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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask if going cashless is a good thing.

322 replies

smittenkittten · 14/08/2021 15:34

Most people I know don’t want to go cashless, but it seems to be inevitable that we are heading that way. Personally I hate the idea. There’s so many occasions when cash is needed, too many to mention, but it’s the little things mainly. Treating the grandkids, summer fetes, bring and buy sales, car boots......all the things where you usually use cash..
Will it just be digits in a bank account? What if you lose your phone? ...What do people think of it all?

OP posts:
StarryStarrySocks · 14/08/2021 15:39

I haven't used cash in 18 months, have had absolutely no need to. I don't pay for anything using my phone, it's all contactless or occasionally chip and pin.
Norway and Sweden are practically cashless societies (happy to be corrected but that's my experience of holidaying there). Personally I'm all for it but I do wonder how elderly or vulnerable people would manage.

aiwblam · 14/08/2021 15:41

I like cash and I also like Apple Pay. Once we have infection control sorted, I’d like to see both.

whatswithtodaytoday · 14/08/2021 15:41

I hate cash, I don't mind at all. It's so much better now you can do small transactions with a debit card.

The only reason I carry cash now is for a children's ride my son loves.

Clocktopus · 14/08/2021 15:43

I think it could potentially be harmful to vulnerable groups such as elderly people, disabled people, people living in poverty, etc and would also have a knock-on effect for those on limited incomes - for example, at the corner shop next to me there is a minimum transaction of £10 for card payments. If you're spending a tenner or more that's fine but if you're a bit (or a lot) skint and don't have a tenner to spend then you're fucked, no food for you today.

TakeYourFinalPosition · 14/08/2021 15:45

I haven’t used cash for anything in years. I don’t carry a bag or anything so it’s pretty inconvenient for me. I don’t really even carry my card - usually just my phone and my watch, although DH has my card and is often around if it was needed. It’s typically not, unless I’m returning something.

Summer fetes where I am accept card, I haven’t been anywhere that doesn’t in a pretty long time. I don’t have grandchildren… car boots tend to recommend that stall holders have a contactless device to take payment I think, but I haven’t been to one in years.

I’m not sure everything should go cashless, my in-laws still like to pay with it for example, and it suits some people a lot more… but I think naturally it will turn towards being more digital, as most things will, just because of habits.

Noapplejustcrumble · 14/08/2021 15:46

Would be difficult for a lot of women in relationships where they only have a joint account and a controlling husband. Cash is great for spending anonymously.

ParityJ · 14/08/2021 15:47

I haven't used cash for as long as I can remember.

I can't think of a time when I couldn't pay with a card. Buses use card cafes use card shops use card and I've even seen an ice cream van with a card reader.
It's more accurate record on your bank statement of what you spend. I have little money so keeping an accurate eye as possible on it is helpful to me.

roundtable · 14/08/2021 15:48

Someone was trying to take their kids to the cinema. It was cashless and he didn't have a bank card. He was embarrassed and left so quickly - before I was able to offer to pay in exchange for the cash. It made me feel quite upset but nowhere near as upsetting as it would have been for him and his kids.

Everyone needs access to a bank card before the country can go cashless. It shouldn't be that certain activities or things are unavailable to certain groups as they don't have a bank card.

inmyslippers · 14/08/2021 15:49

I personally hate cash. However the young people I support all use cash and some
Places refusing it such as leisure centres mean that they are excluded

Ericaequites · 14/08/2021 15:49

No, as Big Brother doesn’t need to know everything I buy. It’s inconvenient for small purchases. Grey market purchases such as boot sales or Facebook Marketplace would be difficult.I keep cash hidden in the house for emergencies as well.

What if you had a credit card problem and had it shut off due to fraud or theft?

Clocktopus · 14/08/2021 15:52

That too @Noapplejustcrumble. I remember years and year ago someone on MN posted about leaving an abusive relationship where she was also being financially abused. She didn't have any money of her own, no access to a bank account, etc. When she did the food shopping each week he gave her pretty much the exact money, to the nearest pound, and sent her into the shop then would take the change from her when she came out of the supermarket. She spent weeks hiding 1p-2p from the change before handing it over, just enough that it wouldn't be missed, until she had enough money for bus fare and then used that to get away while he was at work one day, I think she bussed to the nearest police station . Things like that wouldn't be possible if everything was cashless.

