What is it with young people and cash?

[Zarco]

PH User said:

RMDB9 said:

Insead of buying an expensive wallet which breaks, an Iphone is a much better solution

Good point, you already have your phone on you anyway, so may as well use it.

Funny. I find it’s my phone that breaks every 2yrs rather than my wallet

I’m not a convert to paying with my phone yet. Not sure why really. I like a wallet as a I have a few ID cards and a credit card for work to keep handy.

[RMDB9]

Zarco said:

Funny. I find it’s my phone that breaks every 2yrs rather than my wallet
.

that was my point

[The Rotrex Kid]

Magooagain said:

I actually like having cash in my wallet. I've just checked it and there is just under €350 in it. A fair bit of that will be spent by 8am in the morning.
Everybody has different life styles and situations. Including what tax regime they belong to and what type of business scheme etc,cash for me works(self employed)
At times cash suits my lifestyle.
It doesn't mean I don't use my debit card or online banking etc though.

When traveling other countries I use a card also a pre filled card and some cash.

Seems to be the theme with the people I know that predominantly carry cash and that are against using debit card etc.

I wonder why?

[Zarco]

RMDB9 said:

Zarco said:

Funny. I find it’s my phone that breaks every 2yrs rather than my wallet
.

that was my point

Ok. Good

[mikewilliams79]

The Rotrex Kid said:

Seems to be the theme with the people I know that predominantly carry cash and that are against using debit card etc.

I wonder why?

Those who get paid in cash and those who don't.

[StuntmanMike]

I carry a wallet but not cash at all.

Only exception is I have a pound coin and a quids worth of twenty pence piece’s in my ashtray as I seem to be puncture prone.

Never use snack vans, everywhere I seem to use these days takes contactless.

[anonymous-user]

RMDB9 said:

Insead of buying an expensive wallet which breaks, an Iphone is a much better solution

But if you own an iPhone already, why not use it as a wallet?

People aren't going out and buying smartphones specifically to use them as a wallet. They usually buy them for a multitude of other uses/reasons and the fact it can be used instead of your credit/debit cards is an added bonus.

Not saying this is you, but several people on this thread have grumbled that switching to contactless or electronic payments would 'cost them money' (price of an iPhone etc), but this seems like a total non argument to me.

A debit card is issued to you for free, and those using an iPhone would have one anyway, so neither of those payment methods is an additional cost in your life.

[PH User]

Zarco said:

PH User said:

RMDB9 said:

Insead of buying an expensive wallet which breaks, an Iphone is a much better solution

Good point, you already have your phone on you anyway, so may as well use it.

Funny. I find it’s my phone that breaks every 2yrs rather than my wallet

I’m not a convert to paying with my phone yet. Not sure why really. I like a wallet as a I have a few ID cards and a credit card for work to keep handy.

And like I said, you already have the phone on you. Yes it might go wrong every few years, but using it to pay for things isn't going to add to that. When it does go wrong you would replace it, so the wallet is an extra thing to carry.

I should add that I have a wallet and a phone.

[Psycho Warren]

The one i dont get is western union. I thought it was for criminals and poor people in backwards 3rd world countries who have no access to banking.

Yet they have been pushing a lot of adverts lately promoting it as a method of just sending money to normal people in normal countrys.

Why would you when bank to bank personal transfers are almost universally free as are systems like paypal for friends and family etc? Cant see who they are marketing it to.

[anonymous-user]

Psycho Warren said:

The one i dont get is western union. I thought it was for criminals and poor people in backwards 3rd world countries who have no access to banking.

Yet they have been pushing a lot of adverts lately promoting it as a method of just sending money to normal people in normal countrys.

Why would you when bank to bank personal transfers are almost universally free as are systems like paypal for friends and family etc? Cant see who they are marketing it to.

Western Union is an interesting one, and I think you have answered your own question with the 'Criminals and poor people' bit.

As you say, WU seem to be really pushing on, and have actually seen huge growth over the past 5 years or so. My guess is that they are wanting to get big enough that they become a more 'legit' household name, and then start trying to tempt people over from PayPal, bank transfer apps, and similar.

The reasons why WU is so big are simple:

They are incredibly popular with migrant workers, illegal immigrants, poorer people, criminals, but mostly the 2 billion people in the world who do no have a bank account. This is because they offer an anyoymous 'cash to cash' transfer service. You can go into any WU and simply deposit cash to be sent to a recipient, and the recipient can go and collect the money also in cash at the other end from an ATM or a WU premises or agent.

You don't need ID or anything like that. It is perfect for migrant workers and people without banks accounts to send cash to their families or friends, without a bank ever being involved.

Downsides to this 'anonymous cash to cash' service is the quite high fees they charge.

The number of 'unbanked' people in the world has begun shrinking rapidly, and clearly WU feel that their 'cash to cash' business will begin to shrink as well, so they are positioning themselves to retain all their cash customers once they switch to bank accounts. They want to become the 'PayPal' name for people who used their cash services for years.

They have a really good business model actually, and are massively profitable.

[untakenname]

They would be better off rebranding as something else, twice I've been asked to pay via western union and both times it was clearly a scam which was just reinforced by the method of payment they were requesting, not sure why it's even been allowed to operate in the UK tbh.

Paypal friends/gift payment is another potential issue as you get people asking to paid via it rather than standard paypal, if in doubt use the standard method but pay the extra percentage fee ontop for piece of mind.

