Cashless society ?

Author
Discussion

Welshbeef

49,633 posts

197 months

Saturday 13th April 2019
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It makes money laundering far more difficult catches out those unscrupulous businesses who “£x for cash”
We could see a lot more tax revenue coming in to pay for our essential services

Buster73

5,042 posts

152 months

Saturday 13th April 2019
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In a pub behind KX on the regents canal a few weeks ago , cards only sign .

They stopped accepting cash about 6 weeks previously , asked the barman why , his reply was the delivery of change and cash collection charges were becoming far too expensive, management took the decision to end payment by cash and he said it was working fine.

It’s the future.

I’m saying that from the old fashioned bloke who likes a few bob in his pocket.

kambites

67,460 posts

220 months

Saturday 13th April 2019
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The only things I ever seem to use cash for are second-hand purchases and paying into the coffee kitty at work. Plus occasionally giving coins to street performers, beggers, etc. I can't remember the last time I used cash in a shop or pub.

ROSSinHD

821 posts

150 months

Saturday 13th April 2019
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Very rarely use cash and haven't done so for about 3 to 4 years now. Looking at my bank account this year I have withdrawn a total of £50 to date in cash from my account the rest of my spending is card based, on the flip side my parents are 99% cash based.

I have eaten at a restuarant / bar recently that is cashless, first time I have come across a true cashless business. Also ate at a restaurant on mothersday went to pay and the card machine had gone down. No issues, the owner gave me his bank details and I transferred it then and there.

Where I live I honestly cannot see a reason to carry cash on me, I am yet to find a place that I cannot tap or chip and pin and in 4 years of being as cashless as I can I have only had that one instance where a card machine was down.


cuprabob

14,414 posts

213 months

Saturday 13th April 2019
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Squiddly Diddly said:
Try paying for the air pump at a petrol station with your card.
Use Sainsburys as it's free smile

Only time I use cash these days is window cleaner and barber. Everything else goes on cashback credit card.

The_Doc

4,855 posts

219 months

Saturday 13th April 2019
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ROSSinHD said:
Very rarely use cash and haven't done so for about 3 to 4 years now. Looking at my bank account this year I have withdrawn a total of £50 to date in cash from my account the rest of my spending is card based, on the flip side my parents are 99% cash based.

I have eaten at a restuarant / bar recently that is cashless, first time I have come across a true cashless business. Also ate at a restaurant on mothersday went to pay and the card machine had gone down. No issues, the owner gave me his bank details and I transferred it then and there.

Where I live I honestly cannot see a reason to carry cash on me, I am yet to find a place that I cannot tap or chip and pin and in 4 years of being as cashless as I can I have only had that one instance where a card machine was down.
Do you live and work in an Urban, Suburban or Rural environment?
Because lots of us are very happy with 2G mobile signal, oil or pellet fired boilers and Cash!
Not to say contactless doesn't exist outside the town, but forum life and what's on the telly seems very...... city orientated these days...
No offence meant here.

Nickbrapp

5,277 posts

129 months

Saturday 13th April 2019
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The only place I regularly pay cash is the barbers, he says the card reader isn’t working but it’s clearly a tax dodge,

I had the problem of trying to find a car wash that would give me a receipt for washing my car, so I could claim it back on my expenses, evenautlly the hand ones in Tesco take card and provide a receipt

I was thinking we could never go cashless totally, because I was at the mumbles pier arcades with the 2p slots and fire the 10p at the line kind of thing, but even that had contactless on some of the machines, not all but some, like the air hockey etc, I also play a lot of pool and that’s always cash.

I sold about £200 worth of stuff on Facebook marketplace and that was paid in cash, I still have it all as I forget it’s there as I usually only ever pay with Apple Pay.

I’m not sure we will ever be totally cash free, but certainly 85% cash free, aside the odd machcine for games, parking, barbers etc

Squiddly Diddly

22,362 posts

156 months

Saturday 13th April 2019
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blueg33 said:
Our local petrol stations have contactless on the air pump
I'm happy to stand corrected then.

Tyre Smoke

23,018 posts

260 months

Saturday 13th April 2019
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I live and work in rural Devon, I don't have any problems with cashless. We take izettle payment in our taxis, and the only problem is where there is no mobile signal. But even this is no biggie, we know where the black holes are and take payment in advance. I've never had a problem paying for stuff with my card or contact less anywhere.

T-195

2,671 posts

60 months

Saturday 13th April 2019
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The_Doc said:
Do you live and work in an Urban, Suburban or Rural environment?
Because lots of us are very happy with 2G mobile signal, oil or pellet fired boilers and Cash!
Not to say contactless doesn't exist outside the town, but forum life and what's on the telly seems very...... city orientated these days...
No offence meant here.
Yes. Lot of the pubs around this way are cash only. No idea why any would thinl we no longer need cash. Clearly never been to a car booty.

craigjm

17,907 posts

199 months

Saturday 13th April 2019
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The argument against cashless is no different to those saying the model T would never replace the horse and every other big change like that. You don’t need cash it should just that some people are comfortable with it and don’t like change. It will happen and for many of us it already has.

