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

Yeah get rid of the retaining 100% of the value bit - you pay tax on that so its false.

I wouldn’t pay any attention. I’ll still use card. Hate cash and never use it

But surely the card fee is just built into the pricing? They can’t directly add the fee on top but it’s accounted for in the pricing, just as the pricing amount takes into account business rates, staff breaks, nation insurance etc
Ultimately it’s the customer paying towards all those things.

People are not going to read all of that.

"Cash preferred" is enough.

I would have a minimum spend, my place of work doesn’t accept card payments for less than £5, we have a cash machine fairly close by.
People are fine about it.

I disagree with others saying that just ‘cash is preferred’ is better.

I never ever carry cash because i don’t need it for anything. So if i saw your sign, it would make me wonder if you actually took card and possibly put me off coming in.

I avoid businesses that only take cash because I assume tax dodging. They all deny it but still.
As long as you take card I would still use it.
My hairdresser reckons the bank charges more for cash than she pays for accepting cards so maybe you could shop around for cheaper card companies.

Our local fish and chip shop has a similar sign, it doesn't seem to stopped their trade!

Our local charity shop however asks for card over cash as we no longer have a local bank in the town and card is easier than going to the bank.

There was a piece on you and yours the other week about how some people are put off by places that refuse to accept cash. It also got on to the topic of how people are using less cash not necessarily because they don't want to use cash but because they worry about vendors not accepting cash/not having change as cash is now used a lot less. This drives less people to carry cash and more places to not accept cash. In that conversation a few people said it would be useful if shops had signs to say they welcomed cash or that they didn't accept cash so people knew where they stood before they got to the till.

This is not legal since Jan 13th.

It wouldn't offend me or anything, but it also wouldn't make me any more likely to carry cash, which I literally never do. It's just so inconvenient. I do feel for small businesses though, I know it's a hard environment for them.

Increase your prices to cover the card fees and offer a 5% discount for cash rather than a passive aggressive sign which will piss those who love tapping their phones off. I love cash. We are very rural and therefore frequent small businesses including local farmers etc. We always pay cash. If it enables people to pay less to the tax man then all the better.

I always pay by bank transfer when I get my nails done.

Whenever a business says 'We have to pay a fee if you pay by card' I always think 'Well, why does it cost me the same amount regardless, then?' If you need to cover transaction fees, whack an extra quid on the price of treatments for people who pay by card.

I would take out everything underneath no cash, no problem. The sentence is repeated and the ‘support small businesses’ bit would make me feel like I was doing something wrong! Otherwise fine.

My local hairdresser only takes cash, the business has been there for 15 plus years and it works for them and it’s not a tax dodge. Prices much cheaper than going into the city centre so worth me getting cash ahead of time, though most of the time for everything else I use card Apple Pay or whatever. Clientele tend to be older, me included, so they are maybe more happy to use cash?

Yes but surely the idea is to keep prices low and retain customers.

I know it says not to worry but these signs always put me off making smaller transactions. I almost never carry cash and don't want to.

I can imagine that banking cash is a ball ache, although like I said upthread I mostly use cash. Quite alot of this was from the influence of DH who was an accountant who used to work alot as a witness in fraud cases and he has always said you can piece together a person's entire life by their card transactions.

But that said- we live in a village. Our nearest town (not city) has just an HSBC and a LLoyds bank left. everywhere else has closed. One of those banks is closing in August. So we will have no physical bank within a 30 odd mile radius of us.

GOV website.

Hidden charges for paying with a debit or credit card will be banned from today (13 January), helping millions of UK consumers to avoid rip-off fees when spending their hard-earned money.
So-called ‘surcharging’ has become commonplace, particularly online, with many retailers hitting people with surprise charges just before they are about to make a purchase. Some retailers have been known to add charges which are far higher than it costs them to process a payment. It is estimated that surcharging cost Brits £166 million in 2015.
Today’s ban means that it will be unlawful for retailers to charge additional fees when someone uses a particular credit or debit card, or other payment systems like PayPal, to make a purchase. This will ensure consumers can be confident that there won’t be any nasty surprises, and they won’t be penalised for wanting to pay in a particular way.
Economic Secretary to the Treasury, John Glen said:
It’s completely unfair for someone to be hit by a hidden fee just before they are about to make a purchase, so by scrapping these rip-off charges we are helping to give power back to the consumer.
As we build a fairer society, this added transparency ensures buyers can make informed choices about how they spend their hard-earned money.
The new rules will be enforced by Trading Standards who will have the power to take civil enforcement action against traders who breach the regulations. It will also entitle customers to receive a refund of any unlawful surcharge they have paid and enable them, if necessary, to take legal action to recover any such surcharge.
The ban on credit and debit card surcharges is effective across the EU from Saturday 13th January 2018, and will apply to all purchases made where the banks of the consumer and retailer are within the EEA. In the vast majority of other circumstances surcharges are capped at the cost to the retailer for processing the payment. The UK Government took the decision to also include other payment methods such as PayPal in the ban to further protect consumers.

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I've seen a sign that just says cash preferred. It doesn't bother me, I actually like the reminder to keep some cash in my wallet. I don't think it needs to be that wordy.

"Cash preferred" is enough, I think.

What is the % fee on top?

Our local cash machines only disperse one increment of bills. So if I am making a small purchase with cash, the business has to make change.

I always ask a small business if they prefer cash or card in that scenario. Most say card because it is hard for them to keep enough change on hand.

I figure they rightly set their prices to account for the transaction fees.

I’m very pro shops being cash only, it’s very risky to be a cashless society and it’s very hard to teach our children the value of money and budgeting if there is none to see and hand over!

Also I know several businesses that are cash only ,including a dog groomers, they always looks super busy so obviously doesn’t affect their trade .

Isn’t that the exact same scenario though?

Someone pays on £100 on card, there’s a £2 card fee that comes off so she’s left with £98
vs giving someone a £2 discount on a £100 service and she’s still left with £98?

My local Chinese takes card. The chippy next door is cash only.