Cash Means Freedom for Many Irish Citizens

Recognising that cash means freedom for many citizens, Ireland’s government is introducing legislation to ensure all pharmacies, supermarkets and convenience stores accept cash and exploring further measures to defend payment choice.

In addition to this, the Irish Independent reports, banks will be legally obliged to retain a certain number of ATMs to ensure reasonable coverage, with a minimum number to be set per 100,000 residents. Third party ATM operators will also be required to have €10 and €20 notes available.

The new measures are set to be introduced as part of the National Payments Strategy currently under development and will counter the ‘cashless creep’ that some have seen as a warning sign that Irish citizens may see their payment choice limited in future.

Physical money remains popular, with Ireland’s Department of Finance Consumer Banking Survey 2023 shows 94 percent of adults use cash, with one in four preferring it over other payment methods. 78 percent of adults report using ATMs to withdraw cash, with 17 percent making in-person withdrawals from a bank branch, 18 percent using cashback from retailers and nine percent using a post office.

Writing for RTÉ—Ireland’s national public service media—Olive McCarthy of Cork University Business School suggests ‘a cashless society may never emerge in Ireland’, noting that recent high profile examples of businesses and institutions removing (or attempting to remove) the option to pay for services in cash has heightened public awareness of the importance of fighting for freedom in payments.

In 2022, Allied Irish Banks (AIB) rapidly walked back plans to make many branches cashless following a major public backlash that reached right up to Prime Minister Micheál Martin. In 2023, the Gaelic Athletic Association, the National Ploughing Championships, Irish Rail and the National Car Testing Service all faced criticism for restricting or removing cash payment options, with some following AIB in reversing course.

McCarthy says cashless creep can also be seen in lower-profile areas such as carparks, festivals, laundrettes, garage forecourts and even some public toilets. Where services are not entirely cashless, they may introduce a ‘cash premium’ making payments with banknotes and coins more expensive, such as the TFI Leap Card—a prepaid travel card—which is up to 30 percent cheaper when paying with cashless options.

The new legislation offers hope for cash and payment choice, however, with Minister for Finance Michael McGrath also sending a ‘strong signal’ in requesting public bodies ‘continue accepting cash payments pending completion of the National Payments Strategy’ this year. The European Commission has also proposed pro-cash legislation that would ensure cash ‘remains present, available and accepted by all euro-area residents and enterprises.’