Today in retail: Life in plastic, it’s fantastic?

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Card giant Visa today declared war on cash by offering retailers financial incentives to go cashless.

The company has begun a trial in the US, offering money to retailers and restaurants willing to stop accepting cash payments.

And it’s not stopping there: Visa has set its sights on a UK pilot too, taking advantage of the maturity of the market.

Cards overtook cash this year to become the UK’s most popular payment method for the first time, according to the BRC.

Visa claims that going cashless would make transactions more secure – of course, it would also benefit Visa, which makes money from transaction fees.

So perhaps it’s not an entirely altruistic venture – life in plastic really would be fantastic for Visa after all.

Also today, Dixons Carphone disposed of its Spanish business and we ask whether leisure might be more vulnerable than retail as consumers tighten their purse strings over the next year.

Quote of the day

“Reports of the death of ‘stuff’ are greatly exaggerated, and the combination of a squeeze on consumers’ disposable incomes and the emerging preferences of the post-millennial Generation Z, born from the late 1990s onwards, may tilt the balance back in favour of retailers”

PwC retail strategy director Kien Tan