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....

A few years ago, staff at some Petrol Stations in the UK were found to have interfered with the card payment devices in their forecourt shops, so that mag stripe information and PIN numbers were recorded unencrypted. Thousands of card holders suffered fraud before the criminals were stopped. Of course, card payment devices in shops and similar environments are traceable back to the busines....

The Treasury, on behalf of the British Government, has launched a consultation entitled "cash and digital payments in the new economy". This consultation has already inspired a storm of protests, for casually suggesting the UK can do without 1p and 2p coins. NOT A GOOD START. The consultation document erroneously implies that only the poor or criminals "need" to use cash. This ignores the M....

So the gloves are off. The battle lines are drawn. The plan to remove ATMs and cash from the UK is underway. Those who value cash, as a Payment Choice, store of value and instrument of independence, now know what they are up against. Until this year, the UK Public had enjoyed an uninterrupted period of almost two decades of improvement in ATM services and, therefore, access to cash. 25,000 ATM....

The latest UK Budget informed us that there has been a 10 year decline in real UK wages and that this is set to continue for the next decade.  The blame for this unprecedented situation is almost universally attributed to the "Banking Crisis" of 2008. If only. The REAL explanation can be found elsewhere and goes back a whole lot further in time. In the 1970's, China had a small ....

Transparency is not something for which the UK is famed. Opacity seems to suit the British psyche better, perhaps because it often renders it impossible to make too strong a criticism. This in turn allows the average Brit to mutter "mustn't grumble", as they shuffle their way through lives largely undisturbed by major disruptions. In Financial Services, transparency has been particularly elusive....

The full catalogue of disasters visited on the UK by the Cameron/Clegg Coalition is now crystal clear. This awful partnership lead immediately to the imposition of a destructive, unnecessary and ultimately pointless austerity program. It also immediately saw the Liberal Democrats credibility permanently destroyed by their backtracking on manifesto pledges in relation to University tuition f....

An absolutely disgraceful story of the role of Transport for London ( recently renamed "Tyranny for London" (TfL)) in forcing unwanted payment innovation. Recently, TfL ruled that all London Black Cabs MUST accept card payments. Around 50% of drivers had previously elected to take cash payments, mainly to avoid the high commissions -between 3.5 and 5% - levied by card schemes. TfL are, of cou....

Australia is fast becoming the country being held up as an example of how cash is falling in popularity as a payment method. Some claim it is rushing headlong towards becoming a cashless society. Forward thinking Australians; exercising the supremacy of consumers; thinking for themselves and switching to "modern" payment methods; enjoying Payments Choice? Perhaps. Then again, lets look at....

Today sees the launch of UK Finance, a body created to save £30 Million a year by combining The British Bankers Association, the Council of Mortgage Lenders Association, the Asset-Based Finance Association, Financial Fraud Action UK, Payments UK and the UK Cards Association. Make no mistake, this is mainly a money-saving exercise. The timing is perhaps a little ironic, since the UK austerity p....

British Airways have just banned the use of cash for even the purchase of a cup of tea on their flights. This is an absolute disgrace. The vast majority of people flying with British Airways are regular users of cash. Unsurprisingly, most of the worlds population fall into this category, since 85% of all our planets payments are made with cash. Lets make no bones about it. The Directors of Br....

Bill Clinton memorably said, when asked what was the single most important factor determining election  results, "It is the economy, stupid!". However, when it comes to the success -or otherwise -of the world economy, the comment might be "It is the currency,stupid!". Why? Because confidence is the crucial - perhaps only - vital factor in economic matters. And, as far as currency is c....

The European Commission has issued a document called "Inception Impact Assessment". Such a document is issued to announce a potential European Commission initiative, with a view to clarifying during a consultation process whether there is an appetite amongst European Union members for the proposed course of action. In this case, the proposed course of action is an European Union initiative on re....

Whatever one thinks about Donald Trump, from his inclination to build a rival to the Great Wall to toying with the idea of putting electoral rivals onto a diet of Porridge, the man is no fool. Mr Trump has promised to "make America great again". For great, read " hugely powerful in manufacturing".  The United States used to be a manufacturing powerhouse, enjoying domination across....

