Using cash in England and privacy

[AutumnalPieChomper]

I’m an American traveling to Manchester, England this week. I haven’t been in a while. Can you still pay in shops with cash in UK cities? I prefer using cash for privacy reasons, and would like to know if I should exchange my money at the airport or not.

My husband recently went to Amsterdam and everywhere he went refused cash. He says Europeans don’t care about the right to privacy as much as Americans and are moving toward cashless societies. Is this true?

It isn't sold over here!

It does explain why I get so many spam emails after visiting the US though!!

I find the opposite tbh, loads of places I shop
dont accept cash!
Even supermarkets where theoretically you can pay cash, there are often no cashiers open and only the machines that take card.

Unless you voluntarily give your details for some reason or choose to use a loyalty card there is no way for anyone to know anything about you. No one in England is having their shopping tracked

If that happens in America your privacy laws must be total pants

We have GDPR which is one of the world's most robust systems.
Absolutely no individual can access your data (unless they are a crook and then would be looking to clone your card). For this instance, alert your bank you are travelling and set up two step authentication. It's a PITA but secure.
I am hoping you can enjoy your trip: data collection is not our bag

Kindly OP, you sound a unnecessarily paranoid. When you pay with your bank card in a shop or restaurant the cashier isn’t given your name or address or any other information about you. You tap your card on the card-reader, enter a pin if it’s over a hundred quid and that’s it, The card doesn’t even leave your hand.

And I’m pretty sure your bank isn’t passing on the fact that you spent a fiver at a corner shop in Notting Hill to people so that they can come and stalk you.

Please just relax and have a fabulous holiday.

banks and credit card companies are not allowed to sell personal data in the UK or EU. I am horrified that happens in the US.

I use cash loads, three different times today alone and when I worked in retail plenty of customers paid in cash

It's odd that you think it's odd, in fact two businesses I've used this week are cash only

Using cash is odd. Are you cleaning it?

😆

I'm thinking if OP tries to pay for something expensive with cash, that's exactly what the retailer will think she's doing!!

Why are some posters being so rude to the OP? It's unnecessary.

OP says ‘as a woman who was previously stalked’. It’s a traumatic experience and not one you brush off. It doesn’t matter where she is in the world.

last time i remember using cash was in NYC last year and it was becuase i didnt want the name of the (ahem) shop on my credit card or debit card

apart from having some cash in australia i cant remember last time i used it, Im carrying about the same 3 euros ive had for years

Beats me. Undermining a woman’s traumatic stalking experience though, that going way too far.

You don’t need to, no-one can sell on your information unless you expressly opt IN.

Data protection regulation is strict here, as it is in Europe.

I read an article about that recently. A kind of sureptitious way to force people into cashless.

Surely businesses are only cash only if they’re trying to dodge the tax man…

Some small retailers will be very grateful for cash. Personally I would be more worried about carrying large amounts of cash, but if OP feels safer doing that, it will be fine in most places. A card is very handy for using public transport, though, especially in London.
I will third the advice to avoid £50 notes. Stick to lower denominations.

No, your name is not visible to the stores that take your card payment & they cant look it up either. If there is a query over your payment after its been taken they would have to riase that with the card merchant & they would deal with it - at no time wpould they share any details about the card/person at all.

And no, card companies & banks do not and cannot by law, share your details without your express permission which is never asked for as it just doesnt happen over here - at all. They will also never be sold either.

We have strict privacy laws & GDPR is taken seriously by all companies as the fines for not following it are huge & can be taken against the individual that breeches GDPR as well as the compoany they work for. Its just really not worth it.

If you are worried, buy a prepaid visa or mastercard and load it up with cash and then just use it as a normal debit card.

Lots of places no longer take cash as it is cheaper to pay the card reader fees than it is to pay someone to take the cash to the bank, pay it in, bank charges etc so using cash actually costs the business more money than only accepting cards.

Enjoy your trip over here - you'll be surprised just how different it is to the US (no tipping culture here either & no tax to add to what the item costs either!)

It would make sense to use your phone to pay apple pay etc

Shops don’t get your data. It of course your card provider knows where you’ve been, if that’s what you mean.

Taxi drivers prefer cash (although they will take cards).

For busses you will need to have the exact change if paying in cash as most drivers no longer have access to change. (May vary in different areas, but this s my experience.)

Hotels will probably want you to pay by card for legal reasons.

Some restaurants may take card details in advance to confirm a booking. I don't think there's a way round that.

I am actually glad to have read this thread, as I am going to the US next spring and will pay cash now. I always use contactless here.

There may be an element of that but I was posting about my use of cash rather than the tax affairs of the businesses

Both are quite long standing town centre places, not trying to hide away anywhere.

When I worked in retail I know for a fact that all the cash was accounted for, it had to be, until you'd completed the sale you wouldn't know how the customer was going to pay. Like in any shop now that accepts cash and has an epos system, there's no way to not declare the sale

Some shops will try the “I can’t give you a paper receipt, but can send you one on line if you give me your email address” Most of us have special email addresses for those requests, ones that aren’t linked to our banks, work etc.

Or you can insist on a paper receipt and say you will take your custom elsewhere if they refuse.

That’s great. In the US your name is often printed on the receipt for anyone to see! It’s honestly stupid.

That’s smart.