Going Cash

Rosa_Damascena

@MattMattMattUK - useful graphs. The use of credit cards compared to cash / debit cards is much lower than I expected.

I only spend what I know I have (perhaps I am lucky in this regard) so why not defer payment?

hugheskevi

Rosa_Damascena said:

@MattMattMattUK - useful graphs. The use of credit cards compared to cash / debit cards is much lower than I expected.

I only spend what I know I have (perhaps I am lucky in this regard) so why not defer payment?

It is something that always puzzles me too. 

From a financial perspective, it is usually most advantageous to use credit cards for purchases, not just due to S75 protection but gaining some form of reward (eg supermarket cards) or cashback. More recently, Chase and its 1% cashback on purchases on its debit card has changed that, yet with higher interest rates using a 0% on purchases credit card and saving the money at 5% interest would give a better return than cashback. The potential to shift balances at 0% interest and with no fee at the end of the interest-free purchase period increases the gain (ie Stoozing).

Mark_Glasses

Quite a number of pubs in London are cashless these days. One of my biggest gripes about pubs in general is the lack of transparency about the price of a pint. If I've never been to the pub before I often have no idea how much I'm going to pay for a pint until I pay it.

What I've found with a lot of these card only pubs is they don't even say how much it is after you've ordered, they just point you to the card machine. 

I was in a card only pub recently where I ordered my drink and the bar man just held up a card machine for me to tap on the end. I asked to see how much it was, first he looked at it himself and told me the price but I told him I wanted to see it myself and he reluctantly showed me.

I know 99% of people won't kick up a fuss like me because they don't want to come across as stingy or anything but I don't care. There's nothing stopping the bar man from putting an inflated price in the card machine and have people pay it without realising. 

SVaz

If I can’t pay by cash in a place, I make a fuss and they usually back down. We stayed in a hotel on the South coast with family last year and they got very shirty until I asked them if they’d be happy to lose at least £1000 in custom for meals and drinks.  Paultons park however,  made me buy a gift card with cash to spend on food etc. within the park,  the amusement / game stands were happy enough to take cash though,  funnily enough 🙄
At least 10% of my customers pay me in cash,
not just the older ones either and I only have an online business account, no way to pay cash in so I’ve always got a fair amount of cash on me,  so I use it for diesel,  trade parts etc.   Customers are always surprised when I ask for payment by bank transfer, unless it’s a large amount for a boiler repair or similar then they assume I want cash, when I actually don’t!   

JIL

PollyWollyDoodle said:

An ‘older generation’ who probably insure their car online, and renew their car tax online?  Why assume that older people are not technically aware - if they are fit and alert enough to drive, they are probably using smartphones and other technology.  

Or ask their sons and daughters to do the online stuff for them. But that's not saying the older generation are not technically savvy.

I did say excludes a lot. That is fact because according to research the majority of over 70s who do have a mobile phone just have a basic pay as you go.

And  paying via an app is usually via a mobile phone, then you have to have the right app. 


There is absolutely no way I dont think the elderly are computer literate but there is a difference.


Edited to add a link 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-65765554.amp

MattMattMattUK

Rosa_Damascena said:

@ MattMattMattUK - useful graphs. The use of credit cards compared to cash / debit cards is much lower than I expected.

As far as I am aware the figures the BBC are using are in person transactions only (as they are trying to make a comparison with cash usage), for online transactions a much higher percentage of transactions use credit cards, but even then from what I have seen before it is still majority debit cards. I find that odd because firstly how much we are told that everyone buys on credit, but more importantly because pretty much everyone I know uses a credit card and then pays it off at the end of the month, most people I know do not even take their debit card out of the house these days.

Rosa_Damascena said:

I only spend what I know I have (perhaps I am lucky in this regard) so why not defer payment?

I only spend what I have, so why not get 1.25% cashback on everything I spend, it might not be much, but it does add up over time. Nearly everything does on my Amex, where places do not accept Amex I use an Visa cashback card, it is certainly better than the alternative of getting no cashback. 

Rosa_Damascena

Mark_Glasses said:

Quite a number of pubs in London are cashless these days. One of my biggest gripes about pubs in general is the lack of transparency about the price of a pint. If I've never been to the pub before I often have no idea how much I'm going to pay for a pint until I pay it.

What I've found with a lot of these card only pubs is they don't even say how much it is after you've ordered, they just point you to the card machine. 

I was in a card only pub recently where I ordered my drink and the bar man just held up a card machine for me to tap on the end. I asked to see how much it was, first he looked at it himself and told me the price but I told him I wanted to see it myself and he reluctantly showed me.

I know 99% of people won't kick up a fuss like me because they don't want to come across as stingy or anything but I don't care. There's nothing stopping the bar man from putting an inflated price in the card machine and have people pay it without realising. 

Reminds me of an experience I had a few years ago - when getting a round for 5 in I was staggered by the £60 or so that flashed up on the cc terminal! I asked the barman to add this up again and despite his initial protestations it came to about £35, which was far more reasonable for pub prices. It turns out that he had just landed from Oz and it was taking a while to get used to sterling 

It was the Princess Louise in Holborn, since you ask.

bouicca21

https://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Article/2023/06/27/law-for-pubs-on-displaying-drinks-prices

As i remember it, the Princess Louise regularly had Aussie bar persons.  But this must apply both sides of the River
https://www.southwark.gov.uk/assets/attach/2498/Price-indications-for-food-and-drink-2012-.pdf

weenancyinAmerica

I suppose we are just going to have to get debit cards for the children to use on school events, transaction stations for those who sell eggs at home or the book people in Hay on Wye who put up stands along the alleys and give the homeless apps to use for accepting donations. But it would be hard to buy those poppies for Remembrance Day if everyone had to have a card reader  or credit card for those.

MattMattMattUK

weenancyinAmerica said:

I suppose we are just going to have to get debit cards for the children to use on school events, transaction stations for those who sell eggs at home or the book people in Hay on Wye who put up stands along the alleys and give the homeless apps to use for accepting donations. But it would be hard to buy those poppies for Remembrance Day if everyone had to have a card reader  or credit card for those.

Most schools are already cashless, children get a prepaid card, often patent pay. On the local school events they have card readers on every stand, though the solution is imperfect for primary age children, things will adapt, just as they always have.

Poppy sellers have had card readers for years, in general it encourages people to give more, I tend to pay five or ten pounds and most people I know seem to do the same.