Cashless Society

[Snippysnips]

I feel I've more control over money with my card, with being able to set limits an always being able to check how much is coming off each time as well as how much is being spent, money seems to evaporate when I have it lol, but it does seem more an more places want to push for contactless, if I go anywhere I also check what they take now as some places will say they prefer contactless an may not take cash

 

[emm]

I hardly ever use cash nowadays, I find it easier to use my phone. I have to authenticate it with Face ID so it's secure.

I did recently need to get some cash out and the queue for the cashpoint was long. So lots of people are clearly still using it!

where I live recently there is a worsening issue of phones being snatched at all times of day, even in places surrounded by other people (and even police, at times) I would be nervous about relying on this, for this reason if nothing else, but also I have heard about people whose phones run out of battery and then been stuck on transport when they cannot pay/prove that they have paid

 

[emm]

Lots of bus drivers don't seem to want to faff on with change, especially people paying with notes. I can understand them not wanting to carry cash.
But what would they for children getting the bus? Youngsters pay cash.

They should make it like a lot of other European countries where you have to pay in exact change if you want to use it for the bus if they don't want to be faffing with change, I was in Nottingham recently and that's how it was there too

 

[AllSeeingEye123]

Poundland Rod Stewart at it again in his Daily Star article today. Of course people using cash again during a cost of living crisis is dodgy. Nothing to do with it being easier to budget and cash being more reliable than technology. Of course 2020 was a record low when shops didn't want to accept it but now brilliantly use has shot up. Businesses cannot afford to turn away business by staying cashless in tough times.

 

[openbook1]

same I go to lots of markets where not alll stalls accept cash, on a day to day bassis I mainly use contacless but I always have some cash with me just in case. I feel bad for homeless people especially, most people now don't carry cash so cannot give anything

Load up some gift cards, Starbucks, McDonald's, Pret, Burger King, Tesco or whatever, keep some in your bag and you can give those to homeless people.

 

[emm]

But when it comes down to it it’s the shops/restaurant/ businesses problem if the technology goes down. I wouldn’t spend my life worrying I might have a meal but then the machines broken. It’s no big deal, go back rhe next day or bank transfer or whatever. It’s so rare you hardly need to consider it.

When the system went down before loads of people I know (I live in London) ended up not able to use their contactless card as payment to get home and had to walk hours, luckily at the time I was using an oyster card so I was okay

 

[Homebird44]

It's becoming a regular occurrence to be stuck behind someone struggling to pay for food,ticket or petrol because of some problem with their phone. And them not having any other form of payment. Wtf is wrong with people, it's been people of all ages as well. It actually turns my stomach seeing people pay by their phones.
There are more and more places that are card only . I boycott them. Someone told me easyjet flights are card only.
[/QUOTE]

Turns your stomach!! Hahaha. How strange. If people are happy to use their phones, that's up to them. I mostly shop online, rarely visit a shop. It takes 2 seconds for me to tap in my security code and see how much is in my bank account. I would have to drive to a cash machine otherwise. Times have moved on.

 

[emm]

I’m sure your friends are lovely but they don’t sound like they know anything more about a cashless society than the rest of us. Maybe they’re just traumatised from growing up in such a horrible situation. Not comparable
To U.K. in 2021

these are people who still live in Germany but it is their attiutude when they visit the UK

 

[Homebird44]

My kids school dinners is cash only. And I’m really annoyed as I gave him a ten pound note this week and it got stolen.
The head of year is fuming and it’s fairly obvious which class the culprit came from so fingers crossed.

I always used to get pound coins to give a set amount daily but my local branch has closed and even the post office won’t give me change. Wtf do they think I’m doing with it, money laundering? So frustrating when in this case cash is the only option.

I've asked my local Tesco to change a tenner into coins before. Might be worth asking.

 

[Kim Mild]

I have noticed in my local Tesco store, that all of the cash only self sevice points, are "out of order." Roughly translated, it means that the card only points, will be the only ones in use from now on.
Incidently, have you heard any of the cashiers in your local supermarket, ask if you would like any cash back lately? I didn't think so!
I know there are so many other important problems to deal with at the moment, but I urge those of you that don't want a casless society to fight this. We don't have to accept this.

I was refused cashback in a store. They said it's because they have cashpoint outside.

 

[Homebird44]

It’s maybe easier for them with tax returns but it’s not superior. So long as they give you a receipt it should be easy for them to complete their tax return anyway.

Everyone’s different with money and I don’t begrudge anyone who prefers electronic payments but I don’t think a cashless society would work for me and many others. I only really use my card for bigger transactions where I’d feel unsafe carrying a large amount of money. I also feel like a lot of people miss out on tips when you don’t pay with cash like delivery drivers, hairdressers, restaurant staff etc. I know some industry’s have included a tip option by card but many people are probably going to be more generous if you’ve got change in your purse than rounding it off to the nearest pound or something for a card fee if that makes sense.

