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?

@Mamamia7962

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.

and at ASDA they give cashback ...

Cash is what enables VAT fraud and money laundering. Frankly, we be better off in terms of raising tax revenue and making life harder for organised crime if we banned cash.

I don't actually think we should do that, but every anti-money laundering course I've ever done (and for my job I have to do them every couple of years) points out that if you see a business that takes only cash, or only cash for some services, it is almost certainly doing it to dodge tax or worse.

@SalsaLove

My dad is 87, with mild dementia and has no problem using a card. All you have to do is hold it in front of the machine. It’s easier than handling cash and there’s no possibility that the elderly or disabled will be ripped off since there’s no exchange of cash.

And he is one person with mild dementia. Others may have much more difficulty.

I agree with you op, I would be totally screwed without access to cash. I don't have my own account so can't pay by card. Husband won't allow me access to his account but will hand over cash so I can buy bread/milk or coats for the kids, etc. Many ppl think that everyone is independent financially and this is so not the case with many women still being financially and/or otherwise abused.

YANBU in the slightest.

It's going to be a fabulous form of control. Cashless society means bank accounts could technically be frozen and you'd be left with fuck all.

Charities would miss out from small change donations.

People with LD'S/disabilities/the elderly I completely agree with you.

Won’t people who rely on tips suffer if we go cashless? Felt embarrassed recently because I had no cash to leave a tip for cleaners after a hotel stay.

YANBU

It's very hard to open an account without lots of ID.

Ds has autism and has had massive problems with his bank accounbt as he couldn;t get online banking set up. Phone calls are difficult. Banking apps etc that help you keep track are only OK for those who have computers/smart phones

DGRosetti - The Sainsbury's and Tescos I use no longer give cash back, I don't know if that's the case for all their stores now. M & S still do.

Completely agree OP. Also Im sick of being in shops when the system goes down and then chaos ensues. Everyone scrabbling in bags or running outside the shop to find someone with cash. Where was the scientific research regarding Covid on bank notes? Cash is dirty yes, but then you wash/ sanitise your hands after transactions. The same as you do with using a bankcard.

Yanbu at all.
What happens when there's a technical glitch? It's happened before.
I don't particularly want big tech/banks/govt to know what I'm spending my money on (there have been examples of this info being used for marketing.)
For those who have trouble budgeting, debt charities often advise using cash.

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.

@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.

If you are bankrupt you are only allowed a type of bank account that cannot have credit, so a basic account, you still have a debit card.

Several banks and building societies including HSBC offer ‘no fixed address accounts’ for homeless people.
They just have to come into a branch for statements and to pick up new cards.

It’s ridiculous! Asked in Tesco to pay by cash last week and was told no! We are not a cashless society and we shouldn’t encourage it.

At Lot of the comments are very ableist and completely dismissing of the disabled community not to mention the implications for homeless people and those who are actually not allowed a debit card and instead only have access to cash cards ..... as usual showing a naive "naice" mn experience.

Yabu to talk about ‘disabled people’ not being able to use cards. I have a disability and am perfectly capable of using a card. If anything, not having to carry a heavy purse of coins is better for me.

CounsellorTroi - When we went for a meal once, I paid by card and you could add the tip to the card payment.

@Pixiedust1234

I agree with you op, I would be totally screwed without access to cash. I don't have my own account so can't pay by card. Husband won't allow me access to his account but will hand over cash so I can buy bread/milk or coats for the kids, etc. Many ppl think that everyone is independent financially and this is so not the case with many women still being financially and/or otherwise abused.

It is wrong that your husband won't allow you your own bank account and sounds like you may be being financially abused. Do you have access to support in real life if you need it?

@JollyAndBright

YABU

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

if that if your preference you can shop in shops that take cash and not everywhere else.

I have a disabled adult child who cannot have a bank account. We have been trying to teach them some life skills over the last few years with regards to using money in shops. (Counting coins etc) So no, not everyone can have a bank account and use a card.

This last 18months have been very difficult for them with more and. Ore places saying card only.

@Jinkiesfredlll

At Lot of the comments are very ableist and completely dismissing of the disabled community not to mention the implications for homeless people and those who are actually not allowed a debit card and instead only have access to cash cards ..... as usual showing a naive "naice" mn experience.

You know, I wish there was this much thought and care for "the disabled community" when it came to not nicking blue badge spaces, crowding lifts out, and leaving shops and offices inaccessible.

@Mamamia7962

CounsellorTroi - When we went for a meal once, I paid by card and you could add the tip to the card payment.

What do you think happens to tips that go on the card? Sometimes you just want to ensure an individual staff member is rewarded for exceptional service.

I agree.

Homeless people, buskers, waiting staff, chambermaids, busboys, and charities would all lose out.
I'm also reminded of The Handmaids Tale when women's bank accounts are suddenly frozen.

Sometimes you just want to ensure an individual staff member is rewarded for exceptional service.

Where did this idea that everyone must get what they want come from ?

What do you think happens to tips that go on the card? Sometimes you just want to ensure an individual staff member is rewarded for exceptional service.

They go to that staff member when they cash out their tips at the end of their shift. It's the norm here to tip, and to do so on a card. The server or whoever doesn't lose the tip because it's on a card vs. cash.