Going Cash

oldernonethewiser

Kim_13 said:

My personal preference is card (for the cashback, also as I feel I’m better off as there’d be some hope of recovering the money were a card to be lost or stolen. If that happens with cash, it’s gone.) Then cash, then app. However, I do believe that the customer should be able to freely choose their own payment method (forcing apps in particular is wrong, given the signal in some areas/most likely to alienate a section of society/the least well off being disproportionately more likely to have no data or to be on pay as you go where they can be charged over the odds for it.) With cashpoints disappearing, not accepting a card becomes less acceptable, given how far you might have to walk to get cash.

Before Christmas I was with a group where one person asked every pub if they took cash - thankfully they all did, but being able to pay with it should be a basic right.

It is up to a business to decide how they trade. 

Don't see it falling into the "basic right" category.

booneruk

oldernonethewiser said:

Kim_13 said:

Before Christmas I was with a group where one person asked every pub if they took cash - thankfully they all did, but being able to pay with it should be a basic right.

It is up to a business to decide how they trade. 

Don't see it falling into the "basic right" category.

I agree. Imagine a vendor setting up at a festival or such, I'm fairly sure they'd more often than not elect to be card only to save on the headache of babysitting large amounts of cash, minimising crime and maximising customer throughput. You can't tell struggling independent small businesses that they MUST accept cash. 

Rosa_Damascena

booneruk said:

oldernonethewiser said:

Kim_13 said:

Before Christmas I was with a group where one person asked every pub if they took cash - thankfully they all did, but being able to pay with it should be a basic right.

It is up to a business to decide how they trade. 

Don't see it falling into the "basic right" category.

I agree. Imagine a vendor setting up at a festival or such, I'm fairly sure they'd more often than not elect to be card only to save on the headache of babysitting large amounts of cash, minimising crime and maximising customer throughput. You can't tell struggling independent small businesses that they MUST accept cash. 

As illustrated by that annoying ad - the one where a roadside seller of potatoes (and onions) will only take crypto.

MattMattMattUK

An interesting article, though the headline does not match the facts. It also appears that the use of passbooks is not increasing, just that their usage with certain providers is increasing because they are the only providers still offering them. 

Detail, buried further down the article:
The Newcastle (Building Society) said: “The greater trend has been toward our members making deposits [using a passbook or passcard] rather than an increase in (cash) withdrawals.”

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2024/jan/27/savings-passbooks-cash-cost-of-living-crisis-banks-building-societies

JIL

I used cash today. Probably for the first time this year. 
I needed some additional veg and whilst we were out walking the dog we passed some pop up stalls. One had bowls of veg for £1 each, so I bought 3, unfortunately I only had a £20 note. The seller then had to go and get some change from another stall. Obviously if I had known that I would have been buying like this I would have brought change with me.

It reiterated to me how clumsy cash can be at times. 

weenancyinAmerica

Using a card would have been even clumsier at the stalls - or you would have used it.

Rosa_Damascena

weenancyinAmerica said:

Using a card would have been even clumsier at the stalls - or you would have used it.

Its surprising how many small vendors have card terminals.

I go back to the crypto ad...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozQkbMKgSGg&ab_channel=SMARTY

mumf

What an interesting topic *cash* is. For a start,those who don’t *like* cash, if they were given an inheritance of cash in a sack,I’ll bet they they wouldn’t criticise it then! 🤣.
  Up until six years ago ,my work traditionally paid in cash. For forty years,my cash was normal income- and weekly too! Of course,as time moved on we had to bank some each week as trend moved towards that system. 

  The last six years of employment meant monthly income for me ( normal for my wife) ,but our economy is based still on weekly outgoing ( pretty much). Not a bad way,as now I am seriously ill,my benefits are paid both monthly and weekly! 🤣
  Most of our outgoings now are obviously via the bank,but each week my wife draws a certain amount of cash,and that’s our ( main) spending money. I keep a tidy little stash too. Last week we needed our local locksmith to fix our back door. ( I’m not fit enough nowadays) . Cash  or card? Cash!  10% discount. Aaay thank yo! 😃. 

  I can truly say I will continue with my cash stash until I die! 👍

booneruk

mumf said:

 Cash  or card? Cash!  10% discount. Aaay thank yo! 😃. 

  

Not saying it's definitely the case here, but there's quite a lot of tax revenue lost to the 'dark economy' where 'discount for cash' deals bypass HMRC.

https://www.taxjournal.com/articles/some-householders-paying-traders-cash-may-be-colluding-tax-fraud-says-ciot-30072012

MattMattMattUK

mumf said:

What an interesting topic *cash* is. For a start,those who don’t *like* cash, if they were given an inheritance of cash in a sack,I’ll bet they they wouldn’t criticise it then! 🤣.

That is a pointless analogy, just as those who are anti-card or anti-online banking would not turn down a pre-paid card or bank transfer. People are not going to turn down free money even if the method of delivery is outdated and clumsy, adding to that they would just pay it into a bank account and then spend it normally.

mumf said:

Most of our outgoings now are obviously via the bank,but each week my wife draws a certain amount of cash,and that’s our ( main) spending money.

You could much more easily cut out the intermediate step of cash and spend on card, ideally getting cashback in the process. 

mumf said:

Last week we needed our local locksmith to fix our back door. ( I’m not fit enough nowadays) . Cash  or card? Cash!  10% discount. Aaay thank yo! 😃. 

Ah, a high probability of good old tax evasion, it is an odd mix, some kind of moral superiority tied with potential criminality.