There's no "what next". The government only has one official currency.

Not where I live :D

> In most countries of the world the issue of banknotes is handled exclusively by a single central bank or government, but in the United Kingdom seven retail banks have the right to print their own banknotes in addition to the Bank of England; sterling banknote issue is thus not automatically tied in with one national identity or the activity of the state.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_the_pound_sterlin...

For instance if I were to go further south, any Scottish notes I have would not be accepted in a load of places. More generally using banknotes from Northern Ireland in Britain will get you funny looks and a near 100% refusal.

> I can see all the advantages from their POV

Advantages of cashless? Is the cost of handling cash really greater than the percentage paid to the payment processors? It's an honest question and I'd be interested in some real studies on this because it would seem to be a hard metric to measure.

From my limited view of it all. Having no cash means a reduced risk of robbery, burglary, stealing cash by staff, not having to do bank runs, getting change in etc.

I don't know the costs or anything, but it must make sense for these businesses at least?

Does it make sense? Do the things you list add up to 2.5% - 3% of their revenue? I don't know.

I don't think they're that high. I did a brief search and both locations mentioned are using the iZettle in the following link (1.75%) - https://merchantmachine.co.uk/contactless/