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?

YADNBU

At the start of the pandemic tesco told me they werent really taking cash.
I told them tough. It does annoy me that most of the self service machines there are card only now.
What are children supposed to do? You give them pocket money in cash so they can get used to it. Starting kids off on debit cards with no cash handling is just a recipe for disaster.

I agree. People suggesting ‘just tapping your card’ are missing the point. It’s not just about the act of paying, it’s about budgeting, tracking your spending etc.

There is so much lack of understanding about the struggles all sorts of people have. There are lots of examples on this thread about why people struggle and yet people are still saying ‘all you have to do is tap your card’.

If you're bankrupt isn't it a thing that you can't have a bank account?

Also re homeless people, they are not able to open a bank account. Sometimes they can do this if they end up in prison with a sentence long enough for an account to be opened so the card can be sent to the prison, or if they manage to secure a hostel for a long enough period of time. They will be issued with "basic" accounts which do not always have the ability to use to make payments but instead have to draw out the cash.

Also, for reference, some countries are already there. In Norway for example only 3% of all transactions take place using cash and these are less than 1% of the total value of all transactions. Their old people are not starving because they can't figure out how to tap a card at a contactless terminal, their poor people are no destitute because they can not enter a pin number, their disabled are not abandoned because they are made to use electronic rather than physical money.

The population of the UK is not so incompetent that we cannot cope with change and progress.

@NeedAHoliday2021

My 13 year old has a card and homeless her support with an address they can use (so long as they engage with the council support). It’s tricky for elderly people to adapt but my granny found changes to TV harder to deal with and changing phone style. That’s not really a good reason to not do something on it’s own. Many people with LD find cards and apps easier. You’ll never please everyone.

Right, that's why OP wants there to be the option of either.

There must be very few people left under 80 who aren't confident using cards, excluding dementia or other mental illness.

Todays children are growing up with pocket money cards, Go Henry, Rooster, Hyperjar, etc. They aren't going to go backwards to handling cash.

Society has been edging towards cashless for a while, the pandemic and dirty money has pushed it along a bit. Give it another 10-15 years and they'll be even less cash going around.

There are a surprising number of people who are doing 95% of their transactions cashless now.
I used to be embarrassed to put £1.10 on my card, last night I didn't think twice about it.

Whilst I agree that for some people cash is a better option, a private business can choose how it trades. If that is using cash and card, cash only or card only it is for the business owner to decide. You cant legislate to force a business to accept cash.

@PhoboPhobia

I agree. People suggesting ‘just tapping your card’ are missing the point. It’s not just about the act of paying, it’s about budgeting, tracking your spending etc.

There is so much lack of understanding about the struggles all sorts of people have. There are lots of examples on this thread about why people struggle and yet people are still saying ‘all you have to do is tap your card’.

I use a card for everything, I have not used cash three years. I can keep track of my spending down to the penny because everything is recorded on my credit and debit card statements. If I make a purchase it shows on my banking app in less than ten seconds.

If people in other countries can manage perfectly fine, why does everyone on here presume that the UK population is so stupid that they are unable to manage when other countries can?

@Burgerqueenbee

If you're bankrupt isn't it a thing that you can't have a bank account?

Also re homeless people, they are not able to open a bank account. Sometimes they can do this if they end up in prison with a sentence long enough for an account to be opened so the card can be sent to the prison, or if they manage to secure a hostel for a long enough period of time. They will be issued with "basic" accounts which do not always have the ability to use to make payments but instead have to draw out the cash.

Nope, if you are bankrupt you can have a bank account, you just can't have an overdraft, loan, mortgage etc.

Basic bank accounts offer debit cards.

@Burgerqueenbee if people declare bankrupt they can have a bank account but only a basic one.

I thought most places accepted both or only cash. Yes some places have signs saying card preferred but equally some places say no card payments for purchases under £xx.

Most places which only take cash do it because bank charges taking to much of tge transaction.
Most places only taking card do so tp avoid the costs relating to floats ect.

