Head of ATM network warns cash could be almost killed off by end of summer

NEVER WASTE A GOOD CRISIS…..
IT’S HAPPENING …

www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-8163833/Head-ATM-network-warns-cash-killed-end-summer-shoppers-switch-cards.html

Cash could be almost killed off by the end of the summer as shoppers switch to using cards and never go back, the head of the ATM network warned last night.

John Howells, chief executive of Link, which runs Britain’s 70,000 cashpoints, said the coronavirus pandemic has dramatically sped up the switch from cash to card and online payments.

Before the shutdown, cash was still used in around a third of transactions. Now Link predicts its use will slump to just 10 per cent by August as people shop and go out less, use cards when they stock up at supermarkets and avoid coins and notes for fear of picking up the virus.

End of an era?: Before the shutdown, cash was still used in around a third of transactions +1
End of an era?: Before the shutdown, cash was still used in around a third of transactions

Research shows that once people switch to using cards and digital payments they rarely use cash again. Previously, cash use had been expected to fall to 10 per cent by 2025 – meaning a change that should have taken five years will now take five months