Crown and Anchor pub, Brixton Road, Brixton goes card-only

[DaphneM]

'My cashless pub is cheaper to run'​

Mike Keen opened The Boot pub in Freston, near Ipswich, last year as a cashless business with no tills.
"There are a whole bunch of reasons. The [biggest] gain is management time," he said, such as never having to cash up at the end of the day, drive to the bank and queue to pay it in, two or three times a week.

He said that saved the business 15 hours a week, and many thousands of pounds.
Insurance premiums had been lower as there was no cash on the premises, security was less of a problem, and the time taken to serve customers was much quicker, he said.


From the BBC

 

[CH1]

editor DaphneM
Logic suggests it's all down to bank charges and card processing charges.
I - as people may notice - live in the past, but when I worked at Lambeth Accord and it did job training we had lots of cash payments to make for trainees travel and lunch expenses.
This was unavoidably cash - and had originally carried no charge as Lambeth Accord was a charity.
Unfortunately our banker - Nat West - changed their policy and decided to charge on turnover - with an even higher rate for cash. (talking £2,000/year in 2000)
At the time Bank of Scotland made a pitch for free banking for charities - but were not interested in cash payment or withdrawals so we ended up having TWO banks - Bank of Scotland for non-cash transactions (free) and Nat West for cash - charged for.

I agree there may be banks who offer free banking to small businesses or charitable organisations. The Co-op Bank springs to mind.
In the case of someone in Lambeth I doubt they want to ?Drive? to Lewisham - the nearest Co-op to bank their cash takings to avoid charges.
I know of one local charity who uses Zettle to accept card payment (a system linked to one's mobile phone, owned by Paypal but interfaces with your bank). Charges competitive apparently.
The Barbers shop bottom of Tulse Hill used Zettle, as does the Crown and Sceptre.

This issue may be one of many on here where posters take ideological stances, but in practice different businesses/customers/charities make their choices for practical reasons.