Food places and cafes not accepting cash

[Annoyedtiger]

Yes I understand covid and I normally always pay with my card but today I accidentally left it at home and I went to three cafes including Cafe Nero which wouldn’t take my cash.

We know covid is airborne and everything is mostly back to normal.

AIBU to think everywhere should be tasking cash now?

I nipped in a icafe/ice cream place near me on sun to buy a 10p bag of rainbows sweet for my DD with my 10p ready & she said ‘card only’ 🙄🙄 I was like “are you kidding” eventually 1 of the other girls took the 10p but I was still seething as I left!!

I'd much rather card payments.
The amount of people who carry cash in their bras or people who don't wash their hands after going to the toilet etc is horrendous.
At least with most card payments the customer just waves it in front of the terminal.

Not true. London (and I'm sure elsewhere) is full of small independent cafes and shops that only take card. Fine by me.

A friend who runs an inde wine merchant told me that per transaction, card is more expensive for them. But if they accept no cash at all, there's a massive saving in bank fees (they have to pay to be able to deposit cash), and on staff time in counting and banking it (which obviously has to be paid for).

So once cash transactions dipped under a certain point - which happened with covid - it's cheeper for them not to offer it at all.

Being a cashless society only really benefits the wealthy/affluent.

Just an example from last week, a frazzled looking young mum was paying for her food shopping at the till in front of me but was £2.30 short overall no frivolous stuff, just groceries. I just got some change out of my purse and added it to hers.

Small impact to my day, massive impact to hers. Much more difficult without cash, I didn't have money in my account to cover her shopping and mine for her to give me her cash and pay with my card, but I did have a couple of £ in my purse that I was happy to use to make someone else's day a bit better.

Then there's the problems like someone on here was having with Natwest. They froze her account without notice rendering her payment cards useless. Mercifully she could still withdraw cash.

Being cashless places you firmly at the mercy of faceless AI systems that make snap judgments on whether you're allowed to spend money and where you're allowed to spend it. We shouldn't be in a rush to aim for that.

i am paid in cash (yes all NI paid etc) so it’s quite interesting out there now.

Not true. Where I live in east London, the majority of small independent businesses are card only even pre-Covid. Even most market stalls near me don't accept cash.

"It’s expensive to accept cash.
its cost saving not covid"

Yet before Covid there was a charge to pay by card if the purchase was under £5 etc. We'd get tutted at if we wanted to use our card for small purchases.
We shouldn't allow ourselves to be bullied into a cashless society.

You could've paid the £2.30'on a card?

During the petrol shortages a very harassed mum (children in car on way to school) and carer (in uniform), had queued for ages for petrol. Shop was packed with frazzled motorists. She'd put £9.40 in her car and forgotten her card, had no cash, they took both.

I remembered covid and how carers had to suffer and paid it on a card, no difference if I had cash or card.

Your frazzled mum could've paid what she had by cash and you paid the balance by card. It's really that simple!

My adult ds has learning disabilities. No way is he safe with a card - it would be lost, the pin would be told to anyone and everyone. He now can't go to a favourite coffee shop because they only take cards. I used to go there a lot too, they've lost us as customers now. I doubt they'll care.

I've voted with my feet and not gone to anywhere cash only since Covid.

I don't think I've made a cash payment since March 2021.

Even buskers have card machines now.

Don't be daft.

The problem with card only is that if something stops working the system fails. Power cut? Readers don't work. Card damage?d nothing can be done . My card's chip.got damaged somehow and it couldn't be used. I have a card on a different account so have been using that. Imagine if that had been my only one.

@UncaDonald

Because removing cash cuts an (often vulnerable) large section of the population off from mainstream society - the elderly, street homeless, people without addresses (hidden homeless, refugees)also people who struggle to access services due to mental or physical ill health - if you rely on neighbours to pick up shopping or medicine , you don’t necessarily want to give them your bank card.

The market is supposed to serve society, not the other way round. Businesses get tax breaks to help them, and in return for that we require them to provide services that are sometimes more inclusive that market forces would dictate.

I believe the plan to totally phase out cheques has been cancelled and I hope cash will be protected.

Also, read the Handmaid’s tale. Hard cash disappearing does limit your freedom. A card is oh so stoppable..

I have hardly taken any money out since covid started. Once was last week when my hairdresser's card machine went down. And yet there are places that still only take cash. I carry £10 in my mobile phone case and have needed it three times for ice creams :)

When I was in Copenhagen recently I was twice unable to buy a coffee because they didn't take cards. They did take cash, and they did take payment by a mobile phone app. I wasn't expecting to be unable to use a card!

Put them on your phone? Then if it's damaged you can use the phone?

A cafe local to me takes cash only. They wont take card at all.
I prefer cash as it is better to keep track of your spending, which is essential when you are on a tight budget.

Try Monzo, excellent bank for budgeting!

What pisses me off about this is that for years, someone like me who never uses cash was always caught out in little shops or cafes as many didnt take cards at all, only cash.

Now all of a sudden because they find it more convenient they wont take cash at all, they should at least do both.

Also waht drives me mad is that car parking machines often still only take cash, theres a few that do ringo and the like but really they should all be set up to take cards these days.

During the height of Covid, many parking machines did not take cash or card. You had to pay using an app. All fine if you have a smartphone and signal.

Why were you seething?

It's not daft to mandate businesses accept cash from customers; it's not some wild incredible idea. Poland passed a law like this last year.

Being cashless places you firmly at the mercy of faceless AI systems that make snap judgments on whether you're allowed to spend money and where you're allowed to spend it. We shouldn't be in a rush to aim for that.

This. It's scary and we shouldn't be sleepwalking into it. I'd boycott anywhere which didn't take cash.

Cash is anonymous and can be used by anyone. It shouldn't be phased out.
I usually use card but might start using cash more to support cash remaining a choice!

They stopped in my town due to the last bank closing. Only the supermarkets, Wetherspoons and the charity shops take it now

I had to go to the local outpatients today to give blood. The machines there are cash only. I had my nails done yesterday, as I do regularly and all the nail shops here and in the city I visited are cash only. The place I visit for waxing used to accept both but is now cash only.