“It’s Not Just Poor Design, It’s Discrimination”: The Growing Backlash Against Card-Only Self-Checkouts

From replacing human workers to constantly declaring there’s an ‘unexpected item in the bagging area’, people have a number of reasons to oppose self-checkouts.

For Anda Jansen though, it’s the fact many of these machines only accept card payments — and it’s an issue that’s increasingly frustrated her since a spinal injury two-and-a-half years ago.

‘I repeatedly found myself stuck in long queues just to access the only cash-accepting machine,’ the 37-year-old campaigner and artist from London tells Metro. ‘I’d be standing there, silently crying in my head, just trying to stay upright while everyone else breezed through card-only tills.’

Anda’s ‘final straw’ came on a recent trip to the supermarket. While customers paying by card were ushered ahead of her to the digital self-checkouts, she was completely ignored, with staff offering no help or service.

She recalls: ‘That moment made me feel invisible, excluded, and honestly, ashamed. All for trying to use the same money I’ve used my whole life.

‘That’s when it hit me: this isn’t just poor design. It’s discrimination. And if it’s affecting me, I knew it was affecting thousands of others too – especially elderly, disabled, and low-income people who rely on cash every day.’

And it seems she was right. After Anda calling on supermarkets to include ‘a fair number of cash-accepting tills’ in all self-checkout areas, she’s received a huge wave of support.

In two weeks, the petition has racked up over 65,000 signatures from people across the country; those with autism or learning difficulties who find budgeting easier in cash, those with visual impairments who prefer physical money they can handle and count, and those who simply object to the lack of choice as we move towards an all-digital economy.

‘Not everyone likes using card payments, and when technology fails and card readers go down everything would come to a standstill,’ wrote Heather, while another, Michelle, replied: ‘The use of cash should not become marginalised or stigmatised. It has worked for long enough, let’s not get rid of it, ease it away to the sidelines, or make it harder to use.’

A third commenter, George, described cash as ‘critical for society’, adding: ‘So much easier to manage and be aware of what you are physically spending than, tap, tap, tap on a card!’

Anda says the responses she’s received so far have been heartbreaking yet galvanising, including messages from elderly people who’ve been made to feel incompetent when trying to pay with coins and one woman shared that she cried in a shop after spoken down to for using her change.

She adds: ‘Companies call it “modernising,” but really, they’re narrowing choice and quietly excluding anyone who doesn’t fit into their digital-first model.’

Her comments echo those from Disability Rights UK (DRUK) and the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), who warned card payments becoming the default would create ‘more barriers’ for disabled people, as well a recent Treasury Committee report which found it could lead to a ‘two-tier society’ where vulnerable people are left behind.

While it stopped short of recommending a change in the law, it said ‘there may come a time in the future’ where cash acceptance is mandated, ‘if appropriate safeguards have not been implemented for those who need physical cash.’

Committee chair, Dame Meg Hillier, commented: ‘The Government is in the dark on how widely cash is being accepted and that is completely unsustainable… this needs to be a wake-up call.’

None of the major supermarkets Anda mentioned in the petition have responded to her yet, but she plans to create another on the UK Parliament website — and if this reaches 100,000 signatures, ministers must consider the issue for a debate.

‘The pressure is rising and the message is spreading,’ she adds. ‘Cash users are not a niche minority – we are a silenced majority. And now, we’re raising our voices.’

Although cash is considered ‘legal tender’, this only means it can’t be refused as payment for a court-ordered debt.

The Treasury explains: ‘The acceptance of physical currency in the UK is not currently specified in legislation. Businesses and organisations can therefore choose which payment methods they accept.’

If a retailer specifies card payment only and you’d prefer to use cash, unfortunately your only option at present is to take your business elsewhere.

Source: Metro