Editor's Blog

Cash-is-Cool is proud to support the Payment Choice Alliance, a not-for-profit organisation working to ensure EVERYONE in the UK has the right to spend their cash, when and where they want to do so. Too many businesses are now trying to restrict how we pay; which means they are trying to take away our Payment Choice and, indeed, are potentially undermining ALL of our freedoms, including Privacy, ....

Two points were very illuminating to read in the latest HM Treasury consultation on access to cash. Firstly, it was noted that the government was looking for a simple solution. Secondly, it was made clear that the government was not minded to make it compulsory for businesses to accept cash in payment for goods and services. Unfortunately, those two statements effectively eliminate the poten....

Within the last week, the UK Supreme Court has ruled that ATMs do not need to be assessed for Business Rates. Refunds of over £300 Million are now due to those who for many years were obliged to pay this ill-conceived levy. Nearly two decades ago, the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) came up with the "bright" idea of assessing Through-the-Wall ATMs for Business Rates. In the arcane....

Two news items yesterday focused on access to cash. One was the Access to Cash Report of the Scottish Affairs Committee of the UK Parliament. This comprehensive report came up with the following main recommendations: * The Government should seek a commitment from banks that they will not close the last bank in town and if banks refuse, the Government should consider all measures, including l....

The document released by the UK Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) earlier this month "Considering the incentives to deploy free-to-use ATMs in the LINK network" is full of statistics produced by UK Finance, whose name makes it sound like it is the organization which runs the UK economy, whereas it is actually a trade association for the UK financial services sector. For example, UK Finan....

One of the big issues today is the existence of a World Reserve Currency. The US $ is currently that currency. This gives the United States tremendous power, a power at this moment in the hands of one Donald Trump. Effectively, the United States can simple print dollars and use them to pay for anything, anywhere. There is no home country inflation impact, because dollars exported mostly never ....

Those vested-interests pushing for a "cashless society" in the UK are delighted with the move to contactless payments in the last 10 years. They believe contactless will end up destroying cash as a payment method. To help things along, they are encouraging retailers and restaurants to refuse cash payments, though we haven't yet seen this to quite the same extent as now exists in the Unit....

The idea that the worlds economic system as currently operating will defeat poverty is fundamentally flawed Inequality is something humans naturally seek as we aim for personal advantage.  The existence of Billionaires is an oft-quoted example of where individuals have taken the pursuit of personal advantage to extreme lengths but, in fact, Mr & Mrs Western Average, striving to do the best fo....

Yesterday this article appeared in the Daily Telegraph. [link] Starting with the words "People love contactless" was not promising - and it got much worse. Our Chairman responded to the editor of the Daily Telegraph as follows: Dear Sir,
The article by James Daley regarding “....

Here is a bold statement - Payment innovation is largely a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. There. We have said it. Glad that is out of the way. Lets go back to the Swinging 60's. How much fun were they? All that music. All that fashion, All that freedom. All that fun. The Beatles; Carnaby Street; Flower Power; Trampolines without safety nets. There were exciting headlines i....