ONLY CRIMINALS WILL MISS CASH:

Many of the benefits of this are clear: lower costs, a more competitive choice of banks and payment services, greater security for consumers and lower fraud and theft.

As many have found during the pandemic, there are huge benefits for businesses too. Every business can transact directly with its end customers and in so doing gain data - often for the first time - and establish powerful feedback loops, boosting productivity and growth.

For government there are gains from reducing the 'grey' economy which the Institute for Economic Affairs has estimated to account for around 10% of UK GDP. As we seek to rebalance the UK's public finances post-Covid, bringing this informal, or sometimes illegal, activity within the scope of tax for the first time would be a much better option than increasing the rates of those already paying their fair share. [...]

By setting an explicit target of 2030 now, the Government would help the UK's payment providers to plan their investment, unleash a wave of innovators to solve any problems along the way and boost the UK's FinTech sector, which is already world leading and a major contributor to British exports.

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