A public spending watchdog has claimed that around £50 billion in UK banknotes is currently unaccounted for.
That means that there is an incredibly large sum of money out there, and nobody knows where it is.
Obviously it ain’t all in the same place, but then where is it?
Basically, they could be stashed in someone’s mattress, shoved into overseas holdings or even suitcases, or they could be behind the back of the couch.
Very little is known about the mystery missing money, but – according to the National Audit Office (NAO) – it could even be held for use in the ‘shadow economy’.
Credit: PA
In case you’re wondering, the shadow economy includes – but is not completely limited to – money that comes from illegal endeavours.
It’s also simply unreported income from production of legal goods and services, but that’s not as exciting, is it?
The most of it is probably ill-gotten gains, anyway.
The NAO states that there is basically no way of knowing how much of the missing cash is in which place, but that a ‘fragmented’ approach is being undertaken by the big players of the UK’s cash system, whereas they need to co-ordinate and work together if they’re ever to figure out where all of this paper is at.
Credit: PA
The five players in this piece are the Treasury, the Bank of England, the Financial Conduct Authority, the Royal Mint, and the Payment Systems Regulator.
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However, they can’t agree on one strategy, and have no consensus on what would be the best outcome for the consumer, and how the cost of the search for this money would be paid for.
We don’t currently have a body that is responsible solely for checking up on the cash system.
The NAO also went on to state that it could take more than a decade for the UK’s current stocks of 2p and £2 coins to diminish.
Credit: PA
Gareth Davies, the head of the NAO, explained to The Metro: “As society progresses towards the wide use of digital payments, the use of cash in transactions is dwindling.
“It may become harder for people to access cash when they need it and those without the means to pay digitally will struggle if cash is not accepted.’
“HM Treasury now works more closely with the public bodies in the cash system to achieve the Government’s goal of safeguarding access to cash.
“However, the approach is fragmented, and it is not clear that the action being taken will keep up with the pace of change.”
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