4 reasons cash is dead and you shouldn’t use it…
MSE_Luke
Posts: 295 MSE Staff
This is the discussion to link on the back of Martin's blog. Please read the blog first, as this discussion follows it.
Please click 'post reply' to discuss below.
Read Martin's "4 reasons cash is dead and you shouldn’t use it…" Blog.
Please click 'post reply' to discuss below.
0
Comments
-
All I can say is that it seems to be taking its own sweet time about going.
I have been getting told that 'cash is dead' for 40+ years and yet...........0 -
I can't believe MSE is telling people not to use cash. A cashless society means 100% governmental tracking of spending and movement. It also means business will have to pay between 2% and 4% on every single transaction which will cost them a lot of money. Cash isn't dead, it's the most used method of payment (I know someone will say statistically it isn't, it's cards, but there is a black market which runs exclusively on cash....)0
-
If I go to a safe/official ATM and withdraw £100, I know that £100 has left my account and I have £100 of buying power in my pocket. I can then spend that £100 and acquire goods and pies.
If, instead, I rely on 20-30 small transactions, willy nilly, at a variety of locations, for bits and bobs and pies, I'm "risking" 20-30x that each of those transactions was performed safely and my account is not being compromised.
I'll stick with cash.... you know where you are with that.
I'd also prefer to run the risk of dropping/forgetting my card ONCE in one machine .... than having to forever double-check I did pick it up/didn't drop it at the last location I used it. I'd rather run the risk of dropping a £10 note, than dropping that card and all the associated waiting/inconvenience of being unable to spend any money.0 -
Different payment methods have different uses.
In 1950, 100% of transactions were by cash, and it was probably the case that cash wasn't the best for all of them.
This does not mean that in 2050 100% of transactions need to be non-cash.
The introduction of new payment methods means that everyone has more options, yet people like Martin Lewis want options to be taken away.
For anti-cash people, why don't you go and read some of the stories on the Bank Accounts forum where people are the victim of fraud and then all their accounts are closed.0 -
PasturesNew wrote: »If I go to a safe/official ATM and withdraw £100, I know that £100 has left my account and I have £100 of buying power in my pocket. I can then spend that £100 and acquire goods and pies.
If, instead, I rely on 20-30 small transactions, willy nilly, at a variety of locations, for bits and bobs and pies, I'm "risking" 20-30x that each of those transactions was performed safely and my account is not being compromised.
I'll stick with cash.... you know where you are with that.
I'd also prefer to run the risk of dropping/forgetting my card ONCE in one machine .... than having to forever double-check I did pick it up/didn't drop it at the last location I used it. I'd rather run the risk of dropping a £10 note, than dropping that card and all the associated waiting/inconvenience of being unable to spend any money.
Well said.:T:T:T0 -
Different payment methods have different uses.
In 1950, 100% of transactions were by cash, and it was probably the case that cash wasn't the best for all of them.
This does not mean that in 2050 100% of transactions need to be non-cash.
The introduction of new payment methods means that everyone has more options, yet people like Martin Lewis want options to be taken away.
For anti-cash people, why don't you go and read some of the stories on the Bank Accounts forum where people are the victim of fraud and then all their accounts are closed.
Martin Lewis probably says it because he advertises bank accounts on this website, some links to which MSE gets paid for. He may be a money saving expert, but he's also worth tens of millions.0 -
I wish the trollies at aldi took contactless cards rather than pound coins.
I find the "cash is dead posts" make me want to use cash, when I don't normally so I think they are counterproductive. A story about cheques being dead will make me want to write more cheques too, I normally only use them for birthday/christmas money and transferring to non current accounts.
I have used cards since I was 18 because my parents told me that unless I borrowed money then nobody would know I could pay it back. I'm not sure how in the 1980's my parents knew that.
I don't like the idea of drawing out cash and then spending it, I wouldn't want to run the risk of running out so I'd keep drawing out larger amounts but then I'd spend it anyway because it was there. At least with a card I know I can't run out. It's been so long that I regularly used cash, that if I do have cash then I don't want to spend it and will prefer to use a card. I now deposit cash if it's stayed in my wallet for a couple of days, gotta earn interest.....
I guess I use the vague knowledge of how much I've spent on the card to scare me away from spending more, rather than giving me an excuse to keep spending.0 -
Cash is going to be around for some time yet.
As PasturesNew correctly pointed out, it allows you to monitor your own spending instead of just flashing the card and hoping for the best at the end of the day.
There are so many things which demand cash payments - my window cleaner, the local Chinese and Indian restaurant, all the takeaway services, market stalls, odd job people, leaving tips for waitors/waitresses/hairdressers, charity boxes.
Most financial fraud and money laundering crime happens online - does not involve cash.
Cash is alive, well and kicking.
I have zero credit card debt, because I only buy stuff if I can afford it, and cash helps me achieve that.0 -
As an ex overseas trucker, I'd have been in some dire situations without cash in my pocket. Bent officials don't do plastic.
And when things really go wrong, you can't fly home on a piece of plastic . . .0 -
This is a bit like Linux is going to takeover the desktop saga .Or the CD is going to wipe out vinyl .
Personally i prefer a monkey on the hip to an easy to read / clone card .
You usually get through the checkout much quicker with cash than all those fiddling with pins .0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 343K Banking & Borrowing
- 250.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 449.6K Spending & Discounts
- 235.1K Work, Benefits & Business
- 607.8K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 173K Life & Family
- 247.8K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
- 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards