To wonder why so many people don't carry any cash on them?

[InHibernationTilISummer]

Excluding people who are skint and the Queen, obviously.

I've had so many examples of this in the last few weeks:

• Colleague who came into the work in the bad weather. Lots of delays and problems on the bus route they normally get so wanted to get the train instead but had no money for a ticket because they had come in with their season bus pass and lunch and hadn't expected to be spending any money.
• Friend turning up for exercise class but hasn't realised that the price has gone up 50p since she last came - and she only brought the exact money she thought she would need.
• Another friend dropping older child off at sport class finds that there's a fair going on at the sports centre with stalls and activities that her younger child (who was with her) would have enjoyed. Complains that she wishes she had known about it in advance as she would have taken some money out with her.

Is this becoming more common or is it just the people I know? If you aren't skint but don't routinely carry money on you, why is that?

I've been in situations where I haven't expected to be spending any (or much) money and some problem has occurred or plans have changed for some reason (e.g. having to accompany someone to A & E or the last bus not turning up) and I would have been really stuck if I hadn't taken some spare 'emergency' cash.

What, you've never bought a big issue and also gone and bought them a nice hot coffee or a sandwich? Just handed over your couple of quid and that's that?

FFS who wants a load of storecards pre loaded on an easily stolen phone. How is that more secure than carrying cash?

Phone gets stolen - firstly it is password and biometrically locked soo they cant get into the phone without special software and secondly I can report it stolen, disable my accounts and block functionality (so it is literally useless unless you wanted an expensive paperweight) in minutes. As soon as I get a new handset I can set up my google account, log into my samsung account to automatically download all my apps to the new phone, relog into them all with my fingerprint and/or password and have everything up and running in less than an hour.

Purse gets stolen - all money in there is lost and I have to contact all the banks/companies to cancel all the cards and block my accounts from being used until they can send out new cards, which usually takes 5-7 working days at the very least.

I'd much prefer to lose my phone than my purse because it is so much easier to control the digital information on my phone even after it has been stolen/lost than it is to control the information in my purse.

Christ my phone runs out of charge or I go somewhere rural and can not get a signal. I often go camping in the summer and can not get a signal. No way would I rely on that. You obviously never go anywhere with poor signals.

Waitrose stopped their “Pick your own” as it was too hard for a lot of their customers and not very inclusive as it was on a computer or phone, so I don’t see cash disappearing anytime soon, maybe in 10-20 years when I shall be on my last legs myself.

I live in a village that no longer has a bank or a cashpoint.

And there are so many things I could not pay for by phone. But then I love small independent shops and stalls. Went last weekend to a local fair above a pub with very local stalls. Not a card machine in sight, but lots of really unusual stuff for sale.

I have no strong feelings on whether or not other people carry cash, and no desire to persuade people not to. I'm not quite sure why some people on this thread are determined that carrying it makes them morally superior, though.

Lots of villages no longer have shops or schools.
Where I live I have 5 bank branches a short walk away. And virtually all supermarkets have cash machines outside or very close by.

Some said earlier that they would use a card or app to pay for anything over 20p. The poor retailer is potentially being charged 30p by their bank for processing that transaction!

I always carry cash as I have a teenager who needs a constant supply of bus fares. I find I spend far more paying with a contactless card. I can't pay by phone as (shock, horror) neither DH or I actually have a smartphone to be able to use an App.

I always keep a spare £20 in my Oyster card wallet & it's always replaced if I use it. I'm glad I have it because there's been a few situations where it's helped me out of a tight spot.

Never have cash on me, just use my cards and occasionally the PayPal app, just never need physical cash and don’t reallt see the point of having it when a card is easier.

But paypal charge you.

PayPal don't charge for direct payments to friends or family, if you're using it to square up with someone.

If I'm using it to buy something, the merchant pays any charges

There’s no fee for the buyer on PayPal.

Because despite living in London's zone 1, I don't often pass a cashpoint that doesn't charge. So most of the time my card is at home and you cannot get cash back with the phone app.

Wow I rarely see a cashpoint that charges.

Anyway. signal has to get far better across the whole country before we can all start using phones. Still plenty of places where the signal is not good.

I barely watch TV & never watch adverts so I guess that's why ping passes me by.

people don't lose their jobs when the self scan machines are implemented, it just frees up front end staff to do other jobs.

I hope that's true. I like self-checkout. I use a card there. I also like giving coins to buskers.

I can't see cards working at all 20 school fete stalls... or cake sales. I could receive Paypal if someone wanted to instantly settle a debt with me without using cash, I suppose.

My crap phone only has memory for about 3 apps on it (& they are already there). I keep thinking about getting an uncrap phone, but that seems to mean spending > £200 & I can't decide which uncrap phone to get. I only turn the phone on about once a week. It's self-fulfilling; phone can't do much so I don't use it much so I can't see the point of spending £££ on a nicer phone that I'll barely use & don't need.

We still write & receive occasional cheques, too!

It is not true, of course some staff lose their jobs.

I don't use self service check outs as I want people to be employed

I work in McDonalds where we had self service kiosks installed last year, and as a result we actually need more staff than we did before the switch. Where crew were previously stuck on tills, they’re now freed up to do other jobs.

So what other jobs have been created? Seriously unless you have more customers this can not be true. The same jobs needed doing before as need doing now.

Anyway. signal has to get far better across the whole country before we can all start using phones. Still plenty of places where the signal is not good.

Agreed more generally regarding use of phones for the likes of parking payment needing decent signal - but you don't need signal to use apple pay or Android pay. They work via NFC so the phone can be in airplane mode

There needs to be signal for the card machine to work, but that's not specific to using a phone.

Android pay has so many issues with it. Read the reviews of users who had to remove it.

Basically people don't stop using a method of payment that works for them unless what replaces it is easier and better.

I never have cash on me unless I know I need it. If I have cash I'll spend it but if I have to use my card I'm more sensible- I can't afford to waste little bits here and there before you know it you've wasted a fortune on things. Most places take cards now anyway so unless it's a fair you're normally ok I find

So what other jobs have been created? Seriously unless you have more customers this can not be true. The same jobs needed doing before as need doing now.

crunchymint Incorrect. Self service kiosks are only introduced in McDonalds changing over to the EOTF system, which all UK McDonalds are in the process of doing.

On the old system, you have five tills, so five counter staff. Each of the counter staff was responsible for all the orders they took, meaning they did drinks, fries and assembly themselves. It was stressful and chaotic.

On the new system, everything is split into sections (drinks, fries, tills, order assembly etc.), so you now have one permanent till person, one flex till person, at least one expediter, three on order assembly, two in drinks, one on fries and when it’s busy you also need a presenter and a fry batch cooker.

So that’s double the number of people you needed before, and that’s only counter staff. That doesn’t include kitchen, lobby or managerial staff.

Oh and yes, with the introduction of EOTF systems, most stores have a permenant customer increase of 30%.