To think we should be able to pay with cash?

[PearLime]

The government should enact a law making it illegal for retailers to accept card only.

It's a discriminatory practice, with elderly, disabled and low income people suffering the negative consequences.

AIBU?

@Pretzelcoatl

When I am set up at a convention, you pay via card or QR on my tablet. No cash, no sale.

At my store I accept cash, but if I decided not to and you didn’t like that, shop elsewhere then? I don’t sell essentials and it’s not my responsibility to cater to people’s preferences. I don’t accept cheques, for instance. Nor baggies full of coins. And it would be ridiculous for the government to force me to accept forms of payment I didn’t want to.

I don't know what you sell, but yes I would shop elsewhere.

Nerd stuff.

I work with people with learning disabilities, they need to use cash to enable independence and develop skills. They are at more risk of financial abuse by tapping card than using money as they wouldn't check the amount on the tiny screen. We avoid places that only take cards as I would have to pay taking away an opportunity for them to be independent

@Guacamole001

I know of nowhere that does not take cash. Except the local McDonalds.

So?

@DGRossetti

Cash is what enables VAT fraud and money laundering.

Not really. Amazon and Russian billionaires are hardly dodging tax by doing business in folding fivers are they ? That's a just lazy thinking for the easily explained.

Amazon are not committing fraud. They pay the tax they legally have to. I doubt you are writing extra cheques to HMRC, are you?!

@Spanielsarepainless

YANBU. Cash is called legal tender so it should be illegal to refuse it for payment in person.

Legal tender applies to the payment of debt, and how much of each denomination of legal tender can be used to pay that debt. For example the copper coins 1p and 2p are only legal tender for debts up to 20p

www.royalmint.com/help/trm-faqs/legal-tender-amounts/

With contactless needing to know your pin isn’t an issue, I have no idea what any of my PIN numbers are and with the contactless limit being increased I have no need to learn them.

@JollyAndBright every now and then, approx every 6 contactless transactions, I have to use my pin to use my card. I'm surprised you've not needed to.

@Bitofachinwag because using a card is more realistic and will be more relevant to their lives. I’m 26, I don’t use cash and indeed most of my spending is done online - and it will be the same or even more so for today’s children. You regularly see threads on here where kids have gone mad with in-app spending and it’s because their parents haven’t taught them that it’s real money. Even when I was a child most things I wanted to buy cost more than shrapnel (Sylvanian families stuff mostly - I think it was around £5 for a baby figure) - the days of penny chews etc are long gone.

[quote PearLime]@romdowa

Completely agree.

Lots of people struggle with finances. Tapping a card is SO much trickier to keep track of what's what than having cash in your hand. [/quote]
Especially when shops have up to 6 months to take it out. I've been caught out like that before.

@longtompot

With contactless needing to know your pin isn’t an issue, I have no idea what any of my PIN numbers are and with the contactless limit being increased I have no need to learn them.

@JollyAndBright every now and then, approx every 6 contactless transactions, I have to use my pin to use my card. I'm surprised you've not needed to.

Other than possibiy the first time I used it I have never been asked for my PIN on debit or credit contactless

Presumably not all banks are the same and not all algorithms are the same. Which makes sense, if you always say buy a coffee at the same time at the same place I'd guess that the bank computer is clever enough to class that as needing extra security

If my bank made me put my PIN in every 6 times I'd be switching my account.

Cash may now be a minor payment method for most of the population. However as some posters have pointed out there are groups for whom cards and online payments may be difficult for whatever reason. Cash should still be an option by law at least for physical shops.

I sell online so I accept both Paypal and credit cards as well as bank transfer. But I still find ways for customers to pay if they do not have these facilities. I have one good customer who pays with cheques and spends quite a lot. I also have dealer friends and our transactions are always in cash. I am happy to accept payment in any way that is valid for me to use.

We thought DH’s elderly granddad wouldn’t be able to manage using a card but actually he’s found paying contactless much easier than cash.

He doesn’t have to fumble around with change in coins which invariably ended up on the floor. He used to be worried about getting a wallet out with notes in at the supermarket thinking someone might steal it. Now he just slips his card into his zipped pocket and doesn’t carry his wallet. His card is contactless however and he only goes to the local supermarket and a couple of small shops.

Clearly there are people out there that struggle but our experience was not to write off an elderly person’s ability to start paying by card without letting them have a go first.

I don’t think it’ll be a fully cashless society in my lifetime but at some point down the line it seems like a high possibility. I remember the days of taking £2 in coins to pay for my school dinner and now the kids all have a contactless system.