The UK has been left in a very strange position by the vote to leave the EU. It now emerges that the two year negotiation period will not even start until March 2017, meaning that the exit will not happen until 2019, around 3 years after the original vote. Some commentators have remarked upon the fact that by 2019 the UK electorate will be very different to the one offered a referendum in 201....

There are worrying signs of dictatorial government returning to Europe.
Individuals have less and less say on almost anything you are allowed to think of.
Governments seek control of every facet of our lives. Those who refuse to bow risk the full weight of the states apparatus being mobilized to corral and subdue them.
Take Greece. A lovely country blighted by a series of incompe....

There are an insane number of guns in the United States - more than there are people. In 2014, 44 human beings died as a result of criminal activity involving guns in the UK. More have been killed in the United States in one recent evening - and there were over 6000 gun-related deaths in 2014. Lets not concern ourselves with arcane discussions on the " right to bear arms" in the United States. T....

It has just been announced by Transport for London (TfL) that London Black Cabs will soon be forced to accept cards for payment of fares. Last year, TfL banned the use of cash for the payment of bus fares. Also, last  year, TfL signed a deal which allows contactless credit and debit cards to be used to pay at London Underground ticket barriers. Do you see a pattern here? Londoners are be....

David Attenborough may soon make a programme about UK bank branches. After all, he is always interested in species threatened with extinction. As the number of bank branches continues to fall, the search is on for new venues for community banking services. Towards the end of 2015, Post Offices seemed to be rising to the top of the list of suitable alternatives. The suggestion that Post ....

Cash is under attack EVERYWHERE. The attack is two-pronged.  Leading the way are the vested interests, who benefit directly from alternative payment methods. Largely funded by the public - retailers and service providers pay commissions on sales and/or fees - card schemes and the likes of ApplePay have almost unlimited budgets to push their payment methods. Their advertising largely focuses ....

This article is really for those who already understand LINK Interchange. However, if you don't and want to, here you go. LINK is the organisation that provides networking for virtually all the ATMs in the UK.  Almost all banks, other financial institutions and independent ATM operators are members of LINK, using their membership to interconnect their ATMs. The LINK Interchange is the paym....

The new Payment Systems Regulator has set up a Strategy Forum, aimed at suggesting payment system innovation in the non-competitive arena. An obvious innovation which has been consistently blocked is the creation of a bank account numbering system which allows customers to keep the same account number, as and when they choose to move their account from one bank to another. The term " ....

Last week saw yet more hype from those trying to tell us - the British Public - that Contactless Cards were soon going to replace cash as the preferred means of payment for small retail purchases. This is, of course,total nonsense. In July 2015, 3% more cash was dispensed from UK ATMs than in July 2014. This year-on-year growth has been achieved against a backdrop of over £180 Billion in cas....

Greece is in a mess. With a population of around 11 Million and a national debt of roughly 320 Billion Euros, every Greek (man, woman & child) would have to give their exchequer 30,000 Euros to pay back the country's creditors. Now the UK's national debt per person is broadly similar to that of Greece. The difference is that the UK's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per person is about twice that....

So often, those who are seemingly well on the road to winning, throw it all away by over-stretching in an attempt to cross the line early. Mostly, the result is that they seize defeat from the jaws of victory and NEVER end up breaking the tape. Take Iceland's anti-cash lobby. For a long time, the noises emanating from Iceland were telling the world " Clever Iceland doesn't need cash. Hardly a....

Kevin Jenkins runs the Visa Card Scheme in the UK.  Kevin is a very honest man. He honestly wants Visa to become bigger and bigger each year. For Visa to grow, use of cash must decline. Therefore Kevin has predicted that cards will account for 95% of all transactions in the UK within 10 years, up from a current more healthy 50%. Since over 90% of all cards in the UK carry the Visa brand....

More disturbing news yesterday that charities trying to provide international aid to the needy are finding it difficult to transfer funds abroad or, in some cases, even to accept donations. Banks are apparently concerned they might face fines for assisting money laundering or acting as a conduit of funds to terrorists. The same issue is putting many legitimate money transfer organizations out of ....

There was a surprise news item on Christmas Day to the effect that " charging ATMs at corner stores and petrol stations are to be phased out". The same news report indicated that  retailers would be offered Business Rate incentives to persuade them to switch ATMs from Pay-To-Use to Free-To-Use. Giving gifts at this time of year is, of course, traditional. However, unwrapping this particu....

