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.

[LoniceraJaponica]

“This will be more common as coverage is improved in rural areas.”

I live in a rural area so this would need to be improved significantly before every business round here gets a card machine. We only got faster broadband last year, and it still isn’t as quick as broadband in towns and cities.

“why would you want to use cash preferentially to buy a bottle of water or a paper if both options were available?”

Because with a contactless card I can’t keep track of my spending. However, I can keep track of a receipt from an ATM that lets me know how much cash I have withdrawn, and reconcile it with my bank statement.

“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.”

I don’t. I would rather use cash to support a local business than go to a chain so that I can use my debit card. We have lots of small, local businesses, and I think it is so important to support them.

This thread has made me re-evaluate cashless spending, and I am going to look at the apps I can use on my phone. Do these parking apps work in hospital car parks BTW?

[LoniceraJaponica]

Oh, and DD still needs cash for bus fares. We don't live in London and I can't see our public transport changing to cashless anytime soon.

[PerkingFaintly]

Never mind the government having our medical data: the NHS illegally handed over a huge tranche of it to an Artificial Intelligence company called DeepMind, owned by Google. The premise for handing over the data was to work on alerts for kidney disease, but in practice there's no way of knowing what DeepMind is using it for. The initial acquisition of data was illegal, so why would they stop there?

Royal Free breached UK data law in 1.6m patient deal with Google's DeepMind
Information Commissioner’s Office rules record transfer from London hospital to AI company failed to comply with Data Protection Act
www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jul/03/google-deepmind-16m-patient-royal-free-deal-data-protection-act


Google's DeepMind shouldn't suck up our NHS records in secret
The revelation that 1.6 million patients’ records are being used by the company’s artificial intelligence arm rings alarm bells
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/04/googles-deepmind-shouldnt-be-sucking-up-our-nhs-records-in-secret

[Thesecondtoast]

Loyalty cards and a cashless society are similar because they allow too much information about you to be collated.

[bananafish81]

Because with a contactless card I can’t keep track of my spending. However, I can keep track of a receipt from an ATM that lets me know how much cash I have withdrawn, and reconcile it with my bank statement.

I'm missing a trick

You can see in your online banking immediately how much you've spent if using a debit card. You can see exactly what you've spent where. If you've used a credit card most providers show you recent transactions

There are an ever increasing number of personal finance websites and apps which will analyse your transactions to tell you exactly how much you're spending on food, petrol etc

With a receipt from an ATM all that does is tell you that you've withdrawn £X. You have to manually reconcile all your transactions to see what you're actually spending that money on. Vs a card where you can see exactly how much you're spending and on what.

[LoniceraJaponica]

I never remember to log into my bank account. It is such a faff with passwords, and the keypad that the bank have provided, so I can only do this at home.

[coconuttella]

I never remember to log into my bank account. It is such a faff with passwords, and the keypad that the bank have provided, so I can only do this at home.

Download a bank app! Have you just stepped out of 2007? That’s how it was then, now not!

[bananafish81]

@LoniceraJaponica do you have a smartphone? I pretty much never log onto my online banking on a computer because using the login code generator is such a faff. I use apps for my bank and credit card, touch ID lets me access my transactions literally at the touch of a finger

Alternatively I use my Monzo card (which I load up with cash from my bank, much like withdrawing a lump of cash from the ATM) and that way I know exactly how quickly I'm spending £X, and on what

[wasonthelist]

What evidence is there that the government is interested in tracking our every move"

ID cards were a pretty good clue.

There are others.

[HidingBehindTheWallpaper]

ID cards?

I never remember to log into my bank account. It is such a faff with passwords, and the keypad that the bank have provided, so I can only do this at home.

I can log into my bank and my credit card with my fingerprint.
My credit card texts me every time I spend money on my card.
I find it much easier to track my spending than random cash amounts.

[coconuttella]

Why the hell would the Government give a shit about whether I buy a coffee with my contactless card rather than anonymously pay cash?! Crazy paranoia!

[honeyravioli]

No-one in the UK current government could find their arse with both hands and a map.
You're deluded if you think they have either interest or ability to remove cash from the country.

[LoniceraJaponica]

@LoniceraJaponica do you have a smartphone?

I do, but I'm wary of making it so easy to access my account in case I lose my phone. OH is very tech savvy and knows how easily hackers can bypass passwords etc on phones. I realise that using my current method is a faff for me, but it makes it a faff for a hacker as well.

I will move out of the dark ages one day.

[GhostsToMonsoon]

Arriva run all my local buses and they have an app so you can pre-pay your bus tickets or passes. However the app isn't very reliable so when I get the bus (which isn't that often) I use cash.

I suppose I'm a bit 2007 in that I prefer to do my banking on the computer rather than on a phone or tablet (all these things that I thought were cutting edge a few years ago now seem to be deemed old fashioned!) as I find it less fiddly.

[TrinitySquirrel]

Yeah it is NOT illegal to have over £5k in cash 😂 otherwise my bank manager just broke the law emptying out my savings.

[wasonthelist]

Why the hell would the Government give a shit about whether I buy a coffee with my contactless card rather than anonymously pay cash?! Crazy paranoia!

They don't but what if you buy a coffee in, say, Marbella when you are claiming JSA. OK, you say, "nothing to hide, nothing to fear" - but you can begin to see why they might be interested, can't you?

[TrinitySquirrel]

Well they're going to be fucked if they do and everyone just uses cryptocurrency instead then

Load of bollocks OP. Infact I'm almost 100% certain this is a generated thread.

[TrinitySquirrel]

@wasonthelist people on benefits are allowed to go abroad you know.

[GerdaLovesLili]

Is the cashless society like the glorious paperless office we now all work in?

[HidingBehindTheWallpaper]

Yeah it is NOT illegal to have over £5k in cash 😂 otherwise my bank manager just broke the law emptying out my savings.

Stealth boast.

[grumpysquash3]

Obviously it's a conspiracy.
Using a bank transfer to give money to someone. God forbid!

[DontMakeMeShushYou]

Indeed, Gerda.

Given the success that was had with phasing out chequebooks, I very much doubt cash will be gone any time soon.

[lljkk]

I did a sport activity today, with cash in a small ziploc bag stuffed in my bra (safe place, pockets not brill, lockers dodgy). When DC wanted chips I handed them cash, so I didn't have to stop my sport & queue up with them or worry they could lose my card.

[Evewasinnocent]

Cash over £1k can be seized by customs/police under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (but only if reasonable grounds to suspect it is the proceeds of crime etc.). It is definitely NOT illegal to hold cash legitimately aquired in whatever amount you like!

[wasonthelist]

@wasonthelist people on benefits are allowed to go abroad you know.
I stand it be corrected but I think only if you are seeking work whilst on JSA, the clue being in the name.