We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Do you refuse to pay on card under a certain amount?

1567911

Comments

  • Brodiebobs
    Brodiebobs Posts: 1,032 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts
    edited 7 October 2019 at 12:42PM
    only draw out a small amount of cash a month to pay for mainly kids stuff, and milk man however even the school and football subs are online now.

    All spending is done on card mainly so it can be tracked, but our local shop has a minimum £2.50 instore spend. So I've been caught out getting a bus pass as its via the pay-point you need to spend £2.50 in store too.

    My mum has a home craft business and does lots of fairs, she misses out on loads of sales as people want to buy things and then are disappointed when she says cash only. We're investigating getting her a portable one as think it will pay for itself in increased sales.

    Was behind a lady at the supermarket last week who was paying for her £110 shopping bill with £5 notes. The young lad on the till had to count them three times, and eventually she took it back off him and counted it out into his hand -don't think he was used to handling cash at all!
  • glider3560
    glider3560 Posts: 4,115 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    You'll find a lot of smaller and independent shops still don't take card under certain values. I think you'll find that the multi-national chains are thriving because they are multi-national and are generating enough profits not to be hit by card fees. The barbers I go to is cash only and won't install a card machine. Why? Because it will cost them to do so and they'd be worse off. But people in this thread don't really seem to get that because they work for a business, they don't run one.

    l

    Or they could factor it into the prices? If it costs 50p to take a card payment and half the customers pay by card, then stick 25p onto every price. Very few customers would notice and they'd probably gain new customers too.
  • JuicyJesus
    JuicyJesus Posts: 3,832 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 7 October 2019 at 1:17PM
    Nope, wrong. Not all banks charge cash deposit fees. Depends on who you bank with and what plan you're on.

    True enough, however most banks do charge.
    You'll find a lot of smaller and independent shops still don't take card under certain values. I think you'll find that the multi-national chains are thriving because they are multi-national and are generating enough profits not to be hit by card fees.

    I find a lot of smaller and independent shops do take cards below certain values because it makes buying their products and services more convenient. Some do, some don't. Fine either way, I just don't shop in those places that don't because it's very unlikely whatever they're selling is worth the hassle of me going and drawing out cash.
    The barbers I go to is cash only and won't install a card machine. Why? Because it will cost them to do so and they'd be worse off. But people in this thread don't really seem to get that because they work for a business, they don't run one.

    If the barber you go to doesn't want to install a card machine, fine by me. I'm not going to use them either way but I'm also not going to go out of my way to get cash out to use them, and as cash usage overall dwindles it's unlikely that they're going to hold out for much longer.

    Frankly I don't know how expensive you think card readers are, but they're not. PayPal here charges £45 + VAT for a wireless card reader you can use anywhere as a one off fee and then 2.75% per transaction on turnover below £1,500 a month. If 2.75% as a transaction fee (which as noted is very competitive with the 1% that e.g. Lloyds charge to deposit cash, with the added bonus that you don't then have to physically count and deposit the cash) is going to be ruinous for any business then I'd be amazed if that business was a going concern.
    Nothing silly about withdrawing cash and when it's gone it's gone. You physically can't use what isn't in your pocket. A card, despite all the notifications on your phone, is still there and can still be used.

    I didn't say it was silly. Different people like to budget in different ways. I don't like using cash to budget. Other people do. I don't even actually use an app, I use a spreadsheet to budget. It takes all sorts.

    The only person who's looking down on other people for their choices here is you.
    One person above said he'd walk out of somewhere that wouldn't take Apple Pay, I mean come on. :rotfl:

    I would absolutely walk out of somewhere that wouldn't take cards, particularly if they were only doing so on some weird moral principle.
    urs sinserly,
    ~~joosy jeezus~~
  • enthusiasticsaver
    enthusiasticsaver Posts: 16,105 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Most things under a fiver I will pay for in cash but I am not averse to using my contactless card if I don't have any cash on me.
    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Debt free Wannabe, Budgeting and Banking and Savings and Investment boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.

    The 365 Day 1p Challenge 2025 #1 £667.95/£391.55
    Save £12k in 2025 #1 £12000/£12000
  • Ergates
    Ergates Posts: 3,123 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Just because an overall decline is in place, it doesn't mean that more people aren't withdrawing more.
    Yes it does, that's literally what it means. If *more* people were withdrawing *more*, then overall trend for cash withdrawals would go up, not down.

    I know several people who are saying that they withdraw more now, you hear it in banks that people want cash out.
    The plural of "anecdote" is not "data".
    You didn't answer it but there's also the untracked cash sector of the cash economy.
    You seem to be implying that the reason that you and other people prefer cash is to enable tax evasion. If so, that's probably not something to admit to in a public forum.
  • pelirocco
    pelirocco Posts: 8,275 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Zero_Sum wrote: »
    Mind, I was in Morrisons this afternoon & lady in front of me forgot her PIN (obviously more than £30). Had to phone one of her offspring to dig out her note book which held passwords & that so she could pay for her groceries.
    People like that probably should stick to cash.

