Retailers that do not accept cards are inconveniencing public and losing out, says survey
A new YouGov survey has revealed that nearly a third of the UK public have been inconvenienced in the last year by a retailer not accepting credit or debit cards.
The survey conducted by Cardsave, the small business payments specialist, found that 16% of people said that they had walked out of a shop in the past year without making their intended purchase due to the retailer not accepting cards. A further 22% said they had been forced to leave a shop to look for a cash point while 7% said they had bought less than they intended due to retailers’ only accepting cash.
The research showed that the days of shoppers carrying large amounts of cash are over with 62% of people carrying just £20 or less in cash on average, 48% carrying £15 or less and 35% carrying up to £10. This compares to 93% who carry a credit or debit card.
Cardsave said that with only 12% of the population carrying £50 or more in cash, retailers who do not accept cards are likely to be missing out on high-value customers.
According to CardSave’s Small Business Payments Index, which launched today and compiled from card payments data for over 40,000 small businesses, the average card transaction at small, independent merchants in February was for £64.27. This was split into averages of £96.56 on credit card and £54.14 on debit card.
Never Miss a Retail Update!Commeting on the results of the survey Clive Kahn, chief executive of CardSave, said: “The days when consumers wanted to pay by cash are over. They increasingly expect to pay by card for everything – from small shops to tradespeople such as painters and window-cleaners.
“Small businesses benefit significantly from accepting cards, winning more business, making larger sales and maintaining their competitiveness against major retailers.”
The survey also revealed that 57% of the public believe that cash will become extinct at some point in the future with 50% predicting that this will be by 2035 and 36% saying it will be as early as 2025.
