Going Cash

oldernonethewiser

Katiehound said:

Cashmygiro said:

 

You're forgetting that generation were using cards and tech 20/30 years ago. It's not a new thing.

credit cards came in   much longer ago than that!
 Barclay card  became the first credit card in the United Kingdom on 8 November 1967.

I am not sure how long ago chip & pin was almost replaced by the contactless facility. (Obviously not replaced if you are spending over £100)

The cashless society really came to the fore during the Covid epidemic because folk did not want to handle cash so suddenly everyone was using a card to buy the smallest purchase.

I recall seeing cash machines with a sign on them "Cash is clean" and then further info explaining that all the notes had been cleaned before being put into the machine.  Don't know if that ever reassured anyone.

I use a mixture of cash and card. (not for the same purchase)

sheilavw

I use both. I always have some cash to use for small purchases. I use a card for larger purchases. I also still occasionally use my cheque book! I've lived here 35 years and my milkmans always pushes a bill through the door approximately once a month or so (I only get 3 pints a week and top up inbetween with a couple of pints if I need to). I always leave a cheque in the bottle. Also my ground rent invoice comes twice a year, again I pay by cheque. I thought that they had changed this recently, but when I read further only people renting properties from this company could pay online, so I send a cheque in the post. I never really see cheques now

CapricornLass

I use a mix of cash (mainly for small things, admittedly) and card.  I use the cash to make sure that  businesses still accept them because there are still a lot of people, many of them vulnerable, who work mainly in cash.

I think the only people who routinely use cheques a lot is HMRC! Though even they are now allowing payment to be made by bank transfer instead

400ixl

weenancyinAmerica said:

I think a person's age has a lot to do with the answers we are getting. Young people seem to only want a card society. Older people are afraid of a card only society. I wonder if a study has been done on how this card society affects charity giving as some of the answers sound like they don't give anything away to others. I see a card only society becoming very self-centered and lacking in empathy and it worries me.

It was the larger charities which drove the shift from cash to card. They don't want to be having to have people on the street getting one off cash payments. They want people signing up to continuous payments and direct debits to keep the money rolling in.

greenbee

I pretty much stopped using cash years ago when I was travelling a lot for work and using a different currency every few days. So work credit card or personal credit card and that was it - it turns out that most people who said they didn't take cards did when the option was that I'd give them a miss. A US colleague said that when offered 'card with a tip, or cash with no tip' suddenly they took cards. Likewise a taxi driver in Frankfurt who changed his mind at midnight about taking cards realised that I'd asked the question before we left because I didn't have cash (I'd flown in from Stockholm via Zurich for an 12 hour visit) and was suddenly able to take a card - he didn't get a tip as I was so fed up and exhausted and very unhappy about the delay in checking into the hotel!

Spending a lot of time in Sweden, it was interesting to find out that robberies from and attacks on taxi drivers reduced dramatically when they went cashless. 

As for the CO2 impact - the latest data says that the carbon impact of endpoint devices is larger than that of the datacenters/cloud services processing and storing the data. But bear in mind that most of those endpoints are business devices. Consumer mobile phones (which tend to have a longer life than business devices) are a very small part of the problem (and you'd probably have one regardless of whether you use it for spending). 

I find electronic payments give me more control than cash - I get alerts for every payment that I make. As for the generational issue, my mum is in her 80s and prefers online banking and electronic payments as it makes it easier for her to see exactly where her money has gone. 

Rosa_Damascena

greenbee said:

I pretty much stopped using cash years ago when I was travelling a lot for work and using a different currency every few days. So work credit card or personal credit card and that was it - it turns out that most people who said they didn't take cards did when the option was that I'd give them a miss. A US colleague said that when offered 'card with a tip, or cash with no tip' suddenly they took cards. Likewise a taxi driver in Frankfurt who changed his mind at midnight about taking cards realised that I'd asked the question before we left because I didn't have cash (I'd flown in from Stockholm via Zurich for an 12 hour visit) and was suddenly able to take a card - he didn't get a tip as I was so fed up and exhausted and very unhappy about the delay in checking into the hotel!

