MANCHESTER, England – A cashless society experiment in the United Kingdom resulted in mixed reactions from merchants. The project took place last week in a shopping district in Manchester, England, where electronic-only payments were the stated preference. On that day, the Beech Road retail neighborhood boasted the moniker of being the United Kingdom’s first-ever cashless shopping area. The exercise was the brainchild of Handepay, a card payment processor.

Inevitably, some business owners and managers liked the prospect of a cashless society while others did not. According to an article in The Guardian, some displayed signs informing customers they had opted-out of the experiment. Others, however, felt that the eventual elimination of cash in society is inevitable, and adopted an “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” attitude toward the event.

While it is not known if any businesses specifically refused to take any cash at all on that day, extensive pre-publicity did seem to have an impact. One pub in the area estimated that they took in about 10% less cash than usual, getting the sense that customers seemed eager to be involved.

Other businesses plainly rejected the cashless society experiment, displaying signs for all to see that they had no plans for involvement. One restaurant manager described the exercise as pointless, in a conversation with The Guardian.

While the “let’s give it a try” experiment on Beech Road could be characterized as largely a novelty, there’s no doubt that we are moving toward a more cash-less society.

The unorthodox idea of refusing cash is not limited to businesses in the United Kingdom. At least one retailer in the United States, Boulder, Colorado’s GoLite athletic apparel retailer, refused a recent cash payment. An employee confided that, because a low percentage of the store’s sales had been paid with cash that “it wasn’t worth it.”

Mark Latham, who works for Handepay, the card processor responsible for the cashless society experiment in Manchester, told The Guardian that he was “delighted thatso many independent businesses took the opportunity to engage their customers about how they like to spend.” Latham’s company — and others — has an indisputable interest in seeing a greater proportion of merchant transactions placed on cards; his business and others like it receive a percentage of every transaction.