Cash’s reign fades as Covid accelerates high street switch to card-only
Popular restaurant chains which stopped taking cash during the pandemic have turned their backs on it long-term in the latest sign of Britain’s shift towards going cash-free.
Prezzo, Itsu and Côte Brasserie are on a growing list of restaurants that have gone card-only for good, citing reduced costs, quicker customer service and claims of improved hygiene.
Many branches of Starbucks and Burger King are also accepting card payments only, while Pizza Hut says it has decided to continue cashless “for the foreseeable future”.
The businesses were among thousands across the UK that stopped taking coins and notes when Covid-19 first spread. Restrictions have now eased, and research has found the risk of transmission from handling cash to be low – yet many shops and restaurants are still refusing to take it.
While Starbucks has not formally announced a cash ban, branches in Cambridge, Grimsby, Northumberland and London are among those accepting only card payments two years after the pandemic began. The chain said its stores had “gradually reintroduced cash” over the past year, but that “this may however vary from store to store”, as decisions lie with individual licensees.
Janette Foggo, 67, a support worker from Glasgow, said she was forced to leave Burger King after finding cash wasn’t accepted. “Just so you know, not accepting cash impacts so many people in support situations who don’t use cards,” she tweeted. Another customer wrote that her six-year-old daughter was “very sad” after being unable to spend her pocket money at a card-only store.
Prezzo, one of the chains to formally announce its move to cashless, said this made things “much simpler and quicker” for staff and customers at its 151 Italian restaurants.
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