Could you live without cash?

usefulmale

onomatopoeia99 wrote: »

If my bank starts selling my transaction history, I will move bank. They won't all start, because there will be a market for people that don't want this information sold and organisations will step in to supply to that market.

I can't see banks turning down a valueable revenue stream, can you? Unless you are happy being charged a similar price for the promise they WON'T pass on your details.

onomatopoeia99 wrote: »

I can see you're concerned about privacy. What will you start doing when your ISP allows GCHQ to monitor all of your communications?

They probably already do. Whenever I can get hold of a valid email address for anyone at GCHQ, I copy them in on every email I send. I admit that I am surprised I haven't had a 'visit' yet.

onomatopoeia99 wrote: »

Or blocks certain websites from a list created by an unaccountable body, in a way that you cannot override or even see? Most of them already do at least one of those things ...

If I can't see websites on the list, I probably wouldn't know they are doing it, would I?

However, not being able to see some websites is a minor irritation compared to my employer (or any other party for that matter) being able to buy my transaction details.

zagfles

usefulmale wrote: »

I can't see banks turning down a valueable revenue stream, can you?

PPI was a very valuable revenue stream for banks. Strange how they seemed to have turned that one down in recent years.

Unless you are happy being charged a similar price for the promise they WON'T pass on your details.

They probably already do. Whenever I can get hold of a valid email address for anyone at GCHQ, I copy them in on every email I send. I admit that I am surprised I haven't had a 'visit' yet.

Why, do you visit people who send you junk mail? You'll just be on their spammers list, they've got serious threats to deal with.

Primrose

Maybe the black market for cash traders would disappear if there existed a form the purchaser had to compulsorarily complete and email to HMRC giving the name, address of Trader and the amount and date paid.

It might be an administrative nightmare but the trader would then know an audit trail existed so they fail to keep accurate accounts at their peril.

MagicMoneyTree

So long as businesses can charge back the additional cost of accepting card payments, then I don't see any legitimate reason not to. Offering big discounts for cash payment is rife in many trades, with everyone involved knowing the true reason is to avoid tax. It's time this kind of thing became socially unacceptable in the same way drink driving did a while back. Whilst it isn't killing anybody, tax dodging is stealing from all tax payers.

badmemory

I am not sure how many of these are actually tax dodging though. I have a friend who owns a business that many years ago was renowned for the cash in hand thing. When he gets a customer who asks how much for cash he tells them the VAT inclusive price they think they've got a deal & HMRC gets their VAT. If you are properly established frankly it just isn't worth the risk.

Mrs_Ryan

I would happily live without cash- I hate the stuff. I have a smartcard pass for the bus, and I use my debit card or Apple Pay for virtually everything. I even pay for my Slimming World membership 6 weeks at a time with my card on the nifty little machine linked to the consultant's phone. Now my bingo club accepts debit cards I don't even need to take cash out to play bingo.
If I ever have cash I generally get to the bank ASAP to pay it in- i won £335 on Sunday night at bingo and come Monday morning I was at the bank first thing eager to get rid of it into my account. Had to call out an emergency locksmith when the lock broke today and he only accepted cash which was a pain!
OH on the other hand pays cash for everything: he has a couple of debit cards but only uses them on rare occasions.

motorguy

badmemory wrote: »

I am not sure how many of these are actually tax dodging though.

If you are properly established frankly it just isn't worth the risk.

Most of the window cleaner / handyman / car wash / market stall businesses arent "established" per se, and are more than happy to pocket cash rather than pay tax and VAT on it

Granted, an established painter or a tradesman may not want to take the risk, especially if dealing with businesses, but many will. A couple of hundred into your back pocket each week is fairly untraceable.

AElene

I use cash for almost everything. Today I did some photocopying at the local convenience store for which I needed cash, though I suppose I could have paid with a card had the option been there. Then there's the launderette, and local shops where you don't want to pay with a card when it's just small amounts.

Also, it's so much easier to keep track of your spending and bank balance when you just use cash.

coffeehound

A fairly superficial point but cash must be a major spreader of bacteria and whatnot. A lot (can't remember the %) of notes test positive for cocaine, meaning they've also been up someone's filthy hooter. Then there's the cashpoint keyboards. Using contactless cards/phone avoids a lot of that grime at a stroke.

takman

phillw wrote: »

When the airlines can figure out how to make money out of it then magically it becomes safe. Some air planes have had micro cells added, so they can charge you £10 a minute.

The reason electronic signals were previously banned is because it costs alot of extra money to test all equipment for all possible problems caused by these signals. So they only certify the components to be safe around specific signals.

Before aircraft's provided wifi hotspots what would be the point in certifying the systems to be safe to use in the presence of wifi signals?.

usefulmale wrote: »

Nobody is saying that the transactions are visible right now. However, you can be sure that the records are kept right now though.

All it would take after the demise of cash is a change to bank account T&C's to allow anyone prepared to pay for access to those records. Just like they do when they shovel off the data to Experian etc.

What exactly will you do about it then?

If your worried about your purchases being tracked then someone looking at your statements and seeing you spent X amount at a specific shop is the least of your worries.

What you should be concerned about are loyalty cards such as Tesco Clubcard and Nectar cards. They keep a record of every single purchase you make purely for marketing purposes. This seems to be exactly what your on about but you seem to have missed this is already happening and millions of people are voluntarily signing up to it.

Just out of interest do you have any loyalty cards?.

ringo_24601 wrote: »

Oh how my kids love those 2p machines at Butlins

There is already a solution to that. The new machines use tokens that stay inside the machine. You put money in to purchase so many tokens (which could easily be a card payment). You then control an "arm" to aim where you want each token to be placed and press the button to release it. Any tokens that you "win" are counted and you are given tickets for each one.
Although I don't know if children will find these as much fun.

But what will probably happen is you will be able to purchase 2p's using a card to use in these machines.
I recently went to an arcade where you had to purchase old 1p coins to use some of the machines.