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!

Interesting 50/50 split so far! Not seen that before

I always apologise if I pay cash directly to a till operator but I will try and use self-service in these circumstances.

Do you mean because of Covid? If so, then I doubt an apology is magically going to disinfect the bank notes.

If not because of Covid, then why the need to apologise?

People who don't want to use cash already don't have to (with some exceptions ) but I can't see why we can't have both and let people choose for themselves?

I prefer using cash

I have no issue using my card temporarily, but would rather evetually go back to cash

I specifically do NOT have a contactless card though which has caused issues. I got one, some dick managed to swipe money from it using some machine that they had just near my card which would repeatedly charge it (apparently, according to the bank anyway) so since then, I have distrusted contactless.

@bridgetreilly

I work with people who are considered vulnerable adults. I recently met with someone who was in receipt of JSA despite being completely incapable of work, was on the verge of bankruptcy and losing their home, had creditors chasing them by every means available, including debt collection agents physically appearing at their door, their pre-existing bank accounts had been frozen by court order, their credit rating obviously shot to pieces, and yet, we were still able to open an 'no frills' bank account for their JSA to be paid to a place where the creditors wouldn't automatically freeze it, and that came with a contactless debit card which was an utter godsend for someone who was understandably becoming more and more agoraphobic.

The doing away with Post Office accounts was difficult for a lot of people as they fulfilled the need for a very basic 'bank account' very well, but provided someone actually has an address, even without a significant amount of ID, it is possible to open basic accounts for the sorts of people who you'd think would be at risk of being left behind.

The government and shops are not pursuing an agenda here. it's safer infection-wise to use contactless. Surely this was obvious. The main reason to fear a cashless society is that it will help the secret lizards who rule the New World Order through their Freemason pawns to know what you buy, but really why worry when they can read your mind anyway using the 5G mind control machines

A lot of small businesses in my field still have furloughed workers that they aren't sure they can afford to bring back due to running a business where more than two different households may possibly interact in a confined indoor space. Card machine transaction fees are actually fairly prohibitive if you're a small business and there's so far been no allowances made due to covid 19. Potential 'infection rates' through card machine payments aren't really on their radar right now.

[quote Palavah]@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?[/quote]
Have you ever been on the receiving end of an HMRC investigation?

Cash is unhygienic, l think it’s for the best it’s being phased out lm afraid. My brother lives in Sweden and if you try to pay for anything in cash then it’s very hard. I don’t if people track what l buy, the worst thing that might happen is they may think l eat too many snacks!

@lifesalongsong

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.

How old are your parents as they don’t use any of these things?

I don’t mind paying by card, in fact a lot of my spending is by card/ online. I don’t want a cashless society though, not being able to give my kids a few pence here and there for doing odd jobs and chores, their grandparents not being able to slip them a few pounds when they see them, not being able to buy stuff secondhand on market place or at car boot sales. I flipping love car boot sales, how on earth would they work in a cashless society?!
By all means they can encourage cashless transactions etc but I hope to god they don’t make actual cash redundant.

I've had money in my purse since before lockdown that hasn't been touched.

I rarely use cash under normal circumstances, unless it's a very small amount, use contactless a good deal normally.

I bought something the other day in WH Smith that came to just under £3 so asked the cashier if she preferred me to pay with my card, she said she was fine with cash; it felt quite odd using actual money again.

Cash is used a lot in Germany, where I live

Our local farm shop and some other small shops are cash only
but most shops & almost all restaurants accept both

I've not found anywhere here that is card only

I still use cash a lot, since it's notmal tender here

• I'm not worried about virus transfer via money as I always wash my hands thoroughly when I get home

We don't use cash anymore. I give my kids pocket money all the time. They have junior revolut cards and I can give them 50c or how ever much they have earned with a few clicks. They have their own debit cards that they can use to spend it. Everywhere here takes card, even school payments are done via apps. Most people have PayPal so its easy to send people money if you need to or there or lots of apps these days that let you transfer money instantly.
It doesn't bother me if other people use cash though but I am expanding my ecommerce store to bricks and mortar store soon and I wish I could do card only. Handling cash will be a massive pain in the arse that I would avoid if I could.

Of course you can lose cash as well, but you don’t carry all your money on you generally.

I can’t be bothered with cash and never carry it. It’s an anachronism to me.

A cashless society would suit me just fine.

Have you ever been on the receiving end of an HMRC investigation? @Thunderpunt they're the worst aren't they? We had an 18 month long one which finally which concluded at the start of this year. It nearly broke my DP despite the fact he'd done nothing wrong. We simply worked extremely hard to increase business turnover in a short amount of time. Then the lockdown happened and we had a six figure sum theft fom a burglary to our shop in May which we're still awaiting hearing from our insurance about. Earlier, we were discussing how there's nothing left for hardworking small business owners in this country.

You can't get your cashless details on your mobile phone at weekends,some pending standing orders and DDs don't show up either.

Today I paid for government ID cards.
I suspect they already know that.

Not giving twitter my real name or phone number though or mn.

I use cash for everything except paying bills or places that I'm forced to use card (tend to avoid those though.)

The idea of a cashless society and (tinfoil hat time) every purchase being tracked just doesn't sit right with me.

I feel especially sorry for the elderly, disabled and those who cannot/will not own a bank account. Cash is king in my eyes.

You are not being unreasonable thinking we are moving towards cashless world, but you are being unreasonable to protest. Technology has long long ago changed our life forever (like every revolution before that did) and rapidly setting new trends in every aspect of living on earth and beyond. There is no way back. Just accept it as an advancement. Cashless life is only a matter of time.
It's safer, cleaner, more manageable in tracking expenses, more difficult in money laundering etc... the younger generation will take it naturally as they wouldn't know anything else. Like smart phones, cars, planes, radio, light bulb, the wheel..

Just to add, I'm very careful with my privacy too.

Have no social media under my real name/contact info, all location services on my phone turned off, use DuckDuckGo as a browser, accept the bare minimum when it comes to cookies/advertising...

Now more than ever it's so easy for anyone to create a whole profile on us. What we buy, look up, search, where we go, what we do, how often we do it.. and it just doesn't sit right with me.

"I flipping love car boot sales, how on earth would they work in a cashless society?!"

Paypal transfers. I pay my gardeners and Window cleaner with cash. My hairdresser doesn't take cards, but again bank transfer could be used.

If bus drivers don't have to handle cash, I don't see why my DD working in her retail job should have to. There's been cards created for volunteer shoppers, they can just as easily be used by everyone.

My Mother, now dead, went from growing up in a house with candles and then gas lighting, to being a supervisor for Littlewoods catalogue, working on computers. No other generation will have to embrace changing technology like they did. My Father saw, massive changes in the Merchant Navy. Older people can be taught new technology. The libraries used to run online and banking courses and they were always full.

I know of a few loan sharks who I'd like to see go out of business. There might be complications like a call to legalise prostitution and some drug use.

You can't get your cashless details on your mobile phone at weekends,some pending standing orders and DDs don't show up either

Yes you can. Change your bank, yours is rubbish.

"effectively cashless society means everything you do depends on a computer saying yes. What happens when the computer says no"

Or accuses you of something you havent done a la Post Office Horizon.