Are shops accepting cash?

[TheChosenTwo]

A relative has given me A load of cash to buy Christmas presents on their behalf. The banks around me are only open between 10-2 weekdays only. I’m at work so can’t get there. Can I just spend the cash in shops or are they only accepting card payments?

I used to be a bank cashier and I know that if I still was I wouldn't want to handle cash 'all day long' at the moment thanks very much.

I think I’ve sorted it, dh is going to pay the money in tomorrow using the machine. Yes he knows my pin. No, I don’t care! Yes I’m sure it’s highly illegal. No, I don’t care!

[quote BananaPop2020]@MrsShelton it was the Bank of England that commissioned the survey. They found the risk of Covid transmission from cash was low. It is no more risky than it was this time last year. By refusing cash transactions we are excluding people and that needs to stop.[/quote]
have just looked at that....says risk is low (decided by them even though government has advised minimise cash)

then goes on to say (after skirting around the issue) that the virus is most active for one hour after exposure (sneeze for example) ....so they take the cash out ready in the queue or at cash machine or from home and its then infected, theres an hour window for cashier to be infected!!

often at the tills cash is counted out by customer licking a finger to flick it (refused a cash sale this week due to witnessing that little delight)

says it poses no greater risk than other surfaces or high contact touch points.....hmmm,but dont we wipe those down? trolley handles,ped keys at chip and pin....these are all cleaned, cash isn't

they summarise....any risk handling cash 'should' be low....ok then

and then this infected cash is handed back out as change to other customers so a potential of four people handling the one note.

oh and they say hand hygiene should be followed as per government guidance.....CASHIERS CANNOT LEAVE THE TILL TO WASH THEIR HANDS!!

You could be infected by absolutely anything. A push button, a family member, a door handle....basic hygiene should resolve the issue. How many people do you think are sneezing on their banknotes?

keep your hands away from your face,
sanitize your hands.
wash your hands before eating.

@BananaPop2020

You could be infected by absolutely anything. A push button, a family member, a door handle....basic hygiene should resolve the issue. How many people do you think are sneezing on their banknotes?

Difficult to say but they are possibly sneezing in their hands and then touching the bank notes. I didn't like handling cash much, some of the notes were minging, the local butcher would pay in and they were covered in meat.

I remember this from much earlier on in the pandemic-an actual sign at an Iceland store. The mind boggles.

Plenty of our local businesses take only cash.

In last 8 months I've had one moment where (an ice cream seller) didn't really want cash, but they took it anyway.

That I have been near, in last 10 months, I can only remember a few tourist attraction places (high cost entrance fees) that insisted on only card payment.

I prefer it if people give me cash, I just use hand gel afterwards. Our card readers are such a nightmare.

For a thousand pounds I would be going out of my way and paying in at the PO or one of those self service machines at the bank. No way would I be wandering around with that much cash on me.

Cashiers can be stuck on the tills with no way of washing hands

Sanitizer alone is no good

We are on tills for up to 3 hours at a time, no way of washing hands

Sanitize but how effective after that long?

You’ll just have to wing it and HOPE you stay safe. Nobody really cares about you, you are just a cashier

(Not my opinion, I’m in the job too, it’s just how it feels right now. Staff don’t matter.)

Oh please stop with that. Pretty much every job has a risk attached.

I know @MrsShelton

Pay it in too your back account at a cash machine.

They haven't let me. I have a few hundred in cash and I'm skint on card but live nowhere near a bank grrr

I was helping out in a pop-up shop and the wifi was rubbish so we had to resort to cash - but really small businesses are usually glad of the income and we had buckets of sanitiser handy for staff and customers. Places like Sweden are virtually cashless even for school fairs and I feel that's a bit dangerous and possibly excluding the elderly like my aunt who pays in cash and cheque. Plus a lot of card readers charge commission, even 1 % adds up.

@Toddlerteaplease I just went in at lunchtime and they put it in my account for me. I was expecting it to be heaving but I got there and back with 5 minutes to spare!

glad you got it sorted