Shoppers are being warned after major supermarkets including Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s have stopped accepting cash payments in many stores.
While all the major supermarkets still accept cash at most of its stores, the three have all launched card-only retail outlets.
In August, Tesco announced it would be going cashless at 40 UK cafe sites. The cafes ask customers to order food on a digital self service screen and then accept only cards or contactless phones as payment.
Asda has also gone cash-free in nearly 270 petrol stations, where customers can only pay by card at the pumps to fill up. The supermarket giant said it made the decision because more than 90 percent of payments at its petrol stations were already via card or contactless.
Asda still takes cash at the rest of its outlets and all supermarkets, though.
Sainsbury’s says that the vast majority of its stores and petrol stations still accept cash, although the number which do not is not currently known.
Aldi, Morrisons, Waitrose and the Co-Op all accept both cash and card at all outlets, including all Morrisons petrol stations and Waitrose cafes, and Aldi doesn’t run any petrol stations or cafes.
According to Full Fact, it is legal for any shop to refuse to accept cash.
The ‘legal tender’ myth is a common misconception and refers only to those who are offering to repay a debt. The rule says debtors must accept any form of ‘legal tender’ – in England and Wales, coins and notes, in Scotland, just coins – offered to repay a debt.
Shop owners do not have to accept cash or any specific type of cash (like Scottish bank notes!).
Full Fact says: “it’s not illegal for shops or businesses to refuse to accept cash. They can also refuse to accept card payments. And while cash is ‘legal tender’, this has a narrow definition that doesn’t mean businesses must accept it.
According to the Bank of England, shop owners can choose what kind of payment they take.”
The Bank of England says: “Legal tender has a narrow technical meaning which has no use in everyday life. It means that if you offer to fully pay off a debt to someone in legal tender, they can’t sue you for failing to repay.”
