Could you live without cash?

Gloomendoom

No. There still several things that I have to pay for where there is no other alternative, other than a cheque and they are a real pain for all involved.

[Deleted User]

I couldnt go cashless easily as I like to budget by taking out the cash I want to spend that week, if it was contactless or card I'd lose track.

As others have said I have to pay the farrier and hayman in cash as they simply dont have card machines with which to take payment. Our local takeaways also have minimum spend and extra cost to pay by card.

The excitement when you give some cash in a birthday / Christmas card would also be lost.

ManAtHome

martinthebandit wrote: »

The BBC may suggest that Sweden will be going cashless but five minutes searching suggest that there are a lot of Swedes that don't want to.

With the Swedish Central Bank (Riksbank) rate at minus 0.5% perhaps they've seen some writing on some walls..?

moneyistooshorttomention

martinthebandit wrote: »

The BBC may suggest that Sweden will be going cashless but five minutes searching suggest that there are a lot of Swedes that don't want to.

Not to forget that some Swedes are starting to get "chipped" personally (ie microchip implanted into them) - so they can unlock doors at work/travel on some public transport/etc.

There is absolutely zero chance I'd ever let anyone near me with that intention in mind - no matter what the reason/excuse of it making life easier for me. One does wonder whether voluntary "chipping" would go on to become compulsory at some point - in which case I'd want to know how much a private doctor would charge to cut it back out again and put it in a tiny carry-round box (to be carried around only IF and when I personally decided to) and what would happen if that box got lost or stolen?

Serendipitious

I love cash.

I like having it in my wallet and I like my pot of coins.

I'm also convinced that I spend less when I use cash.

And for children, cash for pocket money is great and as a gift it means more than a giftcard. My grandkids love having their own money.

I do use my cards quite often, but I get irritated by the inevitable accumulation of card receipts in my bag, whereas a cash receipt can be checked and binned immediately. Bonus.

hunters

Only use cash once a week for a lunch date as I need a £1 coin for parking. Everything else is paid using my phone which also gains me cash back I have my spark/joiners bank details and using the app on my phone he is paid before he leaves the house

ConsumerMatt

I could personally. Everything is paid for with my debit card these days. In fact I had 3 £20 notes in my wallet for at least 6 months this year. I forgot the cash was even in there. The only times I've used cash recently was trying to get rid of my odd old style pound coins. It's more often there will be a receipts in the note section of my wallet than cash notes.

I appreciate it would be difficult for some though. I get paid monthly into my bank account so I'm OK. Others haven't got that luxury or would have to set up electronic payment and encourage customers to use those payment methods (tradesmen for example). Plus you have tourists. Either people that may get ripped off by their bank for overseas card charges or even those from countries where cards aren't the norm. Also what about the travelling community in the UK?

I think going cash free now would be awkward and cause unnecessary distress. I think it will happen but it's slightly too early. The news from Sweden should probably prompt an extended period of promotion and developments to work towards a cash free future.

Savvy_Sue

I could go almost cash free, but in the last week both the local cinema and the emergency dentist have been unable to process card payments - with the cinema it was both online and in person, whereas with the dentist it was a problem with their phones so I could pay by card in person but not over the phone. There was also a problem in the local Coop last night, but not affecting us, the cashier said they'd all been twiddling their thumbs earlier as the tills completely packed up.

So it's all great, until something goes wrong!

jamiehelsinki

I like cash but think the opposite would be good for the country.

Isn't there a new law on no fees for card purchases coming in soon?

A few plus points,

A lot less tax avoidance should mean more tax raised, less benefit claims when working for cash in hand. It would kill the black economy. Drug deals would be more difficult etc. Selling stolen goods would have a paper trail.

My mum was from Finland so have visited there frequently over the years, they have always been in front of us with debit cards etc. I remember people paying for one drink at the bar with a debit card a very long time ago when we were only using them for big transactions over here.

zagfles

Hermia wrote: »

I use cards as much as possible, but I also frequently use cash because I use local independent shops. It would cost the local bakery and greengrocers a fortune to take cards because most of their transactions are a few pounds. I wonder if Swedish businesses don't have to pay the card fees businesses do here, or whether they have some other alternative that means the profit on a small transaction doesn't get wiped out by fees?

I think their charges for cash (paying in at banks etc) are similar or higher than card fees. You can get cashback on credit cards in Sweden, only country I know where that happens. (the transaction is put through as a purchase not a cash advance). Here it's rare as it costs the retailer more to process a credit card transaction.