[quote TuftyMarmoset]@Bitofachinwag because using a card is more realistic and will be more relevant to their lives. I’m 26, I don’t use cash and indeed most of my spending is done online - and it will be the same or even more so for today’s children. You regularly see threads on here where kids have gone mad with in-app spending and it’s because their parents haven’t taught them that it’s real money. Even when I was a child most things I wanted to buy cost more than shrapnel (Sylvanian families stuff mostly - I think it was around £5 for a baby figure) - the days of penny chews etc are long gone.[/quote]
But when first learning about money - as with any mathematical concept - children need manipulatives, in this case coins (and then notes).

Giving a 6 year old a £10 note and taking them to spend it is infinitely more beneficial than saying "you have £10 to spend on my debit card" - they have the responsibility of actually paying themselves; are aware of what £10 actually is (because £10 in your debit account is just another abstract concept - it's not actually £10 sitting physically in an account); they can choose to spend less and see how much is left.

Debit/credit card education should definitely begin in upper juniors, but not for the introduction of money as a concept. And you're right, the days of penny sweets are long gone, but the fundamental concepts are the same, just with different amounts.

Also, parents should turn off in-app spending on devices to stop accidental purchases - no, they don't realise it's real money, but that's a gap in education, not to do with how you physically spend money.

I definitely agree with you OP.

Cash should stay. and yes, businesses should be made to accept legal tender.

I pay in cash for this reason as much as possible.

I wouldn't swap my right to privacy for a little bit more 'convenience', it's mad how people are just sleep walking into it.

Also cashless is not even that convenient. I worked in a clothes shop until recently. Customer was purchasing a large sale, but her phone pay thingy stopped working and she didn't have her card on her. She couldn't get the items. Another time, the card machines went down and our takings were really low.

Also it hits people who are just trying to survive. Years ago when I'd just lost my job and was waiting for benefits to kick in, I'll admit I did do £60 in cash in hand cleaning work to make it through. So shoot me. Otherwise I would have not had electricity for weeks. You see it suggested here all the time when posters are in very dire financial straits - do some cleaning / babysitting / take in some ironing. Those options would vanish under a cashless society.

"The world moves on" is one of the worst reasons to justify any change!

conversely, "We've always done it this way" is probably the worst reason not to change. Certainly if you like the idea of votes for women, or don't like the idea of slavery.

There's a difference between a completely cash free society, and the issue of forcing businesses to accept cash.

If essential shops still take cash then that's all that's needed. Everything else is a choice, and if you want to use a business that only takes cards then you have to suck it up and use a card or accept that you can't use that business. That's how most things work.

every now and then, approx every 6 contactless transactions, I have to use my pin to use my card. I'm surprised you've not needed to.

Not once, in what must be about ten years of using it, have I ever had to enter my pin. I’ve been using phone payments for about two years, and haven’t needed to use my card either.

Also it hits people who are just trying to survive trying to avoid tax Years ago when I'd just lost my job and was waiting for benefits to kick in, I'll admit I did do £60 in cash in hand cleaning work to make it through.

There, fixed that for you. Being skint isn’t an excuse to break the law.

@loopylauren actually you can earn up to £1k a year in side hustle without having to declare it for tax so no need to do it cash in hand.

YANBU.

Everywhere should take cash as well as cards.

One of my concerns re cash is how it facilitates tax evasion (eg people paying cash in hand and the recipient not declaring this on their tax returns). I've lost count of the times tradespeople have offered me a discount if I pay cash. Using cards creates an electronic audit trail which helps prevent this.

@BoredZelda

Also it hits people who are just trying to survive trying to avoid tax Years ago when I'd just lost my job and was waiting for benefits to kick in, I'll admit I did do £60 in cash in hand cleaning work to make it through.

There, fixed that for you. Being skint isn’t an excuse to break the law.

If a woman is struggling to afford to feed her kids, I wouldn’t ever judge her for earning a bit of cash in hand on the side. These aren’t the crimes that concern me and keep me awake at night.

@AllTheUsernamesAreAlreadyTaken

Absolutely agree with you!

Someone not paying tax on the £60 cash-in-hand they did to keep the electricity on and food on the table isn't exactly the kind of tax evasion that's going to rock the world. There are much bigger fish to fry in terms of tax evasion and loopholes. Again, whilst it isn't legal, it comes from a place of privilege to have a 'I'd never do that' philosophy.