Should we avoid moving towards a Cashless society?

pmduk

Many of the shops I use don't accept cash, until banks reduce card fees I can't see us becoming cashless. The paranoiac in me sees it as a big brother move enabling us to be better monitored.

GazHatesBanks

Must admit I only ever use cash except for a few online purchases or larger purchases where the additional credit card protection is handy.

I find it so much easier to control spending when I can physically see the money changing hands rather than swiping a bit of plastic.

Luckily I don't live in the Oysterzone and don't use public transport. If any shops around me were to stop accepting cash they would lose a LOT of customers overnight!

The banks want us to go cashless because they KNOW that people overspend when using plastic whether going overdrawn on a current account when using a debit card or overspending on a credit card. It is precisely the reason why banks are able to make such huge profits.

The Government wants us to go cashless because they can then monitor exactly how we live our lives.

They both hate cash because it enables you to retain your privacy. No I don't have anything to hide but frankly it's neither the banks' nor the Governments' business where and when I spend my money (or not as the case may be).

carousels

I don't live in London so I have nothing to add regarding tube/bus travel.

I rarely ever use cash for anything other than feeding change into parking metres and buying the occasional - okay, the daily - chocolate bar from the newsagents. Everything else is done by either a debit or credit card. I prefer this because I know exactly where I'm spending my money. I hate withdrawing cash from an ATM because 1) it tends to disappear so fast and at the end I have no idea what I've actually spent it on. 2) if I have cash on me I'm tempted to buy even more sugary snacks when I pass by a sweetie shop and 3) the change I'm left with just makes my purse bulge which then takes up more room in my bag.

If we had £1 notes instead of coins, I wouldn't mind so much. I don't mind having the emergency £10/£20 note in my purse but I detest having coins.

FYI, in Japan cash is still very much the norm. Cards are rarely used except in places like large hotels and up-scale restaurants. The average Japanese person carries the equivalent of over £120 pounds in their wallets. But then again, the crime rates over there are extremely low.

I guess it just depends on what you're used to as a person living in a certain country.

Herbalus

Iceland is virtually a cashless society. I went there a few weeks ago and didn't see a single note or coin during my stay. Every business, no matter how small, seems to have a PDQ machine for card payments.

It worked perfectly.

There's also the question of cashback and the extended period of time my money is earning interest when I pay by credit card.

Plus, I'm not sure of what steps we could actually take to avoid the slow demise of cash.

msallen

My work involves cash management within banks or very large retail organisations. While it varies tremendously according to what country they operate in, believe me it will be generations yet until we are cashless (if ever). Banks are still investing humungous amounts of money into cash handling systems.

reclusive46

Herbalus wrote: »

Iceland is virtually a cashless society. I went there a few weeks ago and didn't see a single note or coin during my stay. Every business, no matter how small, seems to have a PDQ machine for card payments.

It worked perfectly.

I found this in Sweden as well. I don't think I ever saw anyone paying cash the whole week I was there.

InsideInsurance

iAMaLONDONER wrote: »

The use of cards allow banks to cream off a %/amount of all transactions.

With cash you have cashing up to do (so staff wages), lost money through theft/ errors, increased insurance costs, issues with fake notes/coins, cost of banking (both getting the cash to the bank and the bank fees for depositing it)

It can all quickly add up and outweigh the cost of the pennies for a debit card transaction or percentage for credit card.

With big corporations of cause you also have the all important data on who's buying what. Who they bank with, who's possibly worth doing partnerships/ promos with etc (first 4-6 numbers of your card identifies the issuer and in some cases the "grade" of card)

I am almost exclusively cash free, the occasional taxi or pint paid with real money is about it. Even car parks now tends to be via apps (though arguably thats a sign of how expensive parking is now as anything else) as it saves having to have change, find a working machine, walk back to the car again, allows me to extend it whilst I am away from the car and increasingly no additional charge for doing it.

The other day I had to pay the chap who fixed the dent in my car's wing. Tiny little back street garage with just him and one other chap. Brought cash with me to pay the £250 to fix it but he said he'd prefer it by card! :eek:

iAMaLONDONER

InsideInsurance wrote: »

With cash you have cashing up to do (so staff wages), lost money through theft/ errors, increased insurance costs, issues with fake notes/coins, cost of banking (both getting the cash to the bank and the bank fees for depositing it)

It can all quickly add up and outweigh the cost of the pennies for a debit card transaction or percentage for credit card.

With big corporations of cause you also have the all important data on who's buying what. Who they bank with, who's possibly worth doing partnerships/ promos with etc (first 4-6 numbers of your card identifies the issuer and in some cases the "grade" of card)

I am almost exclusively cash free, the occasional taxi or pint paid with real money is about it. Even car parks now tends to be via apps (though arguably thats a sign of how expensive parking is now as anything else) as it saves having to have change, find a working machine, walk back to the car again, allows me to extend it whilst I am away from the car and increasingly no additional charge for doing it.

The other day I had to pay the chap who fixed the dent in my car's wing. Tiny little back street garage with just him and one other chap. Brought cash with me to pay the £250 to fix it but he said he'd prefer it by card! :eek:

I'm pretty sure supermarkets wouldn't be so keen on card usage if we all used AMEX (which charges much higher fees than Visa & Mastercard usually)!

Card usage also has lost funds due to fraud (which will exacerbated by contactless)

I wonder why they'd rather card payment than cash! Is the area rather rough or has it had a problem with fake notes?

Talking about fake.. there are cloned/fake cards which cost a lot! As banks reimburse victims of fraud- they then pass the costs on to consumers through higher interest on debt and lower interest on deposits so we all lose

pmduk

iAMaLONDONER wrote: »

I'm pretty sure supermarkets wouldn't be so keen on card usage if we all used AMEX (which charges much higher fees than Visa & Mastercard usually)!

That will quickly be dealt with by retailers refusing to accept amex,Many won't already. Fraud costs land at the door of banks rather than retailers.

reclusive46

pmduk wrote: »

That will quickly be dealt with by retailers refusing to accept amex,Many won't already. Fraud costs land at the door of banks rather than retailers.

Actually unlike Visa and MasterCard who have set interchange rates, Amex depends on the size and type of retailer. I won't be surprised if for some retailers American Express is a cheaper option. This is why Costco only takes American Express as its the cheapest card for them to accept. Cathay Pacific don't charge any fees when paying with American Express but do on some discounted tickets for Visa and MasterCard.

I have serious doubts about contactless increasing card fraud. Fraudsters are interested in buying high value goods that they can sell. Not buying a sandwich.