Cash or Card

molerat

Local one man shop changed to card only at the start of the pandemic. Says it has made his life so much easier and has no intention of going back to cash.  The very small loss of business is far outweighed by the time saved in counting cash and banking.

I have been a cashless shopper as much as possible for probably 30 years.  My window cleaner is the only cash I generally use but I did pay a few seafront stalls cash last year, likely they do not want a paper trail of their takings

Murphybear

I used to have a small business with my ex.  We took a lot of cash and our bank was next door.  However small businesses get charged horrendous fees for handling cash as well as debit/credit transactions.  It’s no wonder such a large number of small businesses fail.  I know they fail for a variety of reasons but high bank charges don’t help.

mac.d

I work with people with learning disabilities and for day to day spending, cash is the only option for them. It's not too much of an issue yet, but you do wonder how long this will continue.

username

mac.d said:

I work with people with learning disabilities and for day to day spending, cash is the only option for them. It's not too much of an issue yet, but you do wonder how long this will continue.

I'm curious to know (and this is a genuine question) why do people with learning disabilities use cash as the only option?

Is it is just a conceptual can feel and touch aspect?

Brie

username said:

mac.d said:

I work with people with learning disabilities and for day to day spending, cash is the only option for them. It's not too much of an issue yet, but you do wonder how long this will continue.

I'm curious to know (and this is a genuine question) why do people with learning disabilities use cash as the only option?

Is it is just a conceptual can feel and touch aspect?

My understanding is that for some that don't understand accounting (& that includes many more than those with LDs) they will just buy and buy because the card lets them.  If they have just cash they can only spend what they have.  It also reduces the amount of fraud that someone can experience. 

A friend's sibling was being taken out by her carers every day and the carers felt free to use her card to buy themselves lunch.  It was only when the whole account was emptied a couple of weeks later that the family were aware of what was happening and, of course, reported it to the care agency.  My MIL's carer used to take her out to a coffee shop and suggested that MiL should have enough cash to buy her own coffee & not have a card so we would not be worried - because she was honest.  We made it clear that MiL could have enough cash for 2 coffees & cakes so she could treat the carer as getting out was so good for her.

mac.d

username said:

mac.d said:

I work with people with learning disabilities and for day to day spending, cash is the only option for them. It's not too much of an issue yet, but you do wonder how long this will continue.

I'm curious to know (and this is a genuine question) why do people with learning disabilities use cash as the only option?

Is it is just a conceptual can feel and touch aspect?

Sorry I should have been more specific, I'm talking about people who require support with their finances and lack the capability to manage their money on their own. It's for fraud/financial abuse reasons. There are plenty of people with learning disabilities who have more capacity and happily utilise bank cards and cash!

Albermarle

jon81uk said:

goater78 said:

A couple of local businesses to me have signs that say they prefer to be paid in cash as they lose out in card charges. 

And there are other small businesses who moved to card only as the insurance for holding cash on the premises got too high following burglaries.

My OH had an interesting experience today. She went with a friend to a rather nice coffee and cakes type place, part of a small chain. They struggled to take the order due to some issue with the electronic ordering system/till, but in the end they got their coffee and cake. When they came to pay the bill, they said the machine/system is still down so they could not take payment. They offered to pay in cash, but they said they never took cash and just let them off the bill. Then they had to shut the shop .
I can not see it being good business to be so rigid that you can not even work with cash for an afternoon, to keep the business running/open and get paid. 

jon81uk

Albermarle said:

jon81uk said:

goater78 said:

A couple of local businesses to me have signs that say they prefer to be paid in cash as they lose out in card charges. 

And there are other small businesses who moved to card only as the insurance for holding cash on the premises got too high following burglaries.

My OH had an interesting experience today. She went with a friend to a rather nice coffee and cakes type place, part of a small chain. They struggled to take the order due to some issue with the electronic ordering system/till, but in the end they got their coffee and cake. When they came to pay the bill, they said the machine/system is still down so they could not take payment. They offered to pay in cash, but they said they never took cash and just let them off the bill. Then they had to shut the shop .
I can not see it being good business to be so rigid that you can not even work with cash for an afternoon, to keep the business running/open and get paid. 

If they’ve not got the safe to store cash, or the insurance for holding it, or the banking facilities to pay it in then it would necessitate just closing up. The insurance premiums for cash might not be worthwhile for the rare occasions the system goes down. 

Mnoee

jon81uk said:

Albermarle said:

jon81uk said:

goater78 said:

A couple of local businesses to me have signs that say they prefer to be paid in cash as they lose out in card charges. 

And there are other small businesses who moved to card only as the insurance for holding cash on the premises got too high following burglaries.

My OH had an interesting experience today. She went with a friend to a rather nice coffee and cakes type place, part of a small chain. They struggled to take the order due to some issue with the electronic ordering system/till, but in the end they got their coffee and cake. When they came to pay the bill, they said the machine/system is still down so they could not take payment. They offered to pay in cash, but they said they never took cash and just let them off the bill. Then they had to shut the shop .
I can not see it being good business to be so rigid that you can not even work with cash for an afternoon, to keep the business running/open and get paid. 

If they’ve not got the safe to store cash, or the insurance for holding it, or the banking facilities to pay it in then it would necessitate just closing up. The insurance premiums for cash might not be worthwhile for the rare occasions the system goes down. 

They likely didn't have a few hundred quid in change knocking about either! You'd be amazed how quickly you can run through it. Ten customers paying with a £3 coffee with a tenner, that's £50 in fivers and a £20 bag of pound coins.  God help them if the nearest cash machine only has 20's and everyone is expecting to pay with a card like they usually do. 

soolin

I like shopping in charity shops, popped into a few on holiday in one town and all wanted cards only even for £1 items. Apparently they no longer have a bank locally and none of the volunteers were allowed or able to get a bus or train to a big town to do the banking. One even explained that they physically couldn’t take cash, they had a till but that was it, no safe , no storage facilities. Apparently until a few months back they had a mobile van come round once a week, but that stopped fairly quickly.