Should we avoid moving towards a Cashless society?

iAMaLONDONER

innovate wrote: »

Not sure what you mean with 'chinese walls so to speak with your finances'. Either you have money/credit to your name or you have not. Dancing around, or trying to disguise, your financial reality will do you no good. You are not, and won't be, able to build chinese walls around yourself or your financials - the two of them are one. But prove me wrong, tell us what a Chinese wall around your finances is and how it works.


As to me having no problem living in 1984 - you might be right there. I did live in 1984 , and it was a great year, with very little technology helping us then. We have made great strides forward since then. None of which have been to out detriment, and I am looking forward to us exploiting technology to our advantage.

In case you doubted it, I have of course read George Orwell's 1984, not just once. And since it was first published in 1949, and I am more than a spring chick now, I have gone through the whole 'it cannot possibly ever be true' to the 'so what?' or the 'why didn't we have that earlier'. We have to embrace progress, in whatever form it comes.
Living and thriving without cash as we know it right now strikes me as the future I might not be able to enjoy but certainly the future I want my kids and grandchildren to prosper in.

I meant separating my finance by Chinese wall- i.e not putting all my eggs in basket, something many who have been caught out by a bank glitch have learnt the hard way!

(e.g Or not paying a TfL fare using my bank card or using Oyster auto topup, so if there's a glitch and TfL overcharges me I'll be left with an oyster with a negative/low(er than it should be) balance. Which will be much easier/quicker to rectify than getting a refund to my bank account! I've been overcharged enough times on the tube to never truly trust TfL with authority to debit my account at will!)


I guessed you might have said that :rotfl:
1984 wasn't that great a year- the miner's strike of 1984-85 and unemployment (officially) being over 3 million !
Although tbf Maggie did get the permanent EU rebate that year!

So what happened to 'it shouldn't be done, just because it can phase?
I disagree we should just embrace 'progress' without thought a second thought like a flock of sheep.

Technology is predominantly being exploited by the wealthy- look at how wage disparity has grown in the last 40 years! Wages are failing to keep up with living costs so many are getting poorer by the day. Don't get me wrong- I'm not a Luddite , however I think we need to be careful not to get carried away!

After all I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd like to be able to buy a chocolate bar somewhat anonymously using cash!

iAMaLONDONER

reclusive46 wrote: »

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.

Fraudsters ironically act mostly in the poorer high crime areas than richer areas!

InsideInsurance

reclusive46 wrote: »

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.

What do you mean set rates?

Looking at the total charge a merchant pays, not the fractional amount to each party in the flow, the rates for all cards can vary massively.

PayPal as a simple example ranges from 3.4% to 1.4% depending on turnover and is irrespective of card type. A former client was paying about 0.4% for Visa & MC credit cards, AmEx was higher but in the similar ballpark. Of cause they were all telesales and internet so wont ever get the lowest rates possible.

EarthBoy

GingerFurball wrote: »

One of the reasons I rarely use the bus is because First Bus don't give change, so paying cash is an absolute ballache.

First Bus give change where I live.

planteria

i am fairly comfortable with the move.
i dont spend much cash at all....Amex wherever possible:D
and paper trails are, overall, a good thing imo.
& if the banks/processors are set to benefit further, let's buy their shares:D

BillJones

iAMaLONDONER wrote: »

Online top ups need to be collected at a tube station and aren't immediate!

So then it makes sense to top-up in advance of needing it, or to enable auto top-up.

It's over-reaching to invent customers who don't do this and then unexpectedly need to take an emergency bus in Brixton overnight.

Cloudydaze

iAMaLONDONER wrote: »

After all I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd like to be able to buy a chocolate bar somewhat anonymously using cash!

Seriously, who do you think is taking notes of your chocolate buying?



I've been almost cashless for years now.

- TFL auto top up. Can't understand why anyone who uses London transport wouldn't use this. No queuing and never running out of funds.

- Parking app. Used this a few times for parking meters. It's so easy to use and saves money as previously I'd overpay just in case. Now you just pay for the parking you use.

- pretty much everything goes on a credit card. Even a pint of milk. I find the whole chip & pin transaction much easier than fiddling with change. There's also no need to check change.

- advantages of credit card payments are the loyalty points or cashback plus a neat log of my monthly spending.

- I also use my bank's mobile app for paying friends etc. eg out at cinema last night. Friend bought tickets & it took less than 30 secs to pay her back there & then using my phone.

I can't see the downside of going cashless.

bugslet

Unless I buy over the internet, which is usually only books or something downloadable, then it's mostly cash for me.

Nothing to do with Big Brother or anonymity, I just don't have good control over credit cards. Going shopping with plastic and I end up wondering how I managed to spend so much, physically handing cash over means I spend less and don't get into debt.

I run a company and pay myself in cash as well, but that's just being cantankerous because the Inland Revenue hate it.:o

iAMaLONDONER

Cloudydaze wrote: »

Seriously, who do you think is taking notes of your chocolate buying?

It was an example of a privacy issue.

Cloudydaze wrote: »

I've been almost cashless for years now.

- TFL auto top up. Can't understand why anyone who uses London transport wouldn't use this. No queuing and never running out of funds.

I've explained why-I don't trust TfL enough to give them a CPA, they've overcharged me too many times (when I've never had a CPA)!
also if I prefer to buy a travelcard/season bus pass than make lots of top ups anyway

Cloudydaze wrote: »

I can't see the downside of going cashless.

Then you're not looking very well!

iAMaLONDONER

BillJones wrote: »

So then it makes sense to top-up in advance of needing it, or to enable auto top-up.

It's common sense to do the former and to leave a small buffer to cover any unplanned journeys.

BillJones wrote: »

It's over-reaching to invent customers who don't do this and then unexpectedly need to take an emergency bus in Brixton overnight.

It's a good feature but should never be mandatory. For example people should be able to pay cash on the bus if they don't have an oyster/CPC for whatever reason