For now, it is still up to individual businesses whether they accept cash or not.
The Government’s Treasury Committee report into cash acceptance has stopped short of recommending a change in the law, but said the government had to improve its monitoring of the issue.
However, there may come a time when it may have to legislate to make accepting cash compulsory for businesses.
Some countries, such as Australia or parts of the EU, are planning requirements to accept cash for essential services in some circumstances.
An increasing number of businesses are going card only and that may become a cause for concern if it starts to affect some disadvantaged and low-income groups.
The committee warned it risked people being excluded from leisure centres, theatres or public transport. It also heard evidence about frustrated motorists unable to pay by cash in car parks.
One charity CEO said: “”It really is a matter of life and death,” said Sam Smethers, chief executive of the charity Surviving Economic Abuse. “Without it they find themselves monitored daily, with every transaction.”
Among this latest report’s findings is a conclusion that for some businesses, such as market stallholders, cash remains fundamental to the preservation of their trade.
It was recently announced that Uber has extended its cash payment option to all major cities except London, but it is at the discretion of individual drivers.
Following pilots in Birmingham, Stoke, Nottingham and Leicester, Uber said it has now extended the option of paying in cash to other UK cities, because some people preferred paying in cash or did not have a bank card.
Some small business owners have said that trading in cash has benefits for them.
“Cash is actually better because there is no transactional fee. On card you have to pay a processing fee and you have to wait,” said one.
Against this is the problem that banks have disappeared from many high streets meaning longer journeys to deposit cash takings.