It was while walking to his local Co-op that Ty, a 27-year-old student in Brighton, noticed a strangely long queue for the cashpoint.<\/p>\n
In the shop, a staff member told Ty the payment systems were down after a cyber-attack<\/a>. It was cash only. But Ty didn\u2019t need to join the queue. Instead, he felt vindicated. It was another instance that justified his recent switch to using physical currency instead of digital payments.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve started in the last few months to favour cash again, using it almost exclusively, to the point where I refuse to shop in places that take card only,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Ty is one of a number of people in the UK who have turned back to banknotes in recent years. Despite cash being used for only 12% of UK payments<\/a> in 2023, collapsing from 51% in 2013, according to UK Finance, data from the Bank of England suggests the value of banknotes in circulation has jumped 23%<\/a> since before the pandemic.<\/p>\n The Bank\u2019s chief cashier, Victoria Cleland, has said UK households are building cash contingency pots as they did during the pandemic and cost of living crisis in response to high-profile incidents such as the recent energy blackout<\/a> in Spain and Portugal and the cyber-attacks<\/a> on Marks & Spencer, The Co-op and Harrods. Repeated IT outages<\/a> at Britain\u2019s largest banks and building societies will not have helped consumer confidence in under-pressure digital systems<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ty says: \u201cUnlike card, cash is private and doesn\u2019t leave data about the purchase, it doesn\u2019t cost the merchant transaction fees, it\u2019s easier to manage owing to its physicality \u2013 using a card makes spending too easy \u2013 and it won\u2019t fail you in the event of a systems outage.\u201d<\/p>\n Ty\u2019s preference for cash began while working at a building society. He says he witnessed first-hand that, if the electronic systems went down, it was \u201cexceedingly difficult to do anything\u201d, which made him doubt the reliability of modern payment methods.<\/p>\n For David, it was being in Granada when Spain\u2019s energy blackout struck that changed his behaviour. He says there was a sense of uncertainty about power<\/a> returning, and that \u201cif you didn\u2019t have cash you weren\u2019t going to eat or drink and the ATMs were down\u201d.<\/p>\n David was in Spain when the country suffered a near total electricity blackout in April. Photograph: David\/Guardian Community<\/p>\n The retired 64-year-old, who is based in Bury, had a little cash on him so he was able to buy a warm beer from an out-of-action fridge.<\/p>\n David says he had switched to become a cashless household in recent years, but since experiencing the blackout he has taken out physical currency. \u201cWe now have cash easily accessible at home just in case,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n The preference for cash is so strong for Annie*, in her early 40s and living in East Sussex, that she walks out of businesses which are card-only. \u201cI love cash,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s reliable and doesn\u2019t break like electronic payment systems, which seem to be breaking, crashing and going down more and more these days.\u201d<\/p>\n Annie says her mother feels the same way, and recently, while in Lewes, the pair visited \u2013 and left \u2013 several cafes before finding one that accepted cash. She says the decision showed her displeasure at what in her view is a slow creep towards a cashless society, which she feels is \u201cheading down the wrong track\u201d and erasing freedom of choice.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like making a stand,\u201d she says. \u201cI know it\u2019s just me, one lonely little person \u2026 At the moment, I feel like it probably isn\u2019t making a difference. But it\u2019s my own principles and morals. I don\u2019t want to see the death of cash.\u201d<\/p>\n Nearly 33m withdrawals were made<\/a> from Nationwide\u2019s ATMs last year, up 4.6% on 2023 and building on budgeting trends seen during the cost of living crisis such as \u201ccash stuffing\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n Not everyone, however, is convinced that a return to cash is necessary. Dave, a 61-year-old in Preston, hates using physical money.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Business Today<\/p>\n Get set for the working day \u2013 we’ll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Dave in Preston finds cash inconvenient. Photograph: Dave\/Guardian Community<\/p>\n \u201cI just found the whole business \u2013 of carrying cash, extracting cash from cash points, ending up with pockets full of change, throwing it into jars when you got home \u2013 just nonsense,\u201d he says. \u201cPockets are thin cotton. You shove a load of metal in there, it weighs down and wears out your pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n He was happy to jettison notes and coins and feels that \u201cpeople panic too much\u201d about a potential emergency. \u201cIf the infrastructure went down for a week I might worry about it,\u201d he says, and he does keep about \u00a3100 in the house. \u201cBut I\u2019m not hoarding money just for the sake of hoarding money.\u201d<\/p>\n In Essex, Ruth\u2019s distaste for cash and fondness for Apple Pay \u2013 \u201cit\u2019s so convenient\u201d \u2013 meant she travelled to Italy\u2019s Amalfi coast for a family holiday last year without taking out any euros for the trip.<\/p>\n She didn\u2019t use cash once in Italy, and barely even used her bank card. \u201cThe only time I used my card was when I actually paid for the hotel,\u201d she says, and she could barely recall her pin number.<\/p>\n Ruth prefers to be cashless, but took out \u00a3100 after the Iberian blackout in case of emergency. Photograph: Ruth\/Guardian Community<\/p>\n Ruth, a 63-year-old social housing worker in Essex, says handling cash is too inconvenient. \u201cI hate [it] if I get coppers or 5ps. I think, what do you do with them? I feel like throwing them away,\u201d she says. \u201cAs much as many of my friends scowl, I actually like being cashless.\u201d<\/p>\n Ruth also says that \u201csome, not all\u201d people she\u2019s aware of who prefer to use only cash \u201care doing dodgy deals, tax avoidance\u201d.<\/p>\n