A Barclays customer has complained about a rule which left her unable to change notes which no shop would take. Taking to X the shopper complained they had got some money out opf a Barclays cashpoint – and had been given £50 notes.

When they realised they popped into the branch to get it changed because they thought they’d have trouble spending it. YHowever they were turned away. On X, Julie said: “Just been given £50 notes from a @barclays cashpoint. Not accepted in most shops these days.

And the high street bank replied, saying the staff had been correct to refuse to change the cash to more easily usable notes. It said: “Hey Julie I hope you are keeping well. I’m sorry to hear that you’re facing some issues paying with a £50 note which was given to you from one of our ATM’s. I can appreciate how frustrating it can be when a shop doesn’t accept legal tender!

“In regard to changing this in one of our branches, that is correct you would need to be a Barclays Customer for us to be able to process this and I do apologise for any inconvenience this has caused. If you’d like to discuss this further with myself then please pop into our DM’s and we can take it from there.

“Alternatively, if you’d like to find other ways to discuss this with us then please visit our contact us page to find how to do this securely.”

Last year analysis published by LINK, the UK’s cash access and ATM network, showed the UK is moving towards a low cash society, albeit at different speeds across the country.

It found that cash use has fallen with most recent industry statistics showing that cash represented 12% of all payments, down from around one-quarter of all payments in 2020, and 60% back in 2008.

Total ATM transaction numbers, which includes balance enquires, have also fallen significantly. In 2019, there were 1.73bn transactions compared to 921mn in 2024, a 47% drop. However, LINK data shows that the average withdrawal value has increased from £65 to £85 over the same time period.

Link added: “Yet cash is still critical to every high street. Even in the quietest and most remote constituencies, over £400,000 was still withdrawn from LINK ATMs every month last year. In total, £79.5bn was withdrawn across the country, and surveys show around five million people still depend on cash.”

John Howells, CEO, Link, said: “COVID changed how we live, how we work, and for many people, how we manage our cash. Cash use remains popular – we still withdrew £250m a day in 2024. The fact that areas which are more deprived are moving away from cash more slowly is a timely reminder that we cannot afford to leave anyone behind, and that we need to focus more on digital inclusion as part of how technology is rolled out across the UK.”