A CAFÉ based in Chorlton has revealed plans to go cashless by 2018 due to the amount of crime in the area – but not everyone is on board.
The amount of crime in Chorlton has led 29-year-old café owner Shen Lu to convert the payment method of her business to a cashless transaction.
Barbecue, on Wilbraham Road, is aiming to completely eliminate cash transactions in the new year.
And although some customers aren’t happy about the change, Shen believes it is an innovative way for her business to grow.
“If we look at a few other European cities, card is more prominent,” Shen said. “It’s less and less that people are handling cash.
“I think for a small business, it will really benefit the system, how it works, and then we can just focus on doing what we want to do.”
Owner Shen Lu says the cashless scheme will go ahead, with around 83% of voters supporting her decision.
“We did a few trial days in the shop to get some feedback from customers, as well as on social media,” Shen said. “We got about 83 percent of people voting for ‘yes they like the idea’.
“We spoke to people who voted no, and some of them don’t have a card and then the others just said they prefer the choice to pay with cash sometimes when they’ve got change.”
Shen says it will make the workplace in her café safer and easier for the staff. She told Quays News that the café will be less of a target for robbers in the area.
“For the last few months there’s a bit of crime going around in the area,” Shen told Quays News. “We had to call the police twice, and because someone broke into a vehicle in the car park in the back of the shop.
“So, we’re a bit concerned of our staff’s safety to handle the cash on a daily basis.
“As well, there’s a lot of admin involved for at least an hour per day, to count the coins and then the cash-up at the end of the day.”
Contactless payment and Apple Pay will be the focal way to pay for your bill at Barbecue café, however Shen has also considered allowing regular elders to continue paying with cash.
“If people don’t have a card with them, mainly from the older generation, we’ve got a few regulars that they generally don’t know how to use their card or they don’t have a card, then we’ll consider taking a few cash payments from them,” Shen told Quays News.
Shen also trades on the market every weekend, which she hopes will accept her plans to use a cashless payment scheme.
“We also trade in the market just for the weekends,” Shen said. “So, if it goes well in the café, we will speak to other traders in the market and see what they think about it or see how the customers there feel about it.
“Because that one is a more traditional farmers market, a lot of traders prefer taking cash in that sense.”
Shen aims to enroll her cashless scheme out next year, in 2018. The café, based in Chorlton on Wilbraham Road serves a multitude of coffee indulgences, just make sure you pay cashless.
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