To think that we are being forced into a cashless society?

[rockingthelook]

My parents really don't like to use debit cards, especially the contactless ones, however , due to C19 this seems to be the way forward? They like to take their money from the bank and use the cash rather than cards, really don't want to bank or pay for anything online because they don't trust it, but everything seems to be geared towards contactless. They had a walk today and wanted to buy a cup of tea from a takeaway cafe and couldn't, not only because the place wouldn't take cash, but the cards had to be contactless, and their cards aren't (they asked not to have this feature as frightened of them being stolen and used) It seems to be that the banks etc are using the C19 situation to force things through, my mum was even told by the cashier in the bank the other day to use the cash machine in the bank rather than get the cash over the counter because of the 'risks', fgs it's THEIR money, can't believe Age Concern/UK aren't all over this!

I haven't used any cash in a very long time. Can't remember the last time I did to be honest. I either use my card or phone to pay.

But I do think there will be people who still want to use cash. Mind you, with our bank opening hours now it is very difficult to get cash out as their machine is inside. They have closed most of the branches here

Retaining cash is useful for community events/community fundraising - running school fairs, village fetes etc would be really difficult without cash.

I don't mind cashless but then I pay my taxes and am rather boring in my purchases really don't think big brother would care tbh. Whilst I'd normally carry some cash I've only been using contactless for the last few months out of respect for shop assistants. I think their job is made easier if not cash handling.

I appreciate older people are less willing to change but I’m all for a cashless society. I rarely used cash pre Covid and now when everywhere only wants card payment it’s so easy, clean and less risk.

A cashless society means no cash. Zero. It doesn’t mean mostly cashless and you can still use a ‘wee bit of cash here & there’. Cashless means fully digital, fully traceable, fully controlled. I think those who support a cashless society aren’t fully aware of what they are asking for. A cashless society means:

• If you are struggling with your mortgage on a particular month, you can’t do an odd job to get you through.
• Your child can’t go & help the local farmer to earn a bit of summer cash.
• No more cash slipped into the hands of a child as a good luck charm or from their grandparent when going on holidays.
• No more money in birthday cards.
• No more piggy banks for your child to collect pocket money & to learn about the value of earning.
• No more cash for a rainy day fund or for that something special you have been putting £20 a week away for.
• No more selling bits & pieces from your home that you no longer want/need for a bit of cash in return...bye bye Facebook marketplace for the odd new bits to cheer the kids up
• No more cash gifts from relatives or loved ones.

What a cashless society does guarantee:

• Banks have full control of every single penny you own.
• Every transaction you make is recorded.
• All your movements & actions are traceable.
• Access to your money can be blocked at the click of a button when/if banks need ‘clarification’ from you which will take about 3 weeks, a thousand questions answered & five thousand passwords.
• You will have no choice but to declare & be taxed on every pound in your possession.
• The government can decide what you can & cannot purchase.
• If your transactions are deemed in any way questionable, by those who create the questions, your money will be frozen, ‘for your own good’. If you are a customer, pay with cash. If you are a shop owner, remove those ridiculous signs that ask people to pay by card. Cash is a legal tender, it is our right to pay with cash. Banks are making it increasingly difficult to lodge cash & that has nothing to do with a virus, nor has this ‘dirty money’ trend. Please open your eyes. Please stop believing everything you are being told. Almost every single topic in today’s world is tainted with corruption & hidden agendas. Please stop telling me & others like me that we are what’s wrong with the world when you hail the most corrupt members of society as your heroes. Politics & greed is what is wrong with the world; not those who are trying to alert you to the reality in which you are blindly floating along whilst being immobilised by irrational fear. Fear created to keep you doing & believing in exactly what you are complacently doing. Pay with cash & please say no to a cashless society while you still have the choice.

Online banking has been around 30 years or more.

If you are subject to fraud the bank paid it back. If you take out cash and drop it - well you’ve lost it.

You can also trace purchases for repairs if needed. Prove where you’ve been. You never run out of money if you’re stuck somewhere and need a taxi or a cup of tea.

My 102 year old grandmother manages online banking. I’m sure your parents can too.

The Government announced in March that it would legislate to protect access to cash. So what we might see is maximum distances in relation to available cash points and / or shops that offer cashback. I think the issue the OP is rightly pointing out though is about cash acceptance - I can't see government or regulators stepping in to make shops accept cash.

