Cash in London?

this recent thread may be helpful: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/money-matters-be200fb1-6e3c-49ed-884e-85f0ec67b59a

FWIW the only time I needed pounds in London (2022) was because I needed coins to do laundry.

It's very, very rare that I use any cash these days but I would withdraw a small amount (like £20- 50) to have just in case. The main thing I think you might want it for is to leave a tip for the cleaning staff at your hotel. Most shops still accept cash so if you still have some at the end you can use it (or use it at the airport).

I agree, it is nice to have some, just in case, but my last trip for several days, a avoided using any cash. 20 GBP per person, as a security blanket would be fine, then just use it up your last day.

I like having a few pounds as I always add to the donation jar at museums. I’m old school and leave a tip for my hotel room staff as well.

Otherwise it’s all about using a tap debit or credit card.

Ditto the others. In December the only cash I used a tip and ensure each employee received a portion since two people helped us. Otherwise, my last two visits to London have been contactless payment. I always have some cash, but I carry less each trip.

I visit 4-5 times a year and carry around the same £20 note I've had for the past few years. I can't think of the last time I used cash.

I don't pay tips in cash, and I don't use cash. I live an hour or so from London and am in London fairly frequently, but more as a local than a tourist.

My wallet has £70 in it (most of it unchanged for over 4 years) and a couple of cards but I'm thinking I need to take most of that out. I put my wallet in my pocket when I leave the house, along with a small bottle of sanitiser and my keys, and when I get home I take them back out. The only time I open my wallet is to show a membership card to places we are members of. I go months without pulling out a card - I use my iPhone for everything. Tube, bus, restaurants, car fuel and car washes, shops, parking, supermarkets (I scan at shops and pay on the phone so no human contact).

I don't carry any coins.

I think that most urban Brits are like me - but maybe not

4 years and I haven’t touched any cash.

The most recent UK Finance report which is for 2023 states that around 40% of people are essentially cashless by choice. By contrast those that only use cash is around 2%.

Looking from the other end though cash is still the 2nd most used payment method, a long way behind debit cards but just ahead of credit cards and bank transfers and other means a bit further back. Cheques are nearly extinct at 0.2%.

cannot remember when I last wrote a cheque

I still use cash from time to time and in particular for a few people who I buy foodstuff from who only take cash.

The vast majority of spend is by credit card and I use a physical card (or rather 1 of 3 depending on circumstance). I have them all set up on my phone as well but find it easier to use the card itself.

I haven’t written a cheque for a good while now but I still handle them regularly. I run a small charity lottery and many members renew their subscription each year by cheque so I’m often taking them into the bank.

Would someone please explain to me why merchants are preferring debit/credit cards vs cash? The cards almost always have a fee the merchant must pay when it is used. What offsets this charge to the merchant that makes it their preferred method of being paid?

Would someone please explain to me why merchants are preferring debit/credit cards vs cash?

The fee argument is overstated, to the point that many believe it. Yes there is a fee for the merchant to accept a card, the fee is more in the US than the UK and the EU, but not a great deal.

The advantage of accepting cards is greatly reduced handling of cash. It is not "free" to do cash business. Someone needs to count it, track it, have change, balance it against receipts, take it to the bank, etc. Cash is susceptible to "shrinkage" through theft or mishandling.

If you were all card business, receipts and cash flow are the same, banking is automatic, little time spent counting and opening/closing a till, you simply run a report. Paying Mastercard a small fee is cheaper than having someone on staff to manage cash.

Businesses that insist on cash, or prefer cash, simply have a narrow view of their costs, and or find a "tax advantage" in dealing with cash. There may be some exceptions for businesses where all purchases are very small, but more and more, even that excuse is going away.

I’m just back from 23 days in England, 18 in London. I used credit for almost everything, including donations at museums and churches. I did leave a cash tip for my housekeeping at the 3 different hotels I stayed in. That was the only cash ‘transaction’; never came in contact with any pay toilets for instance, that used to be a thing but in the UK maybe not anymore.

Thanks, Paul. Your explanation makes sense to me. P.S. I was born in N.E. Iowa.

There’s a further issue with traders accepting cash, at least in the UK, in that in many areas a lot of bank branches have closed meaning the effort to get cash into bank accounts is often more time consuming.

When a remote coworker of mine went to London, I shipped her a little care package with a variety of useful things like power adaptors and the leftover cash and coins I had in a little box.
I kept getting THANK YOU messages from her that I SAVED her and her sister by having the coins for the pay toilets they needed :) I guess some cash is still a useful thing.
Hope you have a great trip!
-Alison