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Cash can actually be fairly expensive for businesses to handle. It needs to be insured, transported and often banks will charge fees for depositing cash into a business bank account. Depending on the specific circumstances, it can actually be as, if not more, expensive to process than cards.

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Plus the additional exposure to risk of robbery or theft by employees. Unless the objective to hide income, businesses not taking cards is typically penny wise and pound foolish.

And yet, my local liquor store gives a 1% discount if you use cash (no, this doesn't violate the CC merchant agreement), a local diner doesn't even accept credit/debit cards, and the owner of another restaurant immediately went for cash when I asked if they cared. I don't buy it.

I'd venture a guess that that the liquor store and the restaurant do this for "accounting purposes" and the diner is living in the 80s. As I say though, I'm sure it varies based on specific situations, my experience is based on working with small business owners based in the UK.

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