“CASH or card?” There was a time when the question was ubiquitous, but now one politician has embarked on a week-long challenge to explore whether Islanders’ right to choose should be maintained.
Deputy Montfort Tadier is midway through an experiment in which he is seeking to rely entirely on cash, with tapping, phone payments or other online methods off the agenda for seven days.
The challenge follows a report by the Economic and International Affairs Scrutiny Panel, chaired by the St Brelade Deputy, exploring the acceptance of cash payments in Jersey.
Almost 3,000 people and organisations contributed to the reports preparation by answering a survey or making written submissions, with concern expressed that a small minority of Islanders could be disadvantaged if the move away from cash continued.
Deputy Tadier said he intended to gain further experience of the issues involved by going “cash-only” for the first seven days of March, with a small group of volunteers joining him.
“The review covered some of the theory involved, and the idea of the challenge is for myself and some of those who’ve volunteered to put themselves in the position of those who don’t use cash or feel they don’t have a choice,” he said.
“It will be interesting to see how it goes, not just the issue of whether a business will accept cash, but the peripheral issues such as the body language we encounter, any awkwardness or sense of being excluded, and whether it’s necessary to change one’s habits.”
The majority of businesses responding to the survey said that they were less likely to receive payment in cash, with 71% indicating they mostly received digital payments (via cards, transfers or smartphones) and 20% indicating that cash payments represented under 10% of their transactions.
However, 92% of businesses stated that they accepted both cash and digital payments, with 6% revealing that they only accepted digital payments.
The report contained several recommendations, including that the Economic Development Minister “should, by 30 April, issue interim guidance to businesses indicating that they should accept a cash payment where it is the customer’s only way of paying”.
Other recommendations within the report include requiring banks to give six months’ notice to both the government and customers before the closure of any branch or cash machines in the Island, as well as the creation of a government strategy about the acceptance of cash payments.
Last year, it emerged that the number of Jersey notes being ordered by local banks each year has fallen by over £200 million since 2014.
