Vulnerable people depend on cash to accumulate a safety net for themselves, make to-the-penny withdrawals, have the ability to budget effectively when things are tight, and see a friendly face to help with transactions. Remote and rural communities in particular rely on cash and their local post office to avoid being cut off and isolated.

Cash underpins millions of small businesses – where cash-in-hand remains the default means of payment; these are the electricians, hairdressers, builders, butchers, carers, babysitters, all of them people running businesses we can’t do without. They can’t afford to shut up shop for an hour or more to make the round trip to the nearest major town to find a branch of their bank which is still up and running. They need somewhere local.

The right to use cash is a freedom we have always had. While digital innovations can make life easier for many of us, we must make sure no one is left behind. And the truth is that the UK is not yet ready to be a cashless society.

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