I think banks have generally got a lot better in recent years at how they treat more vulnerable customers, which can using the definition include elderly people. If a contactless card is stolen from an elderly person and misused, then it is generally straightforward to get the transactions refunded. However, I totally get the fear of it happening and how it actually happening could be really traumatic.

There are no easy answers. Take cheques - the recent project to digitalise cheques has been hugely expensive, yet cheque volumes are falling year on year.

I'm sorry, but we can't run everything according to what's easier for old people. If we did, we'd never have had decimalised money or all sorts of other innovations.

At the moment, health and safety is the most important.

I’ve no problem with being taxed on all my earnings or the government knowing about my income. None of my bank accounts, personal or business have been blocked. I use card for payments wherever possible as I prefer the electronic record of the purchase.

The government are not watching your day to day transactions. Can you imagine the amount of processing power it would take to do that for every Joe Bloggs in the country? Plus circumventing the European data protection laws we're still signed up to despite Brexit. Card payments are just easier and more hygienic, actually gives better protection against fraud. You should encourage your parents to be less reliant on cash.

I would love a cashless society! I'm rubbish at remembering to get cash out, and actually the cash machines near me all charge a fee. The nearest branch of my bank is over 10 miles away from where I live. There's cash back in supermarkets I suppose but I haven't been in a supermarket since March.

I get paid in cash - I'm a dog walker and though I accept PayPal and BACS, all my clients prefer to give me cash.

Everything is declared and I go to the post office weekly to "pay in my wages" as it were. I quite like it to be honest - I'd feel very weird never using cash again.

Plus I live very rurally and lots of places can't accept card as there's no signal to use the machines

I've just googled and we've been using debit cards since 1987 in the UK so not a new fangled thing or anything!

Re the government knowing what you've bought - how?
Contactless transactions only record the sum and the merchant, not what you bought , paying by card in eg sainsburys etc then yes the systems have a record of what was in the 'basket' .
( It is actually illegal to retain any correlation between the basket and the card - though some systems maintain an 'anonymised' link - however if you use a loyalty card all bets are off.)

However if the majority of transactions are cashless then the volume of records is too huge to effectively monitor - HMG just do not have any systems big enough or fast enough.

• the best place to hide is in a crowd after all - when only a small number of people use cash then it becomes much more feasible to track them...

I prefer using card payments too as I like to see where my money goes and not have lots of loose change that I seem to never use. Its actually an inconvenience now when things are cash only. Having to lift cash for my window cleaner is a bit of a pain... I'd much rather a direct debit lol

My 102 year old grandmother manages online banking. I’m sure your parents can too

Nope, my parents are simply not capable of doing online banking and they can't possibly be the only ones. They have no computer, no smartphones and they never will have.

Their personal circumstances don't have any bearing on the wider use of cashless transactions but it's totally unrealistic to think everyone can function like that.

I hardly ever use cash. Such a hassle to withdraw it. Far more convenient to use Apple Pay or my debit card. Can’t remember the last time I withdrew cash, before lockdown I think.

@StarUtopia

A cashless society means no cash. Zero. It doesn’t mean mostly cashless and you can still use a ‘wee bit of cash here & there’. Cashless means fully digital, fully traceable, fully controlled. I think those who support a cashless society aren’t fully aware of what they are asking for. A cashless society means: * If you are struggling with your mortgage on a particular month, you can’t do an odd job to get you through. * Your child can’t go & help the local farmer to earn a bit of summer cash. * No more cash slipped into the hands of a child as a good luck charm or from their grandparent when going on holidays. * No more money in birthday cards. * No more piggy banks for your child to collect pocket money & to learn about the value of earning. * No more cash for a rainy day fund or for that something special you have been putting £20 a week away for. * No more selling bits & pieces from your home that you no longer want/need for a bit of cash in return...bye bye Facebook marketplace for the odd new bits to cheer the kids up * No more cash gifts from relatives or loved ones.

