Like taking cards, taking cash isn’t free for a business - between the cost to deposit, the need to physically take the cash to the bank, and the need to keep a float.
So there’s going to be a business decision to be made - is it worth the time and effort to take cash if basically nobody wants to use it? It’s easy to see why a business might just not be interested, in the same way they wouldn’t be interested in taking a personal cheque.
Given the general spending patterns in the UK it feels like the only way businesses will continue accepting cash payments in the long term will be if is legally required. There are some decent arguments in favour of doing that, but without a firm requirement to do so it doesn’t seem unacceptable for a business to refuse a payment method that’s pretty unpopular.
But, at least here in Michigan, the cost of taking non-cash payment is enough higher (vs. cash) that many gas stations offer a small discount for paying (for low-margin gasoline) with cash.
It took my manager in food service like a half hour to count like 6 tills. For a gas station its probably even faster. Probably not more than a dozen dollars in labor to count the cash at the end of the day. IDK about how the cash is transported like if businesses are using armored cars or what and what that costs.
I don't know what it is like in the US but the UK banks charge quite a lot to deposit cash (Barclays is 0.9% for example). Also for a small business it's yet another job that the proprietor will need to handle themselves. Then you have the problems with staff dipping into the till, this almost sank the business of someone I know.
So there’s going to be a business decision to be made - is it worth the time and effort to take cash if basically nobody wants to use it? It’s easy to see why a business might just not be interested, in the same way they wouldn’t be interested in taking a personal cheque.
Given the general spending patterns in the UK it feels like the only way businesses will continue accepting cash payments in the long term will be if is legally required. There are some decent arguments in favour of doing that, but without a firm requirement to do so it doesn’t seem unacceptable for a business to refuse a payment method that’s pretty unpopular.