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!

@TimeWastingButFun

I do think it's time to lose the cash and go totally card BUT there needs to be more security for older and vulnerable people. My mum doesn't trust it, she is always drawing out cash and I'm always trying to persuade her to use her card! But then it took me 20 years to get her on to teabags from loose tea so I have a job 🙈

Missing point of thread, but loose tea is far superior to teabags

Not bothered by the monitoring

Who values cash transactions the most... ?

• people buying or selling stuff they shouldn’t (drugs, prostitution, stolen goods) - people not declaring all their income so as to evade tax or child maintenance.

Happy to lose a bit of privacy (let’s face it we have none anyway if we use phones ans google) if it helps stop those.

Most of the things StarUtopia says would disappear could be done very easily by bank transfer.

For small businesses card machines are really cheap to set up and run. They're really not. The hidden charges are a nightmare to decipher and I worked in banking/finance for a good few years before setting up my business. Not to mention the time it takes for the card machine providers to actually credit the money to your account.

I have been paying for things in cash I find it much easier to budget that way.
I always ask if it is ok, and everyone has been happy with it. In fact lady in morrisons says most people pay in cash when I asked if it was ok.
Maybe where I live is just different

We were heading towards a cashless society and Covid has sped this up. Cash won't exist it's just a question of when.

One of my worries is the potential for negative interest rates, so that you will be charged for having savings/your salary in the bank and no option to store your money under the mattress. Banks have been looking to monetise holding money and reintroducing charging like we used to have (remember when you had to pay to have a current account, a fee for each cheque written, each ATM withdrawl) when there is no cash then you could be charged for every contactless payment etc.

In the last recession Cyprus decided to basically raid people's savings (IIRC people with 85k+ lost up to 40%) taking money to shore up the economy. I know the government could do ths already if they needed but a cashless society makes it so much easier.

I really hope you are wrong, I am bipolar and my partner keeps my bank card, but we keep £20-£50 in our house incase I need it, its enough to get a carton of milk, not enough for me to head out to London and go to the toy shop spending all our money plus money for bills it works for us, but if we can't use cash, I will have to have my bank card back

@lakeswimmer

For those who are dismissing cash - how would you manage community events? At our village fete cash is used in the following ways - prizes for sports events including children's sports, buying raffle tickets, paying to enter, paying for parking, paying for face painting, taking part in tombola, coconut shy etc.

I've also put cash in an honesty box recently to buy eggs from a local farm. I think there are probably a lot of small transactions we use cash for which would become really inconvenient without it.

Apple pay, Paypal, and Justgiving are being increasingly used by small communities. Also, many charities and communities often get merchant processing services donated to them. For example all of our local mosques and gurudwaras use Apple Pay which is being paid for by donors.

At the one farm we have the honesty box has a note attached with sort code, account number, and reference asking for an amount to be transferred when people go home.

Can people really not imagine how car boot sale/village fetes could potentially one day operate without cash? Given you've all heard of PayPal, online banking, contactless payment etc? You can't make the leap to apply it to an ever so slightly different scenario to a shop or online purchase?

YANBU.

Whether or not to create a "cashless society" should be something that's properly considered. Not jumped into because of a scary germ.

I, like many others, find cash an aid to budgeting. With covid-19 and furlough and whatnot I've hardly been spending anyway, but I expect to return to using cash in due course. To be fair I'm technically capable enough to switch to an alternative, but a significant amount of people have very poor computer skills.

(But then again, perhaps our government will like us to lose track of our money and spend beyond our means in order to prop up the economy.)

Away from the conspiracy theories, consider this. An effectively cashless society means everything you do depends on a computer saying yes. What happens when the computer says no?

I use a combination of both. And you can’t always do contactless as every so often you have to chip and pin

I like cash

I think there are real problems with shops being allowed to reject cash. It impacts poor people a lot more than richer people. Makes it harder for some people to manage their money and budget effectively, increases the expense of a lot of less formal transactions, and makes it harder for children to participate in society in a slow transition to maturity.

