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Dear Deputy Tadier ,
Thank you for your letter of 13th June asking for Digital Jersey's views on your 'Acceptance of Cash Payments Review'.
Whilst I would be happy to meet with the panel to go into any areas in detail and take any questions on the subject, I wanted to make a relatively brief submission of my main views on this subject.
As background, in my career I have worked extensively for organisations including NatWest, Mondex UK, Visa International and a consortium of mobile operators to develop and launch various electronic cash and mobile payment services, and Digital Jersey still focuses partly on enabling a variety of e-commerce initiatives in Jersey.
Firstly I would stress that I would not favour a move to turn Jersey into a completely cashless society. Whilst I believe it would bring many efficiency benefits to the island and create additional PR around Jersey as an increasingly digital place, I do not believe those benefits would outweigh the loss of choice in payments to various parts of the community, especially the elderly.
Secondly, however, I do not believe that Government should mandate the acceptance of cash on any business in Jersey unless offering an essential and/or regulated service where access needs to be protected, e.g. transport, utilities, etc. Obviously I would include access to Government provided services as falling under that category.
It is no accident that electronic payments are preferred by the vast majority of consumers and businesses, as they are more convenient, faster and often cheaper despite the fees
involved. There are many hidden costs associated with cash (loss and theft, time to count and transport, bank fees, security, etc.) in addition to the hygiene issues, especially for businesses handling food and drink. There are also costs to Government in the use of cash by businesses and citizens to avoid taxation.
Many of these above issues, exaggerated during the Covid pandemic, saw an acceleration of particularly contactless (card and mobile) transactions which has remained since, with many consumers no longer using cash. Even many of our traditional 'honesty boxes' now take contactless payments. A good example of electronic payments being preferred by consumers is parking, where I believe PayByPhone now accounts for around 80% of non season ticket payments compared with 20% for paycards.
In summary therefore I believe the panel should recommend the protection of cash payments for defined essential services, including those provided by Government, but not mandate any other business to continue accepting cash if they believe their business model would be better without it. Those businesses should be allowed to make their own decision on the subject based on their knowledge of their business model and customer base.
As I said, I would be more than happy to meet with the panel to discuss these and other points. Best,
Tony.
Tony Moretta CEO