40,000 – less than half of eight years ago
Last month it was revealed that the number of free-to-use ATMs will drop by 1,000 by the end of June, after a major operator announced that more of its machines will charge a fee.
Notemachine, one of the largest independent ATM operators, will begin charging 15 percent of currently free sites in the coming months, bringing the number it has converted over the past four years to nearly half of the total.
The free machines most at risk are the tens of thousands installed in convenience stores.