Age UK throws weight behind Don't Kill Cash campaign as elderly Britons face cashless 'trouble'
Age UK throws weight behind Don't Kill Cash campaign as elderly Britons face cashless 'trouble'
GB News
Age UK has announced its support GB News’ campaign not to kill cash.
The charity, which hopes to protect elderly people, warned many elderly Britons are reliant on cash and moving towards a digitised economy could hinder them financially.
Age UK also claimed many OAPs were still massively reliant on using notes and that many struggle with “clunky” apps.
Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director from Age UK, told GB News: “We hear quite a lot from older people who are frustrated about their inability to get cash, and then find problems actually spending it because more and more ways of buying things are going digital by default.
An elderly gentleman surfs the internetPA“So, you know, it's not unusual now to go into a high street shop and see a little sign that says we don't take cash, or we take cards only.
"And of course, also there are bugbears for lots of people like the switch away from the old pounds in the slot to pay for your parking.
"First of all, it became a card and a bit of a phone and now it seems it's not even going to be that anymore and it's going to move over to you needing an app which means you've got to have a smartphone.
“Quite a lot of older people have phones."
Younger woman with elderly womanPexels"They've got mobile phones, but they haven't necessarily got a really well functioning modern smartphone which you do need really to use an app.
“I think what most older people want if they're not online is they want to talk to someone.
"They want to be able to make a transaction face to face and of course.
“I know that's not very good for businesses because it means you’ve got to pay those people's wages, but all those jobs, where people who used to interface with the public for those transactions are going."
A stock image of an elderly man on his phone
Pexels"Instead, we are expecting people to be able to do it online, or in advance and all of that it's really difficult for some people.
“It's not helpful if you're an older person trying to live in this kind of society. Unless of course you are internet savvy and there are all the people who are brilliant at the Internet.
“If you didn’t use it at work, you can easily get to the age of 65, 70, 80 and need to be very careful to make sure that you're not sending money to the wrong person or things like that.
"And if you do, then you can end up in quite a lot of trouble.
More than 50,000 people have signed GB News' Don't Kill Cash campaign in just 24 hoursGB News“So actually, even people who are our online, we're probably exaggerating the extent of their capability to use online mechanisms, some of which are very clunky still,
“For some people it's great. But we always need to have an alternative for people that is user friendly and also isn't charging them more just because they're not online.”
Age UK's endorsement comes after 185,000 people signed GB News' petition against killing cash.
A number of high profile figures have also thrown their weight behind the campaign, including RMT general secretary Mick Lynch and Pimlico Plumbers founder Charlie Mullins.