Four of the seven venues operated by National Museums Liverpool are unable to process electronic payments causing frustration for visitors not carrying cash. Tony McDonough reports
National Museums Liverpool (NML) is currently unable to process cash payments at four of its seven Merseyside venues.
This issue is causing frustration for visitors to the venues with many people these days opting not to carry cash. NML says it is working to get the issue, which has now been ongoing for around two weeks, resolved as soon as possible.
In a statement to LBN it said: “We are currently experiencing some issues with our card payments facilitator, affecting a number of our venues. Visitors to the Maritime Museum, Lady Lever Art Gallery, Walker Art Gallery and the exhibitions shop at World Museum are recommended to bring cash when they visit.
“We apologise for the inconvenience and are hopeful that the issues will be resolved shortly. We will keep our website updated with the latest information.”
LBN spoke to one visitor at the Lady Lever Gallery in Port Sunlight. He had come all the way from Yorkshire to visit the village.
“I tend to mostly use my card these days and often carry very little cash,” he said. “My wife and I have travelled a long way to visit Port Sunlight and we went to the cafe at the Lady Lever for lunch.
“We saw the sign saying ‘cash only’ and we had to drive around to find a cash point as there isn’t one in the immediate vicinity. We eventually found a petrol station machine. It was quite annoying.”
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Although there remains strong resistance in the UK towards a move to a cashless society, an increasing number of people are now choosing to pay by card or by using their mobile phones.
A survey carried out by the Link ATM network in May found the number of people who say they don’t carry cash has trebled since 2019. Many people say they carry cash in case they can’t pay by card, and the most popular amount is between £10 and £20.