If people feel strongly against no cash I recommend voting with your feet - only spend money (ideally cash) in placed which accept cash and card.

@SprayedWithDettol

Whilst I agree that for some people cash is a better option, a private business can choose how it trades. If that is using cash and card, cash only or card only it is for the business owner to decide. You cant legislate to force a business to accept cash.

Parliament places many many regulations on businesses.

Just a few examples: taxes, business rates, health and safety law, company structure, directors obligations, consumer rights etc etc etc.

OF COURSE they can tell business they have to accept cash!!!!!!

There's a card reader in my local Sainsbury's that hates my card. It says the chip is invalid, there is no chip and various other things. I've had to try swiping it and signing the receipt, other times they've printed off the receipt for me to pay at the cigarette kiosk. It's only this one machine that does it. All the others are fine. It is embarrassing as well, especially if a queue has built up.
Imagine if someone like the people already mentioned who have difficulties with just using their card as a chip and pin trying to deal with this? Cash should always be an option.

"Everyone can have a bank account, even the homeless. There’s no reason everyone can’t use cards other than personal preference".

Is this right? I thought to open a bank account you need ID and proof of your address. I may be wrong and am happy to be corrected. I know you can get a basic no frills account to accept benefits but I didn't think they came with debit cards

When we were last in Manchester we saw signs saying cash only and others card payments only.

Yanbu.

There's also the fact that we're becoming a little too reliant on technology. While technology is great, technical issues happen far too often and we're slowly removing mitigating measures. What happens when card machines are down or other technical issues occur?

My window cleaner and milkman (yep I still have one ) accept bank transfer and prefer that to a cheque . The only services I use that prefer cash are plumbers , chippies etc and it's for tax reasons.
I get that but I also wonder why they can get away with paying limited tax when other salaried people including myself don't.

What are children supposed to do? You give them pocket money in cash so they can get used to it. Starting kids off on debit cards with no cash handling is just a recipe for disaster.

I don't know what is right or wrong, but budgeting can be taught with cards the same understanding that once the money has gone from the account its gone, no longer available to spend on something else. Seeing it on their screen the numbers going down.

There is an argument that they will grow up in a world of cards and having that understanding that spending in a card is still spending money.

YANBU - I have noticed that M &S, Wilkinson's and Matalan self service tills are all card only, although you can still use cash at their manned tills.

I’m happy with card only as you know, I assume, that it’s going through the books properly.
A barber near me is cash only, and one of the guys drives a Porsche.

YANBU, homeless people who depend on begging for money on the street are certainly not going to be able to go cashless. Unless the people saying the OP is BU are planning on supplying every homeless person with a card reader? Homeless people also need access to proffessional advocacy to get a bank card, again something not all homeless people have access to.

Shops refusing to accept cash has been made illegal in some states in the US precisely because it discriminates against homeless people and poor people.

The population of the UK is not so incompetent that we cannot cope with change and progress.

You realise you wrote that against the proposal that imperial units make a comeback, don't you ?

Personally I hate shops that only take cash. Especially when they also get sniffy about paying in cash too. And don't get me started on buses and "exact fare only" ...

I thought we left the EU because we wanted less red tape/legislation, not more.

If people want to use cash they can vote with their feet and only use retailers who accept cash.

The last thing we need with this government is them telling us what we can and can’t do.

I was in a newsagents recently and their card machine wouldn't work, luckily I had cash on me, but what would happen then if this happened in a cashless society.

Starting kids off on debit cards with no cash handling is just a recipe for disaster.

Is it? Why? Is there an actual reason other than children learning with cash is the only thing we've known up to this point? A child's ability to manage money and have any kind of fiscal understanding does not hinge on their ability to pay for a magazine with 50p coins.

At some point, the world moves on, eventually people who were used to shillings died and the next generation only knew the currency as it is now. That's probably how it will go with cash and cards.