to be worried that we are heading towards a cashless society?

[WaitingforGalGadot]

I read an article a few days ago about how the Government would like to phase out cash so that everyone is compelled to pay by card or bank transfer, supposedly to make things easier and quicker and destroy the black market.

I actually think this is really ominous as once there is no more cash, there is no more anonymity and your spending habits and lifestyle can be tracked even if you are not doing anything illegal. Big Brother watching your every more.

It also means the banks can impose negative interest rates (where you have to pay the banks to hold your money) on savings accounts to get people to spend rather than see their savings reduced and of course also means that you don't really have control of your own money since the banks can collapse, bail in your money or appropriate it (as has happened in places like Argentina, not too long ago).

Cash is also really useful and personally I don't find it a faff to use cash. I think this is really scary.

[Fanciedachange17]

It costs the business in transaction fees every time you use a card over cash. Fine if it's a big business as they've already added that fee onto your item but buying a paper or a coffee from a small local place is hurting them especially at a time when most are facing huge rate increases in 2018. Don't add to their misery. Shop local and Shop cash if you can.

[Sparklingbrook]

There are still some places that add a fee on for a card payment or specify not below £5. I do tend to avoid them.

[SingaSong12]

I use contactless quite a bit but I wouldn't want to go to no cash. I prefer having a back up in case something happens to my card. It used to be the other way round, where I have a card to back up in case I didn't have cash. I have noticed giving slightly less trips when I use contactless because there is no option to add one it used to be the other way round, where I have a card to back up in case I didn't have cash. I have noticed giving slightly less tips (eg in cafe) when I use contactless because there is no option to add one, and I may not have cash.

[coconuttella]

It costs the business in transaction fees every time you use a card over cash.

Handling cash isn’t free.... There’s the extra admin time of counting and reconciling, not to mention transporting to and from the bank. I am a Director of Resources for a medium size organisation...and I can tell you first hand that a cash transaction costs more to administer than a card one.

[ohfortuna]

my feeling is that cashless is some way off in the UK, I think it would be too unpopular
just a guess of course I could be wrong

[MongerTruffle]

How would a traffic warden know I have paid if there is no ticket to display in a pay and display car park?
Using a handheld device that checks your registration number.

What about internet connection? I suspect that a lot of places that still operate on a cash basis have no internet - say at a food festival.
There are many card machines that use a cellular (3G/4G) connection. This will be more common as coverage is improved in rural areas.

Cash transactions are also not free. Somebody has to count, document and deposit all of that money, and most (if not all) banks charge businesses for cash and cheque deposits. That's why large retailers are keen for you to get cashback when making purchases; a card transaction costs them less than a cash transaction.

[Fanciedachange17]

I also am responsible for the purchase ledgers and all the banking responsibilities for a medium sized business and do not find cash transactions take any more time than any other type.

[ohfortuna]

I understand that many black market transactions are now conducted using bitcoin (?) presume that even if we do go cashless money launderers and organised crime will find a way?

Or will they all just shrug and go work for minimum wage in tesco?

[ArgyMargy]

Sweden is way ahead of us on this. If you think about it, it's a much safer way of operating. And reduces tax avoidance.

[Parker231]

I use credit cards or contactless for almost everything. I can’t remember the last purchase I made with cash - I don’t have any cash on me.

[coconuttella]

I also am responsible for the purchase ledgers and all the banking responsibilities for a medium sized business and do not find cash transactions take any more time than any other type.

It’ll depend on your processes, but what is certain is that cash doesn’t transport itself to and from the bank by itself. That’s a cost that you don’t have with cards/mobile pay.

Clearly we’re not at a point where we’ll be cashless just yet...and it’s silly saying stuff like “what about small shops, charity collections” as that implies tech will never advance beyond what we currently have.

Give it 10 years and cash will as much as a novelty as getting paid your wages in cash was 15 years ago. Give it 10, maybe 20, more, it’ll be gone. I think cheques will be 10 years or so ahead of cash... expect them to be gone completely by 2025-2030.

[bananafish81]

Would you really use a debit card for little sundries like parking, a newspaper , a coffee or a bottle of water?

I'd be very happy if I could. I only use cash if I absolutely have to.

Whether somewhere accepts cards or not is definitely a factor in whether I'll spend my money with them, as the inconvenience of having to remember to get cash out in advance has to be worthwhile

There are two local dry cleaners. One is cash only. The other takes cards. Guess which one I use?

The newsagent has a £5 minimum for a card transaction. Very often I don't have the cash on me so I'll end up going into the Budgens who does

Lots of food stalls at the large, very well known, market near my work now have PayPal or iZettle card machines.

Paying with my Monzo card means it's much easier to keep track of my spending than paying with cash

[bananafish81]

And it's much much quicker to pay via contactless than to faff around with cash. Tap and go.

