Cashless society

EssexExile

There's still a third of us don't have a smartphone, it's going to be a while.

Ballard

EssexExile wrote: »

There's still a third of us don't have a smartphone, it's going to be a while.

A friend of mine refuses to have any sort of mobile phone and doesn't do internet banking. He's the only person that I know who still writes cheques regularly.

It's all very well that he doesn't want a phone but it's a pain in the 'arris arranging to meet him somewhere and having no idea why he's 15 minutes late. I always wonder whether I've got the venue mixed up.

securityguy

EssexExile wrote: »

There's still a third of us don't have a smartphone, it's going to be a while.

I predict that within five years, at least one lo-co airline will go "boarding pass on your phone only". The savings are too tempting, and the small proportion of their customer base they would lose may be something they can afford to write off. A third of people may not have smart phones, but the number of parties of people flying on a loco where none of them have a smart phone is small enough that they may be happy to give up the business.

Very few unregulated companies are forced to accept any payment they don't want to, and as witnessed by the supermarkets stopping accepting cheques before the end of the cheque guarantee scheme, you have no redress when they do so. You're perfectly entitled to hold out against whatever it is you are holding out against, but companies aren't obliged to help you. Tried travelling on London bus paying cash lately?

zagfles

securityguy wrote: »

I predict that within five years, at least one lo-co airline will go "boarding pass on your phone only". The savings are too tempting, and the small proportion of their customer base they would lose may be something they can afford to write off. A third of people may not have smart phones, but the number of parties of people flying on a loco where none of them have a smart phone is small enough that they may be happy to give up the business.

Exactly what saving would they make? How much do you think it costs them to generate a pdf which the customer then has to print off with their own paper and ink? Generating a printable boarding pass probably costs no more than generating a mobile boarding pass.

EssexExile

securityguy wrote: »

You're perfectly entitled to hold out against whatever it is you are holding out against, but companies aren't obliged to help you.

I'm not "holding out" against anything. I just haven't felt the need to go smart. As I've said elsewhere, there are plenty of places around here that don't use cards at all, plenty more that haven't gone contactless. When it gets to be a problem I'll get a smartphone, I'll not be holding my breath though.

GetRealBabe

securityguy wrote: »

A third of people may not have smart phones, but the number of parties of people flying on a loco where none of them have a smart phone is small enough that they may be happy to give up the business.

You're perfectly entitled to hold out against whatever it is you are holding out against, but companies aren't obliged to help you. Tried travelling on London bus paying cash lately?

Hi

I have tap and pay on my smartphone but I doubt I'd ever use it plus I top up my Oystercard with cash at the local shop. I've only purchased a travelcard once at at DLR station using my debit card as I couldn't be bothered to go to the shop.

anoncol

skcollobcat10 wrote: »

I also think there is a privacy issue as well. I would not like tabs on how I spend my money being known to the bank. Also the possibility of internet problems or site hacked.

Paranoid. The banks don't give a toss what you spend money on. Who cares even if they did and it still why?

Nick_C

GetRealBabe wrote: »

I top up my Oystercard with cash at the local shop.

Why? You can use your credit or debit card in exactly the same way as an oyster card. You avoid having to pay in advance, and you can get cashback or rewards, depending on which card you use.

anoncol

In the future the cashless society will leave those paying cash the same way as those paying by cheque for everything. It will even eventually die out but not for years (just like cheque is still alive).

molerat

There are still people that have little access to technology. In the area they live and work there is no mobile signal and they cannot get internet over land line. Until someone in government takes these areas seriously there will still be a need for doing things the old fashioned way.