Future of cash is important, says LEE BOYCE – here’s why Bank of England’s chief cashier thinks so too…

Long time readers of This is Money and listeners to our podcast will know I like to champion cash.

It’s not my number one payment method, my debit card is, but I always carry cash, withdraw cash and use cash where I can. Use it or lose it – and I’d be gutted if we lost it.

There’s no doubt over the past decade, our payment habits have swiftly changed thanks to technology, but there should always be a place for physical banknotes and coins.

Cash isn’t necessarily king, but choice is.

And last week, I spoke to chief cashier of the Bank of England – Victoria Cleland – for a 15 minute podcast special on the future of cash, and a current consultation to replace historical figures on our notes with wildlife.

You can listen below:  

The interview came after I was researching a story about a surprise rise in £50 notes in circulation.

Not just that, but the fact the number of notes in total is growing in circulation – a scenario Ms Cleland describes as the ‘paradox of cash.’

The fact we’re not making as many transactions with it, but more of it is coming into circulation.

‘There’s still a lot of people who are using cash, so I don’t think its future is at risk yet,’ said Ms Cleland on the podcast.

‘It’s important everyone in the country has a choice in the way that they pay.

‘Some people prefer cash, some people prefer cards, some people prefer digital wallets… choice is important, both in terms of what the consumer wants to do, but choice can also provide resilience.’

Ms Cleland, whose signature is on notes issued between 2014-2018, and notes issued from 2025 onwards, says ‘we’re still seeing very strong demand for cash from certain segments of society and about 2.6million people in the UK are heavily dependent on cash.’

She goes on to add that there are keen cash users who use it at least once a week and many are driven to cash for budgeting reasons.

Others like the privacy while increasingly they’re seeing people holding cash as ‘contingency.’

She said: ‘Last year, there were big power outages in Spain, Portugal – card systems were down, but cash could be used, so people see it in that way.

‘And some people still like the tangibility of cash and knowing they have got a little stack somewhere safe.’

Those comments come after the House of Lords recently announced a National Resilience Committee looking at whether we should hold cash reserves at home, in line with some of our European counterparts.

Elsewhere on the podcast special, Ms Cleland gives her views on why retailers should accept cash, how we keep cash relevant and whether it’s fair some parts of our lives are becoming cashless, without us asking.

Why owls could replace Churchill on banknotes… 

In the second part, she talks about the bank note consultation currently happening – why replace historical figures with wildlife? And has she been surprised by some of the backlash?

Personally speaking, I’m not adverse to wildlife on notes – and given nearly half a million people have voted on which animals should be on our notes, clearly, we care.

Indeed, if you care, you have until midnight Friday 3 July to make two choices – and I think our brilliant This is Money readers should definitely help shape the decision.

If it also gets our youngsters more interested and engaged in notes and coins, it can only be a good thing.

Recently, my seven-year-old confirmed they have been learning to count with coins and notes in her Year 2 class (and also, time on an analogue clock).

I told her about animals set to feature on banknotes, and it’s safe to say she’s incredibly excited (chip off the old block when it comes to cash, it seems).

We also went to her summer fete last weekend, and I gave her pocket money to spend – budgeting at an early age is an essential life lesson (she did, just about, manage to save enough at the end for an overpriced ice cream).

There are 18 choices on the list of the consultation – my favourite is a kingfisher on a fiver and a brown hare on a twenty.

But in reality, I don’t mind what is on our banknotes – as long, as Ms Cleland says, the payment choice remains and cash remains relevant.