The world has been held to ransom by OPEC since the 1970's. 50 years of having to be nice to countries which often have despicable human rights records. NO MORE. The power of the oil producers has been broken forever ( by which I mean, at least 50 years). From now on, the oil price will be low. If OPEC ( or any other vested interest) attempts to increase the price, the "taps" will simply be tur....

George Osborne is clearly very bright. You don't get to where he is today without having a good sized brain, along with a massive amount of political astuteness. In his time at Number 11, Mr Osborne has persuaded UK workers to accept a 10% decline in real wages. Employment is up ( there are more people working in our country today than ever before); inflation is low; interest rates are low. Most ....

The fuss about the 2 Billion Euro extra payment to the EU is all about political positioning. Does anyone really believe that the UK Government was surprised by the bill? The same formula has been used to calculate such payments for years. George Osborne claims to have a good grasp of our countries finances - and who are we to disbelieve him? - so it seems highly unlikely he would have failed to....

Politicians of all parties in the UK refer constantly ( unless they forget when making speeches) to "reducing the budget deficit". The budget deficit is the difference between the governments expenditure and revenue. The UK government currently spend around £730 to £750 Billion each year. Meantime, it has revenue of around £610 to £630 Billion annually. So there is a budget defici....

Amidst all the angst about the over-stated profits at Tesco, at least it can be said that Whistleblowing finally worked. A middle manager in the Tesco Finance Department  reported concerns to the company General Counsel. He appreciated the gravity of the issues raised and immediately brought the matter to the attention of the new CEO, Dave Lewis. Lewis, in turn, made public announcements as so....

Emirates NBD Bank has just upgraded the software on their ATMs to allow customers to purchase shares. In Spain, Portugal and Italy, ATM users can carry out up to 70 transactions, including buying tickets for football matches and paying taxes.( The latter facility is apparently used in some countries more than others). La Caixa Bank, despite already having some of the most sophisticated ATMs o....

The completely manipulative and cynical advertising by Visa in connection with the launch of "contactless" on all Transport for London services almost takes one's breath away. Four pages of hype in the London Evening Standard, though costing tens of thousands of £'s, is small beer to the mighty Visa. This is, of course, a total sell out by those responsible for London's transport ....

Some people feel the Scottish Independence Referendum has been a wonderful example of democracy in action. However, a legitimate question to ask is " independent to do what?" Are any countries truly independent today? I would venture to suggest that the answer is a resounding "NO".  Most significant countries are enmeshed in multiple alliances. EC, Nato, UN, WHO, G10 and IMF are jus....

John Carney ( no relation, it seems, to Mark Carney, the very wise Governor of the Bank of England), writing in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, produced a very ill-informed article in which he trumpeted that ATMs are soon to become "museum pieces" and that cash is a dying payment method. Now the WSJ often gets things wrong - more of that soon, perhaps - BUT this piece of idle specu....

I was listening to Farming Today this morning on BBC Radio 4. I usually do. It is the next best thing to waking up on a farm, with the bonus that there is no milking to be done. Part of this mornings coverage featured 150 farmers demonstrating outside a supermarket, protesting at the fact that the market price of an average lamb has gone down by £25 in the last few months. I must be a real....

So much rubbish is being talked about the EC authorities forcing Google  to implement a "right to forget". It seems still not to be widely appreciated how much of the so-called "news" we are exposed to has actually been put out by  vested interests seeking to further their own ends. Of course, we all know that the likes of Hello Magazine pay people to allow gain access to their house....

In the United States, cheque deposit at ATMs was made simple years ago with the passing of Check 21 in 2003. This law removed the need for millions of paper cheques to be freighted around the country. Instead,an electronic image of the cheque can be processed at ATMs. When Bank of America introduced ATM cheque imaging, their customers voted it the most important customer service improvement t....

The UK Payments Council clearly dislikes choice. For years, they tried to end Cheque Clearing in the UK, spending a small fortune striving to take the choice of using cheques away from the UK Public. Luckily, the Treasury Select Committee noticed what the PC was up to. Richard North, the lumbering Chair of the Council, got his bottom smacked and was told to stop being a silly boy. Cheques were....