Visa encourages US businesses to go cashless with £500,000 in hard cash

Card payments giant Visa is offering 50 small US businesses a share of a $500,000 pot of money if they go totally cashless.

The money will be used to implement the technology the companies need to be able to accept a wide range of payment methods.

The Visa Cashless Challenge is aimed at restaurants, cafés and food truck owners to describe what cashless means for them, their employees and customers. Visa will award up to $500,000 to 50 eligible US-based small business food service owners who commit to joining the 100% cashless quest.

“At Visa, we believe you can be everywhere you want to be, and that it should be easy to pay and be paid in more ways than ever – whether it’s a phone, card, wearable or other device,” said Jack Forestell, head of global merchant solutions at Visa. 

“With 70% of the world, or more than five billion people, connected via mobile devices by 2020, we have an incredible opportunity to educate merchants and consumers alike on the effectiveness of going cashless.”

According to a recent study from Visa, in New York City alone, businesses could generate an additional $6.8bn in revenue and save more than 186 million work hours through digital payments.

The UK is also moving away from cash. In its latest report, the British Retail Consortium found that cash is no longer the most used payment method at retailers, with debit card payments taking the lead. The decline in cash’s importance has been accelerated by the rapid take-up of contactless payment technology embedded in cards.