A cashless society is coming - and it's time we got ready

The global IT outage provided a timely warning of the risks inherent in going fully digital, but the new rules about access to banking may be too little and too late

- James Moore

If any good has come from the largest tech outage in history, it is that it reminded the world just how reliant we have become on technology that can fail; that contactless isn’t a convenient way to pay during a digital blackout – and that old-fashioned cash has its advantages.

Days after the global IT disruption, which paralysed banks, transport systems and the NHS, the City of London watchdog has applied the brakes on the juggernaut that had been hurtling us towards a fully cashless society. Under new rules announced by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), banks and building societies will need to be alert to “cash deserts” – places with no easy means of withdrawing cash, either in branches or from ATMs – and take measures to plug significant gaps accordingly.