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 don't see the problem with places not accepting cash. It's an inconvenience to go to the cash point when you can just use your phone or card to pay. I rarely take my card out but always have my phone on me.

Two contradictory thoughts about this.

1. Does the concept of “legal tender” have any relevance here? I’ve got a vague recollection that retailers are obliged to accept payment in the coin of the realm up to certain limits - I do t know what they are, but it was something like, if a payment was up to £5 you could pay it in 1p pieces and the retailer was obliged to accept it, but if it was over over £5 then they weren’t.

2). We bought something for three quid plus a few pence in a small independent chemist. I was dithering over card or cash, and the owner said he preferred cash as card payments cost him money. That surprised me, as I was under the impression it cost businesses a lot to process cash. But I was happy to use cash - I’m of an age where using a card for small amounts feels wrong. I was buying a postcard the other day - it was 45p, and when I saw the “card only” sign, I obviously had to buy some fudge to get the transaction size up.

All the banks in my small
town have closed. Shopkeepers have to travel nearby 10 miles to cash up. And you wonder why they’d rather you pay by card?

Does the concept of “legal tender” have any relevance here? I’ve got a vague recollection that retailers are obliged to accept payment in the coin of the realm up to certain limits - I do t know what they are, but it was something like, if a payment was up to £5 you could pay it in 1p pieces and the retailer was obliged to accept it, but if it was over over £5 then they weren’t.

Not relevant at all. Legal tender has a very specific meaning in relation to debts. Nothing to do with paying in a shop (or for that matter, paying with Scottish notes which is the other place it's mentioned)

Interesting about the nail bars being cash only.

Renowned for money laundering and modern slavery, I'd avoid cash only ones myself.

Electronic payments are controlled by banks which are companies which are run for profit.

Cash on the other hand is controlled by the government and at least theoretically has a public interest duty.

If you think about who uses cash it really highlights the social inequality in our financial system. The poor, the elderly and otherwise vulnerable, the homeless. All these people rely on cash for most of their financial transactions because it's reliable. You pay your bills in cash because then you control when it gets paid, so you don't get a £15 bill for a bounced DD because it went out they day before payday etc

The banks don't care about these people because they aren't profitable. And the banks don't care about cash because those who are profitable find electronic money convenient.

No wonder the Tories are happy to abolish cash 😂

It depends on what card processing options you are on.

Stripe is 1.4% plus 20p - so that’s quite pricey
I have SumUp and Zettle, SumUp costs me 1.69% and my Zettle is 1.75%
I have no extra running costs on those other than the initial card processor cost

(There was a timing difference on payouts, but I can’t remember for sure, but if I recall
correctly when PayPal owned iZettle before it rebranded the payouts were the same day / next day and SumUp was within a day / working day, but for the levels I take on an occasional basis either suits me)

With rounding I would be paying 2p on either of them for a £1 payment, but on Stripe that would be 21p or 22p depending on their round ing

On a friends POS his card processing is on a £30 a month subscription, a much more expensive POS till etc but only 0.6% per transaction

Even the most basic card processing has the ability to put extra information into the app, which adds to the details in the payout summary

For those who are buying wholesale stock or materials it means that card payments can be in the bank ready for the next restocking order, whereas cash has the advantage/disadvantage of being to hand in the till

I take issue with not accepting cash so I no longer go to those places

Why do people assume that once you get old you revert back to using cash. Yes some will but online banking, cashless payments are pretty standard for today's pensioners including my parents and their friends.

I have been known to offer cash to people in the queue in exchange for buying me stuff in cash free places. I think only once in a coffee place and I had exact money. A couple of times at local petrol station as you need an actual card and I tend to use my phone so I always keep an emergency 20 in the glove box.

Some shops prefer card payments, as staff might keep cash from a customer, but card transactions must go through the till

Yes exactly. Removal of any cash options is discriminatory against a number of vulnerable groups, but typically groups who lack the resources and support to take action. Think also of the people trying to escape controlling and abusive situations who do so by squirreling away small amounts of cash as they get them.

