How does a fraudster just released from prison pay in shops because apparently convicted fraudsters are not allowed bank accounts ?

I'm a senior citizen who has hardly ever used anything other than cash when I shop. I was a retailer for 35+ years and always dealt in cash. Cash is not becoming extinct!

No merchant can refuse to accept cash for any purchase.  It's written right on the bills, "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private."

Its going to take awhile for you to get a card or bank account again. Maybe years. 

You will have to deal with cash transactions and probably use expensive check cashing facilities to cash a check.. That's what happens when you commit fraud and get a criminal record because of it.  Hopefully you will have learned a lesson and not do such things in the future.

10 years from now you will look back on this time with sad reflections of your own bad decisions making processes. But hopefully by then you will have a checking account and maybe one high rate secured credit card.

Cash is not becoming extinct, and nearly all brick and mortar shops would rather you pay with cash.  

Debit and credit card processing companies charge a merchant a fee for plastic sales.  Its usually between 1 and 3 percent of the sale.  For a small business already on a razor thin profit margin, that is a big deal.  

"nearly all shops?"  Bull. Cash is still accepted at any shop or merchant that is an actual store everywhere. 

MOST stores still accept cash.

People convicted of fraud CAN have bank accounts. The banks may impose stricter rules on their accounts, but there is no rule against having accounts.

Note: babyboomer1001 is incorrect. Legal tender is NOT required to be accepted for purchase of goods or services. It is "legal tender for all debts'. The link below is where the US TREASURY states what I just said.

Cash is not extinct in anyplace in the USA. 

i would ask one of them

They are allowed in the U.K. so which country is this?

I can't remember the last time I saw a shop that refused cash.  It certainly is not a common thing.

I've also never had a bank run a criminal background check on me in order to open an account.  Have you?