As Banks and Card Schemes try to force consumers towards accepting the end of cash, with heavily hyped messages about the "convenience benefits of plastic cards”, a major retailer has now revealed that cash is in fact not only more convenient but also cheaper than plastic to handle. With the introduction of a contactless retail payment system in London less than six months away, Boots, part of Alliance Boots PLC, has gone on record to publicise the use of cash over plastic.

According to Julian Niblett, Head of Payment for the pharmacy chain, it costs Boots just half a pence to process a typical cash transaction less than ten pounds, but nearly ten times as much as that if the transaction is conducted with a card.

Ron Delnevo, Managing Director of Bank Machine Limited, applauds the honesty of such a major retailer. He says “It is so easy to cave in to the pressure exerted by the all-powerful banks and their card schemes to eliminate cash. Now, at last, a major retailer has struck a blow for what we know the public want by using it: CASH. Around 70% of all transactions in the UK are still carried out using cash and now we see exactly why: it is the cheapest and most convenient way of making a retail purchase"

A recent YOUGOV survey, commissioned by Bank Machine, has also revealed that the British public prefers to pay by cash. The independent results concluded that 75% of the British public prefer to use cash and are not happy with the thought of the UK becoming a ‘cashless society’.

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For further information please contact Sophie Lennon at The SPA Way on 020 7403 6900 or email sophie.lennon@thespaway.com

Notes to Editors

About Bank Machine: Based in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Bank Machine is the leading independent ATM operator in the UK with well over 1400 ATMs in a variety of locations including forecourts, convenience stores, shopping centres and cinemas. The company has been in business since 1998 and employs over 50 staff. For more information about Bank Machine visit www.bankmachine.com

Bank Machine is a division of American Owned Cardtronics – the world’s largest ATM Operator which provides ATM’s across the US and Mexico. Founded in 1989, the company now has more than 26,000 ATM locations, coverering all 50 states of the USA.