Doing bank transfers is a PITA if you need a one time passcode and you live in an area without a mobile phone signal. My entire family have to use my phone to make payments as I'm the only one out of five people to have a mobile signal. Not useful if I'm out with my phone...

How will people pay for drugs?

I also realised today that I need to mKe sure I have cash on me from now on. We went out and needed cash for the car park which I didn't have. I'm very much in support of keeping cash so need to make sure I have some on me in future! I think the issue for Age Concern is that if they speak out too loudly over something that is being said to be preferred for health reasons they could find themselves in a difficult spot. On the whole I think places will take cash so you are probably right to say that we should all pay cash unless we want to see it phased out!

Providing they don’t start charging for using cards I don’t have a problem. But i do feel sorry for the elderly who should be able to use cash if they want to. They also need to tighten up on security. My son recently went and got me some shopping and I gave him my card, not queried at all.

I'm not a fan of contactless either, and have definitely been using it more during COVID!
I see where they're coming from.
I don't like the fact my card is contactless, I don't like everything being done online.
Still like the human touch, I don't even do online banking much to DH's disgust
I can see why it's taken off the past few months though. Less contact.

I am so on the fence with this issue. I personally find cashless so much easier for my budgeting, financial planning and also in my customer facing role at work. I also hate accepting people’s cash at work. It is dirty and my hands are filthy after cashing up a till. Customers do literally pick their nose or sneeze and then immediately hand me money.
However I don’t want the government or companies knowing my every spend and having the ability to track through my transactions, where I am or have been. I also think that people are going to be affected badly. Particularly the elderly or those who are not be able to use facilities such as online banking. Domestic abuse victims won’t be able to quickly hide cash to plan to leave partners as this will be a big issue for those who have controlling partners who control their banking and access to money. How do they make secret withdrawals without fear of abuse?

Can people really not imagine how car boot sale/village fetes could potentially one day operate without cash? Given you've all heard of PayPal, online banking, contactless payment etc? You can't make the leap to apply it to an ever so slightly different scenario to a shop or online purchase? Unless you make paypal payments 'friends and family', Paypal take a fairly substantial fee. 'Friends and family' payments can easily be scammed as there's no protection for a seller. In theory it's a nice idea, but unfrotunately there are enough scumbags out there who will happily take advantage of honest people.

@SapatSea

One of my worries is the potential for negative interest rates, so that you will be charged for having savings/your salary in the bank and no option to store your money under the mattress. Banks have been looking to monetise holding money and reintroducing charging like we used to have (remember when you had to pay to have a current account, a fee for each cheque written, each ATM withdrawl) when there is no cash then you could be charged for every contactless payment etc.

In the last recession Cyprus decided to basically raid people's savings (IIRC people with 85k+ lost up to 40%) taking money to shore up the economy. I know the government could do ths already if they needed but a cashless society makes it so much easier.

This is definitely a worry, I remember bank charges well, having to pay for cheques, all that could easily come back with card and phone transactions.

How will people pay for drugs?

A new underground bartering system of goods and services shall be established in the New World Order

At the one farm we have the honesty box has a note attached with sort code, account number, and reference asking for an amount to be transferred when people go home.

See my point above about making bank transfers in rural areas without mobile phone signals. Does Apple Pay work in areas with no mobile signal or for people without iphones? I've never used it.

@Sharpandshineyteeth

How will people pay for drugs?

Not sure how it works now but you used to have to buy a product (usually paraphenalia) via a website and then someone would call to arrange delivery and give you a cheap version of what you actually paid for.

@lakeswimmer

At the one farm we have the honesty box has a note attached with sort code, account number, and reference asking for an amount to be transferred when people go home.

See my point above about making bank transfers in rural areas without mobile phone signals. Does Apple Pay work in areas with no mobile signal or for people without iphones? I've never used it.

I guess that’s why they ask them to go home first ;). And apple pay doesn’t rely on signal it’s a virtual copy of your card - you can use it in the same way as you would a physical card.

I agree with the reduction in drug transactions, prostitution, even illegal immigrants, tax avoidance etc

All positives for a cashless society