What a cashless society does guarantee:

• Banks have full control of every single penny you own.
• Every transaction you make is recorded.
• All your movements & actions are traceable.
• Access to your money can be blocked at the click of a button when/if banks need ‘clarification’ from you which will take about 3 weeks, a thousand questions answered & five thousand passwords.
• You will have no choice but to declare & be taxed on every pound in your possession.
• The government can decide what you can & cannot purchase.
• If your transactions are deemed in any way questionable, by those who create the questions, your money will be frozen, ‘for your own good’. If you are a customer, pay with cash. If you are a shop owner, remove those ridiculous signs that ask people to pay by card. Cash is a legal tender, it is our right to pay with cash. Banks are making it increasingly difficult to lodge cash & that has nothing to do with a virus, nor has this ‘dirty money’ trend. Please open your eyes. Please stop believing everything you are being told. Almost every single topic in today’s world is tainted with corruption & hidden agendas. Please stop telling me & others like me that we are what’s wrong with the world when you hail the most corrupt members of society as your heroes. Politics & greed is what is wrong with the world; not those who are trying to alert you to the reality in which you are blindly floating along whilst being immobilised by irrational fear. Fear created to keep you doing & believing in exactly what you are complacently doing. Pay with cash & please say no to a cashless society while you still have the choice.

You are reading way too many conspiracy theories. It’s not healthy.

In the US bank records can only be accessed by the government with a judicial subpoena.

Cash is expensive and risky for businesses to handle. It makes shops more at risk for robbery and employee pilfering. I love contactless payment with my Apple watch, and I get a 2% cash rebate on everything I charge on my primary credit card.

Innovation changes things.

Just because they don't want to use cards doesn't mean they shouldn't. Sounds like they just don't like change. Loads of older people use internet banking, contactless cards etc.
I hate cash, especially those new notes that are really slippy and seem to want to jump out of my purse.
Cash is really dirty too. Makes more sense to use cards during this time especially.

@thunderpunt what are you talking about? What makes you think thr government has access to your transaction history?

@Starutopia ditto. You're saying you eant to keep cash so you can evade tax, it would seem? If you're worried about your bank blocking your card theb have a few different accounts so you have a backup. Do you have smartphone?

If you are struggling with your mortgage on a particular month, you can’t do an odd job to get you through

Instantaneous bank transfer via online banking or a multitude of easily accessible apps

Your child can’t go & help the local farmer to earn a bit of summer cash

See above

No more cash slipped into the hands of a child as a good luck charm or from their grandparent when going on holidays

See above

No more money in birthday cards

See above, oh, and it's silly to send cash in the post given the frequency with which Royal Mail lose items.

No more piggy banks for your child to collect pocket money & to learn about the value of earning

They can easily do this with a bank account and transfers

No more cash for a rainy day fund or for that something special you have been putting £20 a week away for

Again, height of ease to do this with a bank account

No more selling bits & pieces from your home that you no longer want/need for a bit of cash in return...bye bye Facebook marketplace for the odd new bits to cheer the kids up

Again, Paypal, bank transfer, Apple Pay etc. Completely silly to use cash for these things anyway

No more cash gifts from relatives or loved ones

Sigh.... yup, bank transfer, Paypal, gift cards, gift vouchers etc

The rest of your post is garbage frankly.

I saw someone pay in cash today and was surprised at how shocked I was. I haven’t used cash much for a couple of years, I’ve drawn out two lots in the last 11 months. I’m perfectly happy to consign cash to the bin.

Here, there has been a dearth of coins during covid-19, to the point that some stores are only accepting cash if you have exact change.

@StarUtopia I've seen your post circling FB and I 100% agree.

If life did become a cashless society I could imagine people doing more swaps - furniture for cars etc. Or even going back to gold i.e. i'll except x amount of gold to tile your kitchen.

Sure crime would go down until the next bright idea came along to swindle the system.

There's people out there without bank accounts or unable to use the internet. When money has been tight i've known exactly how much i've got as I can grab my bag, the penny jar and empty out my laundry to count it. If you're that skint sometimes affording the internet to check, or replace a broken mobile is out of the question. How often have we had random things taken out of our bank accounts - forgot that a subscription comes out on a certain day or direct debt is higher.

I'm sure if a cashless society came into play it wouldn't take long for the government to be checking where benefit payments are going (not necessarily a bad thing in some cases) or even the government could see how much 'essential' bills are and not give a penny more.