Over half of UK businesses want to remove the option of cash payments, according to a study of more than 1,200 British companies.

86 per cent of those surveyed said they favour card and contactless payments over cash, research by Merchant Advice Service found.

A further two thirds would like to see the contactless price cap increased or removed.

The report revealed that on average 89 per cent of retail transactions were made via card or contactless payments.

“Contactless payments have been incredibly popular from the moment they became an option, but with everything that’s happened over the course of the past year, we’ve definitely seen a shift in less and less people carrying cash on them than ever before,” said Libby James, co-founder of Merchant Advice Service. “Whether that’s because they’re not going to the bank or to their local ATMs to withdraw it, they’re weary of the amount of people who can touch one single note or simply because they’re unsure of whether businesses will or won’t take cash in the current climate.”

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