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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

963 replies

InHibernationTilISummer · 03/03/2018 23:27

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.

OP posts:
LoniceraJaponica · 08/03/2018 18:54

"You do know you can flag a taxi down?"

We don't have flaggable taxis where we live. They all have to be pre-booked.

CuboidalSlipshoddy · 08/03/2018 18:54

You can get a bank account if you are homeless with the help of a hostel or shelter.

Genuine question: how do they pass the "Know your customer" ID requirements?

In any event, the problem would be trivially solved by benefits being issued on pre-pay debit cards which, I believe, is done for asylum seekers precisely because of banking ID requirements.

LimonViola · 08/03/2018 18:54

Who hands over the cash? From whose bank account? At what sort of institution?

Except you don't know the difference, and the issues are the same either way.

Um, yes, there's a big difference between somebody purposefully choosing to disenfranchise themselves versus someone being disenfranchised by other forces out of their control. Of course there is.

That's like saying somebody who lives in a tent with no access to running water because they're homeless and can't find a hostel bed is the same faces the same issues as someone who lives in a tent with no access to running water who chose to go camping for a month in the wild and can return to their nice warm house with running water at any time.

LightastheBreeze · 08/03/2018 18:55

My hands are not the best as I suffered a lot with eczema when younger and used a lot of steroid cream on my hands which I don't think has helped but fingerprints wear out a bit anyway, though obviously not in Limon's DFs case, also what job you do can make a difference.

CuboidalSlipshoddy · 08/03/2018 18:55

The sheer amount of information companies collect about you if you no longer use cash.

That ship sailed, for anyone who hasn't lined their beanie with tin foil, decades ago.

crunchymint · 08/03/2018 18:57

No it really hasn't sailed. Some people limit the info companies have on them. So DP has no social media accounts, no loyalty cards.

mathanxiety · 08/03/2018 18:57

You can use any finger for fingerprints. It doesn't have to be the index finger of your right hand. I know someone who grew up working in her family's small restaurant, so her dominant hand suffered a good deal of wear and tear to the fingertips. She uses the pinky of her left hand.

blastomama · 08/03/2018 18:57

As a proposition, "Hey, Mr Asda, keep taking cash in your shops as otherwise you'll lose the vital homeless people market which is worth a fortune to your bottom line" isn't a winning commercial argument. So if you're relying on it to keep cash going, I'd look for a stronger pitch

It's a lot more than homeless people. At least 1.5 million adults in the UK.

BitchQueen90 · 08/03/2018 18:58

Cuboidal to be honest I'm not actually sure, it's the project manager who deals with that but he has to go to the bank with them and write a letter to vouch for them.

LimonViola · 08/03/2018 18:59

When a service is free, you are the product. Remember that. Using MN is free because they sell your attention to advertisers. The Boots advantage card mag is free as you're the audience they're hoping to sell to.

I genuinely don't know what detriment it is to me if my bank knows I spent £40 on Domino's pizza last month.

And Domino's don't get any info about me from using my card there you know. No more than if I used cash. It'd break all sorts of data protection for banks to give any info about the account holder to somebody using their card in a shop.

LimonViola · 08/03/2018 18:59

So DP has no social media accounts, no loyalty cards.

What does that have to do with using cash versus card when you go to the shops for your groceries?

Blackteadrinker77 · 08/03/2018 19:02

*I have no issue with virtual currency at all. My issues are

  1. Disabled and elderly people being disenfranchised from it
  2. The sheer amount of information companies collect about you if you no longer use cash*
1) The same has been said for every generation as technology moved on. The answer isn't to stop progressing, it's to teach them. Barclays digital eagles, councils etc are doing this free. 2) Yet you said you spend on cards so they already have your buying history? Personally I like it, it is the reason I get so many offers for thing I like and use.
crunchymint · 08/03/2018 19:05

The technology is not currently accessible to some people with disabilities. I and others have said this over and over again.

LimonViola · 08/03/2018 19:06

Is that why you still use cash crunchy?

Alwayslumpyporridge · 08/03/2018 19:07

I often have £10-£20 in my card wallet but when I break a note i don’t like having change as I don’t often take out a change purse

blastomama · 08/03/2018 19:10

The same has been said for every generation as technology moved on. The answer isn't to stop progressing, it's to teach them. Barclays digital eagles, councils etc are doing this free

It's not just about teaching people, is it? Not everyone can learn, and lots of people know perfectly well but can't access it anyway.

crunchymint · 08/03/2018 19:11

No I have already said I use cash as it is easier to budget.

CuboidalSlipshoddy · 08/03/2018 19:11

So DP has no social media accounts, no loyalty cards.

Does he want a medal? Our admiration?

LightastheBreeze · 08/03/2018 19:12

If you want the offers nowadays you have to let them know your buying history, Waitrose and M&S know mine so they can tailor my rewards, though Marks sometimes gets a bit off target but they are getting better. I was bit alarmed though that a couple of clothes shops I use not only listed all my online purchases but my shop bought ones as well and also a bit alarmed at how much I had bought, so if it looks a lot then it could be detrimental to the business as I may think crikey I have spent a lot, better stop now..

Blackteadrinker77 · 08/03/2018 19:13

Which technology for which disability?

You can unlock a smart phone and make a payment via voice control if you like.
I don't use my finger print like many here seem to.

Dave Clark a famous Parkinsons suffer uses many apps to help him continue working and living independently.
He is one of the first to shout at businesses for not making life easier with technology for people with disabilities.
Just yesterday pre paid train ticket machines not having scan by mobile. You have to type in the key pad a mix of numbers and letters and he struggled.
If they updated he could have just scanned his email receipt.

Blackteadrinker77 · 08/03/2018 19:16

Not everyone can learn, and lots of people know perfectly well but can't access it anyway
If they can not be taught to use a debit card then I'd question they should be out alone.

Who knows but can't access a debit card or electronic payment?

crunchymint · 08/03/2018 19:18

I have already said earlier on the thread that some disabled people will get charities help to access technology. How could my mum whose hand shakes too much to use chip and pin or the numbers on a phone, possibly use existing technology. Don't tell me voice control, because that is pants if you have a strong accent. It does not work.

crunchymint · 08/03/2018 19:19

FFS a lot of websites are unreadable with technology for the blind. Lets get real, we are a long way from accessible technology.

Blackteadrinker77 · 08/03/2018 19:21

. It does not work

Use the voiceitt app

CuboidalSlipshoddy · 08/03/2018 19:22

Don't tell me voice control, because that is pants if you have a strong accent.

You don't think voice recognition might get a little better over the likely periods of time in question? It's improved quite a lot over the past ten years, yes?

And there is absolutely no reason why any accent would cause problems for recognising digits and a small repertoire of words, given five minutes' training for the system.