KrisAkabusi · 14/08/2021 15:52

I think it could potentially be harmful to vulnerable groups such as elderly people

I would see it as the opposite. Many elderly people are targeted by burglars because of the higher likelihood that they will have cash. Without it, they are less likely to be a target.

icedcoffees · 14/08/2021 15:52

A cashless society is a bad idea for many reasons.

Lots of people don't have access to bank accounts for various reasons. For example - homeless people, people (mainly women) who are the subject of DV or severe financial abuse, the elderly, those with learning or mental health difficulties etc.

Cash is also great if you don't want your spending monitored for any reason - again, see people who are in controlling or abusive relationships who can't spend out of the joint account without their OH finding out and becoming violent or abusive with them.

I'm a small business owner and a good portion of my clients still pay me in cash, too. I just pop it straight into my bank account as I prefer to track my spending online, but that's my choice, not necessarily other people's.

If people don't want to use cash themselves, that's fine, but they shouldn't be forcing a cashless society on others.

Bythemillpond · 14/08/2021 15:53

What if you had a credit card problem and had it shut off due to fraud or theft

Then I would use another card. I haven’t used cash for decades. If I am going somewhere that I need cash which is very very rarely I draw some money out but I can go years without.

HaveANiceFuckingDay · 14/08/2021 15:53

I know places that won’t accept card unless you spend a tenner , so unless every company complied this won’t work .

Samcro · 14/08/2021 15:54

I worry about people like my adult dc
They are disabled to the extent that they can't pay for stuff themselves, so the carer has to do it, the carers are not allowed to use cards where the resident can't put in a pin. So how the hell will dd be able to spend money.

sst1234 · 14/08/2021 15:54

On balance it’s a good thing. There are always outliers where it would be good to have cash but if the choice is between cash and digital, then digital wins. Anything that makes life easier, as digital payment does is the way forward. Change happens, we need to get with it.

Clocktopus · 14/08/2021 15:55

Change happens, we need to get with it.

But there needs to be provision made for the outliers otherwise they'll be left behind.

CarlaH · 14/08/2021 15:55

Power failures or systems going down result in shops having to take cash surely.

safariboot · 14/08/2021 15:56

If the computer has to say yes every time you buy something, what happens when the computer says no?

A "cashless society" lays the foundations for a huge amount of control by people who should not be in control. And, of course, for plain old computer fuckups and hacks.

Tyranny is only ever an election away.

HavelockVetinari · 14/08/2021 15:56

I think if it was introduced carefully and thoughtfully, with safeguards for vulnerable people including those in DV relationships, it could be a good thing. It would make funding crime far more difficult, also prostitution etc., drug purchase and many other things.

Pedalpushers · 14/08/2021 15:56

I cannot remember the last time I wasn't able to pay for something by card.

icedcoffees · 14/08/2021 15:58

Change happens, we need to get with it.

So says someone who has no idea how some people live.

If you're in a position where you have easy access to bank accounts, debit and credit cards, you're very fortunate. Not everyone is in that position (for various reasons - homelessness, DV, mental or physical disability, learning difficulties, severe autism etc.) and those people matter just as much.

They need access to money just the same as everyone else, and in many cases, that means using cash.

Ponoka7 · 14/08/2021 15:59

@whatswithtodaytoday, a lot of our newer children's rides have a card reader. They all will soon.

I don't agree with going cashless. It's further expense and messing about for small businesses. I don't begrudge people getting to keep their tips. There's been pop up fairs in town centers over summer, all cash only.
For families who live quite chaotically, they would be at risk. Likewise as said, vulnerable people etc.
If I'm buying clothes for my GC, I'll pay in cash so Mum can return/swap them if needed.

ponyexpress22 · 14/08/2021 16:00

I go regularly to car boot sales, but never seen anyone with a contactless device. Shock Little kids like to spend their own bit of money sometimes too.