AIBU to put up a sign encouraging customers to pay in cash?

It’s fine. I run a small business & we lose a fortune to card payments. My own hairdresser will only accept cash or cheque & I don’t blame her

Agree with this, I’m afraid.

Either accept card or don’t. Don’t pressure customers either way.

It is vastly more ethical to support small businesses as the majority of the wealth generated stays in the community rather than going to shareholders and large financial institutions.

I think it's roughly 65% of local business profits stay in the community whereas with international corporations it's closer to 15%.

I’d have no trouble with that at all and in fact I often ask if a small business would prefer cash at the till.

Nothing wrong with the sentiment but keep it simple.

Cash is Queen!
Please pay cash if you can.

Great idea, we need to keep using cash or we will lose that option

It's fine if you explain why. Remember a lot of small businesses don't actually want cash for several reasons.... there's no bank, the bank charges, it stops theft by staff.

I part own a bar and we used to insist on a £5 minimum sale before taking a card (I know that isn't strictly by the rules). But we scrapped it post COVID. The trouble is there is no bank locally and until the end of last year, no post office so we held thousands in cash on the premises....not covered by insurance.

Some local businesses have signs up explaining how much they get charged each month for card transactions and equate it to an extra member of staff's wage. Then say cash payments are preferred if possible.
One takeaway refuses card payments. It is cash or bank transfer only. It doesn't seem to have affected their business.

Our local pharmacy only accepts card payments. I don’t mind at all. I go to a class that only accepts cash and is really annoying to have to go and get cash. I often forget and have to dash to the nearest cash point.

I think most people are used to tapping a card or phone and not carrying cash around.

I would assume you are evading tax and therefore I would be put off. Cash also cost money tho - theres the banking fees, the time it takes to bank it and inevitable discrepancies.

I am thinking they are probably not declaring to HMRC either!

I'd think you were cheeky fuckers. I'm not paying by cash (which I don't carry) just to make your lives easier. You should be factoring the cost of card transactions into your business planning.

I don't mind you declaring your preferences but get a bit of backbone and stand by it - don't go so wet at the end with the "but of course card is still fine whatever you want is fine!!!!" bit. You are a shopkeeper not a servant.

But that said, I don't carry my ATM card on me, only a credit card, so I would have to leave empty handed AND then remember to get cash out AND then come back. So I'd have to really want what you were selling (which I might do!). Places I don't know I will usually google anyway so if you were upfront about it on your website, then that's half the battle won.

It wouldn’t bother me and I don’t get why some pps always assume it is a tax things. Even if they didn’t pay tax I’m more annoyed by Bezos et al.

I would pay cash, after reading this, as long as I happened to have enough on me. Good idea to point out it’s because of the fee you have to pay each time a customer uses their card. I only realised this recently, and previously thought only tax-dodgers wanted cash payments. The tone is polite and reasonable.

Every small business I know uses a Sum up card machine. The machine is free and the charge is 1.6% of the transaction. That percentage goes down the more transactions you do. I really don't see how your charges could be so much more that it's worth the bigger hassle of dealing with cash - having to make deposits, have more change, increased risk of robbery etc

Why don’t you change to a different card machine provider? I only pay a tiny amount on my card payments. I pay as much to pay cash into my business account.

You can put the sign up but that's not going to mean I ever have any cash in my purse.

I think all businesses should offer the options. Going cashless is inaccessible to many learning disabled adults or other people without access to a bank account.

When I worked at a theatre in recent years, it became really challenging to accept cash because our local bank branch closed and cashing it in was a huge inconvenience.

The coffee hut I buy a coffee at when I walk my dog at the beach has a similar but shorter sign and it just makes me feel really guilty for only being able to pay with my phone because I've just got pockets full of poo bags, dog snacks, my phone and keys. I don't think it's a great feeling to have as part of the customer journey.

It's a looooong sign though, where would it be?

I also really hate when people suggest i should "support small businesses".

Why should I? So you can make a profit? Its not any more noble to shop at a small business, many of them are actually just less efficient, more expensive etc.

Because that’s not legal.

yes but the poster wrote this

"If you need to cover transaction fees, whack an extra quid on the price of treatments for people who pay by card."

I've seen this in a few places, yanbu at all x

If you are in England and Wales (don't know about Scotland) you are breaking the law.

If i had to choose between prices 2.5% higher and paying by card, vs paying in cash.... i'll choose card.

This is because:
A) I don't often have cash, there aren't many cash machines near and the only one in my village charges me to withdraw.
B) I end up with loose change that I fritter rather than only spending what i actually need to.
C) paying on card allows me better data to review my own spending and manage/control it - i can see that I've racked up £80 in a month on odds and sods at the corner shop and reign it in.

Because it's illegal