[Parker231]

I use contactless wherever possible - cup of coffee, lunch whilst at work etc

[dementedma]

RBS has closed the branch in our village. My mother is 83 and won't/can't use online banking.She can't use an app because of poor eyesight and arthritic fingers. She often needs a bit more time and likes to speak to an actual person. she now has to get a bus 6 miles to the nearest town, difficult as she is unsteady on her feet and walks with a stick.The banks are ignoring the needs of the elderly at their peril. It pisses me off that after years of being a loyal and good customer, she is made to feel like a nuisance and her needs not catered for.

[YellowMakesMeSmile]

It's rare I use cash so it wouldn't bother me that much. Bar the odd non uniform day and the window cleaner I don't use anything else I can't pay for by card. Safer to carry cards than cash too.

[phoenix1973]

If you pay for something that costs over £5k and you use cash for that, you have to complete a form which the seller is legally obliged to provide and once completed, submit it to hmrc.

[bananafish81]

Would you really use a debit card for little sundries like parking, a newspaper , a coffee or a bottle of water?

Actually my question back is - why would you want to use cash preferentially to buy a bottle of water or a paper if both options were available? I get why cash may be preferable to the business, but what would be the benefit to you specifically as the customer of using cash for a routine transaction? I assume if you're using MN that you're tech savvy enough to be comfortable enough with a card transaction...

Curious!

[melj1213]

Would you really use a debit card for little sundries like parking, a newspaper , a coffee or a bottle of water?

I work in a supermarket and I often work on the cigarette kiosk and those kind of transactions are very commonplace ... I've lost count of the number of people using their card to buy a single packet of cigarette papers costing 24p, or to pay 5/8p for an extra bag, so it is not all that unusual.

Some people like to use cash for small purchases like that but the majority use their card. I often go to work without my purse if I'm just planning on going to work and home again because I have android pay on my phone and keep my debit card in a pocket of the case especially as my supermarket allows colleagues to have a debit card on them on the shop floor but not carry cash. If I want to get something to eat on my break I can either grab a sandwich, swipe my card/phone on a card reader and go up for my break or I can spend my break walking from the front of the store to the back, going up to the locker room, getting my purse, going back downstairs, through the shop, picking up my sandwich, paying, walking back through the shop and upstairs to put my purse back in my locker before finally sitting down to inhale my sandwich in the little time I have left of my 15 minute break.

[scaryteacher]

I requested that my UK debit card be non contactless, as is my Belgian one. Cash is king in Belgium; during the sales,some retailers will only take cash, not cards. The black economy is flourishing there.

I don't want contactless cards, and I like cash. I can see how much I'm spending.

[bananafish81]

I don't want contactless cards, and I like cash. I can see how much I'm spending

Out of interest how do you track your spending, that makes it easier to do so using cash?

I find it harder to keep tabs on my spending with cash, because receipts get showed straight into my handbag

With my standard debit or credit card I can see all my transactions listed in my statement in my banking / credit card app.

With my Monzo card it logs everything I've spent, gives me a notification as soon as I've made a payment to remind me of exactly what I've just paid, and I can assess exactly how much I've spent on what categories of spending. I can get a much, much better idea of how much I'm spending on coffee or lunches through my debit card when I can see it all totted up right there in front of me

[HidingBehindTheWallpaper]

Would you really use a debit card for little sundries like parking, a newspaper , a coffee or a bottle of water?

Yes I would and I do. I pay with my watch. No need to get my purse out of my bag.

[Thesecondtoast]

A friend of mine is Jewish. She is purely culturally Jewish and isn't religious in any way. She got vouchers sent to her house saying happy Hanukkah or similar. She worked out it must have been because of her shopping habits using her loyalty card (chopped liver, matoz etc). She was quite freaked out. As she said, historically being on a list as being Jewish doesn't end well. She cut up all her loyalty cards immediately.

There is cctv everywhere, our shopping is tracked, our financial information is tracked, our medical information is held insecurely by the government. Oyster cards record our travel. It is scary how much information about our lives is already accessible.

[HidingBehindTheWallpaper]

And what does loyalty cards have to do with using a debit or credit card?

[bertsdinner]

I rarely use cash, I like contactless and find it is accepted in most places in the UK.
I use cash to pay the wheelie bin washer man and for birthday/leaving collections at work. I maybe use £10 a month in actual cash.

I keep track of spending by just adding it up in my head and knowing what I've spent. I do agree though, not all transactions come off immediately which could cause confusion.

I also have a Bpay that I load about £20 a month on, its on my key fob and I use it to buy a paper, odd pint of milk. This helps me budget.
I dont think we will ever be a totally cashless society. Sometimes you need cold, hard cash. I cant say it really worries me as such.