Spending a lot of time in Sweden, it was interesting to find out that robberies from and attacks on taxi drivers reduced dramatically when they went cash only. 

As for the CO2 impact - the latest data says that the carbon impact of endpoint devices is larger than that of the datacenters/cloud services processing and storing the data. But bear in mind that most of those endpoints are business devices. Consumer mobile phones (which tend to have a longer life than business devices) are a very small part of the problem (and you'd probably have one regardless of whether you use it for spending). 

I find electronic payments give me more control than cash - I get alerts for every payment that I make. As for the generational issue, my mum is in her 80s and prefers online banking and electronic payments as it makes it easier for her to see exactly where her money has gone. 

Do you mean card only?

greenbee

Rosa_Damascena said:

greenbee said:

I pretty much stopped using cash years ago when I was travelling a lot for work and using a different currency every few days. So work credit card or personal credit card and that was it - it turns out that most people who said they didn't take cards did when the option was that I'd give them a miss. A US colleague said that when offered 'card with a tip, or cash with no tip' suddenly they took cards. Likewise a taxi driver in Frankfurt who changed his mind at midnight about taking cards realised that I'd asked the question before we left because I didn't have cash (I'd flown in from Stockholm via Zurich for an 12 hour visit) and was suddenly able to take a card - he didn't get a tip as I was so fed up and exhausted and very unhappy about the delay in checking into the hotel!

Spending a lot of time in Sweden, it was interesting to find out that robberies from and attacks on taxi drivers reduced dramatically when they went cash only. 

As for the CO2 impact - the latest data says that the carbon impact of endpoint devices is larger than that of the datacenters/cloud services processing and storing the data. But bear in mind that most of those endpoints are business devices. Consumer mobile phones (which tend to have a longer life than business devices) are a very small part of the problem (and you'd probably have one regardless of whether you use it for spending). 

I find electronic payments give me more control than cash - I get alerts for every payment that I make. As for the generational issue, my mum is in her 80s and prefers online banking and electronic payments as it makes it easier for her to see exactly where her money has gone. 

Do you mean card only?

Yes! Will edit 😂

sillyvixen

mumf said:

When my wife took me to hospital for my regular MRI scan,we parked on the car park that takes only cash payments. No problem to us,as we keep plenty in the motor. One chap though couldn’t pay,as he uses only his phone! My wife ,being the kind person she is,paid his parking. 

My local hospital takes cash and cards for parking payment. I am so glad of the card option, as having to get hubby to A&E in the early hours and stay in the carpark for over 12 hours, the cash I had on me wouldn't have covered the cost as it was expensive but hubbys need was as such it was worth paying. Thankfully I could use my card to get us out of the carpark. The payment machines only take coins not notes .. So if you need to be there for an extended amount of time you need to pay by card.

Need2bthrifty

I think I’m what is called a “dinosaur” but feel there is still a place for a variety of methods to pay for what you want. I use a combination of cash/credit & debit cards/cheques. I live in a well resourced market town which is lucky enough to have a bank, so I prefer to use cash in the shops if what I’m buying is under £50.
 
What I do resent is that the choice in how we pay is beginning to be eroded. Not only are Business’/Companies that provide a service distancing themselves from us they are dictating or reducing the methods in which we pay for these services - its all about their convenience, not mine.
 
I’m also losing confidence in people’s ability to count or do simple arithmetic. They have become so reliant on technology doing everything for them they seem incapable of mentally calculating a simple transaction - on a recent visit to the green grocer my shopping came to £6.37, I gave the assistant £11.50, she couldn’t work out that I required £5.13 change and I had to talk her through it - if that’s our future I’m concerned.
 
HG Wells novel The Time Machine springs to mind and that our destiny is that of the Eloi, unquestioning and accepting.   

Madbat60

I will walk out of premises that say card only.  I refuse to be dictated to by companies.  I get around £100 out of the bank weekly and buy food with that  and other bits and pieces.  It gives me better control over my spending.  I'm retired so I have time to  shop around.  I won't use my phone either.  I refuse to have credit card. I have a debit card for larger purchases.  I use cash abroad.