    You may possibly end up as one of those people
    My mum is nearly 89 , lives alone and does manage paying by card ( she does keep the number written down just in case ! ) has always by habit taking out a set amount of cash every other week to pay for her fags , bingo and scratch card habit , and the odd bit of food . My sister mentioned she could use her card more , so she does ....she still takes out the same amount of cash
    Luckily she has family to keep and eye on her , and mention that she hasnt the money to spend what she does really , it falls on deaf ears BUT what if she didnt have us to keep an eye on her ?
    My MIL had dementia , in the early days she coped with getting her pension out via the post office , but it was changed to being paid into the bank she struggled and had no idea how to access her money
    There will be many old people , and people with learning difficulties who are going to end up in serious trouble when they forget how to access their money
    Vuja De - the feeling you'll be here later
  • Zero_Sum
    Zero_Sum Posts: 1,567 Forumite
    edited 7 October 2019 at 6:25PM
    Cash does the same for me, when it's gone it's gone. Still can't use a card. I wouldn't be tempted by the bacon sandwich van outside anyway so I'm safe! Lol.

    In reality, big retailers wouldn't refuse cards, but smaller ones and indepedents often do. They are working to smaller margins and profits and relatively higher costs as a result, and it does make such a difference. It can cost a lot of money to accept card payments. Added to having to pay a fee per incoming card receipt (as a few banks do) means they pay twice to accept the payment, whereas cash or transfers or cheque is none or once. Further, a lot of businesses dealing in cash probably aren't decalring all of it either...

    We had a customer who wanted to put £1,800.00 on a card, and we refused it. It would have cost us £60-£70 to accept it which would have eaten into the already not so big profit margin. We said transfer or cheque, he did a transfer, and it cost us nothing and we maintained modest profit margin.

    I've been refused a card before and it doesn't bother me all. Lots of cafes and smaller shops have signs up saying no card payment under £5, £10, £15 etc, as the fees added up can be a lot. I have no issue. Those on this thread who do don't appreciate or care about how they businesses operate and survive, they are only interested in what works for them which is very narrow sighted really.

    But then again, there are none so blind as those who do not wish to see...

    If i was buying something for £1800 it would be on credit card for protection. If retailer refused then my thinking would be that theyre having money issues & could go bust. Id walk away.

    In fact there was a similar story in the local paper of a local furniture seller who refused card. The went bust & customer lost £800 of course crying to local press when it was their own daft fault for not walking.

    Earlier on in the year I was down in that there London. Went into a smal indy brewery. Went to pay with cash & their initial reaction was hand over the card reader.
  • Zero_Sum
    Zero_Sum Posts: 1,567 Forumite
    pelirocco wrote: »
    You may possibly end up as one of those people
    My mum is nearly 89 , lives alone and does manage paying by card ( she does keep the number written down just in case ! ) has always by habit taking out a set amount of cash every other week to pay for her fags , bingo and scratch card habit , and the odd bit of food . My sister mentioned she could use her card more , so she does ....she still takes out the same amount of cash
    Luckily she has family to keep and eye on her , and mention that she hasnt the money to spend what she does really , it falls on deaf ears BUT what if she didnt have us to keep an eye on her ?
    My MIL had dementia , in the early days she coped with getting her pension out via the post office , but it was changed to being paid into the bank she struggled and had no idea how to access her money
    There will be many old people , and people with learning difficulties who are going to end up in serious trouble when they forget how to access their money

    She wasnt that old (late 40's early 50's) her husband was there mocking her for it.
  • glider3560
    glider3560 Posts: 4,115 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Zero_Sum wrote: »
    Earlier on in the year I was down in that there London. Went into a smal indy brewery. Went to pay with cash & their initial reaction was hand over the card reader.

    There's quite a few businesses in London that don't take cash at all. An independent ice cream vendor near Tower Bridge doesn't take cash (card only). There's an independent coffee shop near my work that also doesn't take cash.
  • JuicyJesus
    JuicyJesus Posts: 3,832 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    glider3560 wrote: »
    There's quite a few businesses in London that don't take cash at all. An independent ice cream vendor near Tower Bridge doesn't take cash (card only). There's an independent coffee shop near my work that also doesn't take cash.

    The Nespresso pop up stall near me is card only. There's a good few restaurants in London that are also card only now.
    urs sinserly,
    ~~joosy jeezus~~
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 351.8K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.4K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 454K Spending & Discounts
  • 244.7K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 600.2K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 177.3K Life & Family
  • 258.4K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.2K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.