Cash and Card Acceptance in Retail Payments: Motivations and Factors

The landscape of payment methods in retail is a complex and evolving area. Vendors are motivated to conduct an appropriate analysis to decide what payment methods to accept out of a vast range of options. Many factors are included in this decision process, some qualitative and some quantitative. The following research project investigates vendors' acceptance of cards and cash from various viewpoints, all chosen to represent a novel perspective, including the barriers and preferences for each and correlations with external demographic factors. We observe that lower interchange fees, limited in this instance by the regulatory framework, play a crucial role in facilitating merchants' acceptance of card payments. The regulatory constraints on interchange fees create a favorable cost structure for merchants, making card payment adoption financially feasible. However, additional factors like technological readiness and consumer preferences might also play a significant role in their decision-making process. We also note that aggregate Merchant Service Providers (MSPs) have positively impacted the payment landscape by offering more competitive fee rates, particularly beneficial for small merchants and entrepreneurs. However, associated risks, such as account freezes or abrupt terminations, pose challenges and often lack transparency. Last, the quantitative analysis of the relationship between demographic variables and acceptance of payment types is presented. This analysis combines the current landscape of payment acceptance in the UK with data from the most recent census from 2021. We show that the unemployment rates shape card and cash acceptance, age affects contactless preference, and work-from-home impacts credit card preference.