[anonymous-user]

untakenname said:

They would be better off rebranding as something else, twice I've been asked to pay via western union and both times it was clearly a scam which was just reinforced by the method of payment they were requesting, not sure why it's even been allowed to operate in the UK tbh.

Paypal friends/gift payment is another potential issue as you get people asking to paid via it rather than standard paypal, if in doubt use the standard method but pay the extra percentage fee ontop for piece of mind.

Western Union do get fined regularly for their 'lack of interest' in tackling money laundering, wire fraud, and other criminal activities.

I guess they earn more in money from crime than they get fined by regulators.

For people like me and you, Western Union just screams 'scam' and we treat the name itself like some sort of joke, but I have watched their signs appearing in more and more locations around the UK including inside reputable UK retailers.

There must be significant demand for the services they provide.

[Magooagain]

The Rotrex Kid said:

Magooagain said:

I actually like having cash in my wallet. I've just checked it and there is just under €350 in it. A fair bit of that will be spent by 8am in the morning.
Everybody has different life styles and situations. Including what tax regime they belong to and what type of business scheme etc,cash for me works(self employed)
At times cash suits my lifestyle.
It doesn't mean I don't use my debit card or online banking etc though.

When traveling other countries I use a card also a pre filled card and some cash.

Seems to be the theme with the people I know that predominantly carry cash and that are against using debit card etc.

I wonder why?

Like I said earlier in the thread my regime is very different to a uk one. I can't claim relief on supplying materials or claim for fuel etc.
The majority of my clients give me a cash float to buy materials,this gets replaced each week when I give them the receipts of materials bought.
It may seem wierd to some but that's how it is under the tax scheme I'm in in France.
My contributions before any income tax are 24.6% of my turnover each 3 months then a tax bill at the end of the year for whatever is left.

I also said earlier in the thread I'm quite happy to use my debit card when needed. Many clients live overseas and pay by direct bank transfer.
I also have one clients bank card to use when needed.

Nothing is as clear cut as many think.

[J4CKO]

I have given up cash, by and large.

its easy, dont buy any Chinese Takeaways, unless they take cards, one locally does and seems to have managed not to go under despite this terrible financial burden on what must be a pretty high mark up.

And, if I have cash, my wife always, without fail nicks it. I had £40 in my draw for emergencies and she says "Have you got any cash as I need forty quid for my nieces birthday cards", so I had it over so am forty quid down I will never see again. She says "I've not been to the cash till", well why would you if you can nick it off me ? I then do the Jeremy Clarkson Jaaaag Owner thing "Got a bit of a cash flow problem, left my wallet in my other jacket".

I cant win, don't mention it, down £40 (usually more to be fair) mention it, get called a tight arse !

I think she has a thing going with her mum, get me x off Amazon, so I duly order it and when I get the money back its in sodding cash, my parents do the same,

[Robbo 27]

I am stone age Robbo.

Still prefer cash and cheques, I don't do online banking and only reluctantly do standing orders because
I had a standing order with RSA for motor insurance, they were supposed to take £120.00 each month. First month they took £12,000. I phoned them to complain and they thought it was hilarious, said it would take 60 days to refund the money..

[MYOB]

I've not been one for carrying cash for around 20 years and use my cards for payments. I did try paying for things a few years back on my phone but found it to be a palavar.

This thread has encouraged me to think again and enter all my cards to my iPhone wallet and I've been using my phone all week to pay for items.

What a revelation, thank you!

[Zoon]

Robbo 27 said:

I am stone age Robbo.

Still prefer cash and cheques, I don't do online banking and only reluctantly do standing orders because
I had a standing order with RSA for motor insurance, they were supposed to take £120.00 each month. First month they took £12,000. I phoned them to complain and they thought it was hilarious, said it would take 60 days to refund the money..

If you'd have had a direct debit the bank would have refunded the money that day until the issue was resolved.

[craigjm]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Thank god for that. I hate cheques and certainly wouldn’t make a special journey to the bank to pay them in. Makes you realise how 25 years ago we were making loads of pointless journeys for stuff we can do much easier now

[anonymous-user]

This thread has been a very interesting read, so many different opinions on both ends of the spectrum.

I’m 24, last time I withdrew cash was Oct 2019 for a poker night, time before that probably some point in 2018. Next poker nights we’ll just do a bank transfer to the winner as they are so easy.

I’m actually in the process of consolidating down to 2 bank accounts, one personal for me and one joint with the wife for household stuff, and no credit cards. Just ordered a Curve card so I can access both of those accounts but only carry one physical card (think that one will get the luddites brains imploding). Loyalty cards live in the car and I just carry them in my pocket if I need them.

Thinking about it, I can’t think of a single place I’ve spent money at recently (or even in the last couple of years tbh) that hasn’t accepted contactless, so I could probably skip the wallet altogether and just use Apple Pay.

That being said, I am averse to a fully cashless society. I think people should be able to have the choice of what to do with their own money. I can see the benefits of cash (and indeed this thread has made me consider keeping a £20 note in my phone case for emergencies), it’s just that none of them really apply to me. I tend not to spend Sunday mornings rooting through other people’s tat, or buying Mars bars that I could do without from remote shops. Each to their own though of course.

[Dr Interceptor]

I ditched my big wallet last year and moved into one of the small card-only wallets. That contains my debit card, two credit cards, fuel card, costco card and my driving licence.

There is £50 tucked in the back, but that hasn't seen any action since this time last year. Rarely even get a card out now, just use Apple Pay.