That depends if you're a tipper. I tip in restaurants if the service is good but I don't tip anybody else. My hairdresser charges enough. I worked in hospitality for years and families would save for a long time to have a meal with us, I wouldn't expect anybody to leave a tip.

 

[Captainmouse]

When the pandemic first hit, a lot of supermarkets encouraged no cash spending and stopped offering cashback.
Its never been reintroduced in @sda and I don’t think there are plans to. We stopped automatically asking people if they want cshback well before the pandemic, it slows the checkout process down.

But I thought they offered it as it saved them time and money?

 

[Eltonjohnsflorist]

I really don’t mind this. Of course the major elephant in the room is crime- how does one pay for their drugs without cash? (Bitcoin?) if there is no cash there’s no cash- homeless people won’t have it, no (buskers in London already accept contactless!) because there won’t be any to give them.
Pocket money is easily replaced by go Henry etc cards. There isn’t really a valid reason I can see. Elderly people might like cash but presumably they’ve withdrawn it from the bank anyway, they don’t have a cash tree. Instead of withdrawing it they use their debit card.

eta- maybe with the homeless problem it’s time to look realistically at what street sleepers need. Cash just gets you stuff. It’s the stuff you want, not the cash

 

[Kim Mild]

I do think some people are a bit hyperbolic about the problems banks sometimes have. It's very rare and then you'd just need a credit card or 2nd free bank account.

Does anyone else remember just how many fake £1 there was before the new one? It was something like 1/30 iirc.

There's payment cards for children that lots get their pocket money added to, go Henry and all that.

Children can get pocket money electronically but if they call in at a shop for sweets after school, they pay cash.

Having worked in retail, there were little blips with card payments most days. Sometimes it was the banks themselves but often it was our phone lines/ WiFi these days having a temporary blip.
Often customers had problems with declined cards / issues with their account they were unaware of ( that we obviously got blamed for).

In these cases , it is easier to use cash

 

[Homebird44]

Many banks have closed local branches as more customers move online. My local banks an hour away now so I’m advised to use a post office! It’s becoming quite restricted for where and when you can lift cash or deposit cash. Postcode lottery.

An hour away!! Where do you live?? Thats crazy.

 

[RR20]

I pay on card for most purchases and have done since before Covid as I don't like carrying a lot of loose change and I don't have to keep making trips to the ATM. Around Xmas last year I tried to withdraw some money for a relative to put in their card but the ATM wouldn't return my card and the convenience shop owners had to open up the machine to get my card back.

Also, a few years ago I had to pay by cash for bus fares but since Covid, buses in my area allow people to pay with card which personally I do find more convenient and it means I don't have to keep going to the ATM for cash.

There's a couple of convenience stores near where I work which have a £3 minimum spend on card so someone wanting to buy one bar of chocolate would probably prefer paying with cash so not all businesses are that card friendly.

 

[StephenTJackson]

I mean wh

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As opposed to huge corporations (and prime minister) not paying taxes?

I didn't specifically criticise the small businesses who do such things, accidentally in "" as in accidentally on purpose. Like you say, big business does it, PM does it, rich bastards do it. Everyone who wants to fiddle the system in some way will do it. Whether it is someone fraudulently claiming benefits or a corporation avoiding billions in tax.

This was just a point on small businesses having easy opportunities to fiddle when doing cash in hand dealings.

 

[Eltonjohnsflorist]

When the system went down before loads of people I know (I live in London) ended up not able to use their contactless card as payment to get home and had to walk hours, luckily at the time I was using an oyster card so I was okay

So even then, they didn’t revert to the readily available safety net of paying by cash? If they don’t use it when technology did down then there’s your answer!

 

[StrawberryCream]

If society does collapse, or there is a technology outage lasting some time, cash will be the only way to get goods and services (or barter with people).

When is this internet crash supposed to happen or does no one know? I just wonder if it will be after we are on digital currencies therefore cash will be useless anyway

 

[Homebird44]

Absolutely it was. Keeping cash alive, having something to read to pass the time, getting out of the house for a bit to go fetch it. Not all of us want to pay on card for such a small value item. It's utterly pointless when one coin can do the same thing. Luckily we have the Telegraph continuing to name and shame places who don't want our business and the majority of people still want to pay with cash.

archive.md

Surely its easier to pop into a local shop for a paper and drink and use your card? I don't carry cash on me, car parks are card payments and cash as gifts are done as bank transfers. I'm not going to go to a cash machine, get a tenner out, just to spend £1.50. If you already have change then shops should take it, but it can't happen that often. I worked in bars and restaurants for years and rarely handled cash.