Interesting Facts

London buses are no longer accepting cash payments for journeys*. (There are different ways to pay the bus fare: An Oyster card with pay as you go credit, Travelcard or Bus & Tram Pass A Visitor Oyster card A contactless payment card to pay as you go A Day Travelcard In fact, according to the Payments Council, cash payments make up the majority of transactions in the UK - just.  Cash transactions account for 52%, but this is down from 58 per cent in 2009. For now cash is still king, but with virtual wallets, and mobile payment systems, the march of a cashless society seems to be unstoppable. Stop the world, I want to get off.) *That said, legally, they are not allowed to refuse a cash payment.

According to a survey carried out by wedding website confetti.co.uk, Four fifths of British couples getting married this year will ask for cash instead of presents. (The reason that most of them don't want to create a wedding list, with the traditional toaster, or cutlery, is they have lived together and so already have the essentials. The problem is, asking for cash is an awkward thing to do, as unlike some cultures, in the UK there is no tradition of giving cash to the happy couple, and in the UK we hate talking about money.  However, according to the Guardian newspaper, those who feel awkward asking for cold hard cash, are increasingly using poetry to do it for them, with verses like:- "If you were thinking of giving a gift to help us on our way A gift of money in a card would really make our day!" Of course some lovely couples, who feel they have everything they need, ask people to give money to their favourite charity. (You know who you are.) Mayb...

According to the UK Payments Council, in the UK, cheques will be phased out by October 2018. (Personal cheque payments reached a peak of 2.4 billion in 1990.  They have fallen steadily since, and only 663 million were written in 2008. So, now they are looking for easy-to-use efficient alternatives that everyone understands.  Cash?)

According to Visa Europe, 41% of personal expenditure in Britain is carried out using a credit card. (This compares with just 8% in Germany. You can imagine how many times I had to put my credit card away and scrabble around for cash when I first came here.)

According to the European Central Bank six out of seven payments in Europe are made with cash. (So much for a plastic society. Show me the money!)