Alucidnation

16,810 posts

169 months

Saturday 13th April 2019
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I only ever deal in cash.

craigjm

17,907 posts

199 months

Saturday 13th April 2019
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Alucidnation said:
I only ever deal in cash.
Get your wages in cash? Pay your mortgage and all your bills with cash?

ROSSinHD

821 posts

150 months

Saturday 13th April 2019
quotequote all
The_Doc said:
Do you live and work in an Urban, Suburban or Rural environment?
Because lots of us are very happy with 2G mobile signal, oil or pellet fired boilers and Cash!
Not to say contactless doesn't exist outside the town, but forum life and what's on the telly seems very...... city orientated these days...
No offence meant here.
I guess I am different as where I live within a 10 minute drive I can go from a city type enviroment to where I live that is surrounded by fields of cows and farms but equally I solely use card in the local city environement and through my weekend transactions in the country at the farmers market or local shop.

I donate to charity on a lump sum basis every year from my bonus, always have done so I do not donate to collections in the street due to this, we thought our window cleaner, a one man band, would want cash in hand but he prefers dropping an invoive through the box when he is done each month and we settle with a transfer. The buses are tap and go with a debit or credit card which is 20p cheaper than the cash based fare. All taxis by legislation have to accept cards now. Tips in a restaurant, I always ask if the tips go to the server / wait staff and if so just round up or add the tip on the machine. Had a girl babysit our boy for a day this week and she simply gave us her bank details when she had finished. I did think that cashless way of life had beaten me at Christmas though, local ice rink set up for the period with stalls around with cupcakes, hotdogs, drinks etc presumed they would be cash only as they as pop up type affairs and where this was there are no cash points anywhere near. Nope the guy had tap and go thing sticking out of an ipad so even bought cupcakes and a drink from a stall with card, had a chat to him and it is powered by a Paypal account which is the method the local independant taxi's take card. He said at the end of the day it may cost him X amount but for people like me that do not cary cash he would lose the sale if he didn't take cash so would rather take less profit than none at all.





Edited by ROSSinHD on Saturday 13th April 12:06

sas62

5,624 posts

77 months

Saturday 13th April 2019
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I don't want to come across all tin-foil hat but its worth considering why some governments might want to steer us towards cashless. In recent years a few countries/ central banks have introduced negative interest rates as a spur to increase spending (Switzerland, Sweden, ECB). To date these have not reached the retail market and have stayed at the inter-bank and institutional level.

Part of the reason they haven't reached retail banking is that people have the option to withdraw cash from the banking system and keep it under the bed. This could cause bank runs and have the opposite affect of what is intended.

During the next financial crisis I'd prefer it, if I knew hard cash was still an option.


g3org3y

20,606 posts

190 months

Saturday 13th April 2019
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I rarely use cash now. Only place is the small and rather old fashioned fish and chip shop in the neighbouring town. There's a cash machine directly opposite so not an issue. Pubs almost always card. I remember there used to be minimum spends of about a tenner for card but not seen signs like that for ages. Using card (esp in a busy pub) used to be a faff. Now with contactless it's much quicker than messing around with cash and change.

Contactless has been an absolute game changer IMO. All the little things you'd have considered cash (coffees, lunch from Tesco, McD's drive-thru etc), quick tap and off you go.

Alucidnation

16,810 posts

169 months

Saturday 13th April 2019
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craigjm said:
Alucidnation said:
I only ever deal in cash.
Get your wages in cash? Pay your mortgage and all your bills with cash?
Not wages as such.

No mortgage

Cash at the post office.

GetCarter

29,358 posts

278 months

Saturday 13th April 2019
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I can't imagine the village fete taking cards on every stall soon.

Coconut shy with a contactless card machine? I think not.... for a long while at least.

My other half raises over £5k a year for the RSPB ... badges of birds - box on the counter - quid each. When will that cardboard box have contactless?

Eventually, of course, but no time soon.

Dixy

2,913 posts

204 months

Saturday 13th April 2019
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The banks are hart broken that they have there snouts in every transaction.

Eric Mc

121,770 posts

264 months

Saturday 13th April 2019
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There are lots of areas where cash will still be important. Today, for instance, I banked almost £1,000 in cash (notes and LOTS of coins), the proceeds of programme sales for my operatic society's recent production of "Evita". I cannot see how programmes could be sold in the foyer to our patrons. To try to transact something like that quickly, easilly and with NO COST TO THE SOCIETY using some sort of electronic system would be difficult to say the least.