Not to mention the stock advice given to people struggling to manage money is to avoid using cards and use cash as its more controllable.

Its fine for the "I'm all right Jacks" but worth remembering that most people are only one or two unforeseen disasters from being in the vulnerable group.

Marwell Zoo is another. Only cards.
My DD going to the zoo this week with her class, and it will loose out a lot.

I mean the zoo will loose a lot as every child could bought something from gift shop, nd that would support zoo i think.

Hate it. There is a small beach cafe where we go on holiday and they no longer accept cash. Sometimes you go down for an early morning swim and want a cup of tea after and don't want to take a card or expensive iPhone phone and leave it unsupervised on the beach - but wouldn't miss a couple of coins if they went AWOL.
The other day an elderly man (must have been 85+) was in the queue there for and they wouldn't accept his cash. I felt so sorry for him watching him put the money back in his pocket and say 'never mind then' that I insisted on paying for his drink. We forget that some people simply prefer cash.
Also, it I good for kids to learn how to count out coins and add up! Who didn't play at shops with the plastic money and till when they were in nursery? Are toddlers going to be playing it with a fake credit card now?

I’d imagine most schools don’t go to gift shops whether they take cash or just cards.

Wrangling 60 kids through a shop when some have £20 and some have nothing as their parents can’t afford to give them anyone doesn’t sound much fun, wastes time that they could spend doing something better and results in more endless plastic tat

Because it is legal tender and because cash is often a vulnerable persons only means to buy services. Homeless people/domestic violence victim/residential care client. A lot of people do not have access to a bank account. Saving money is not a good enough reason for a business to not accept cash in my opinion.

Thing is though, for those people to have cash, they must have a bank account and a card to withdraw the money, as benefits and pensions are paid in to bank accounts.

My dad has never had a bank account in his life. His wages were paid into my mum's bank account, and now his pension is.
If he had a card, he would be dead from drinking by now.

How daft to turn down business like that.
If I find out a business doesn't accept cash, I stop shopping there even if I have my card. For a mixture kf reasons really. On principle, I think they're too stupid to run a business anyway. Supporting inequality (poorer people are more likely to take cash out, so a bill doesn't come and take the money they need for food/ petrol to work etc. Children. The elderly.) Some people simply prefer cash, I don't like the way certain businesses try to bully people into a cashless society.

The vulnerable groups in society often rely on cash such as homeless and certain disabilities.

Also domestic abuse victims in financially control relationships. They can put aside small amounts of cash for an escape but that needs places to accept cash.
A piece from which by a Refuge Director of Communications
conversation.which.co.uk/money/domestic-abuse-cash-access-refuge/

I had to go to the customer service desk in Decathlon a few months back because none of their regular tills take cash. The server told me that soon they will be going completely cashless so far not just cafes and small businesses

Who didn't play at shops with the plastic money and till when they were in nursery? Are toddlers going to be playing it with a fake credit card now?

Of course they do. My DC toy shopping til has a toy card reader with a key pad. It's also got a toy scanner.

If you have a business there are bank accounts that only charge a set monthly fee for using the cash machine to pay in your funds as opposed to using counter service. For my business this works out at £12.50 per month as opposed to the £170 a month it costs me in card fees! My bank includes all bacs services in and out and if I do need to access change I can get it from my post office at a small charge.
Increased card charges, as they’ve gone up again this month, means that I have no choice but to put up my prices. There’s only so much small businesses can absorb and they’re now caught in a no win situation, people want to pay with card as it’s easier for them and less effort required on their part and card processing merchants can charge what they like as small businesses have no bargaining power.
Then banks start closing in towns and cities as they’re no longer busy. People then complain that these towns and cities are derelict and full of boarded up buildings. The smaller businesses have to pack in as there’s no longer trade from people visiting. More and more empty buildings. More and more on line shopping. More and more card spending and then before you know it, cash is gone and then we’ll all be in trouble. Once everything goes digital there’s no going back.

I get (a tiny amount of) cash from my self employed ex who hides all his earnings to avoid child maintenance. It's the only spare spends I have as my wages are immediately taken up by direct debits for bills. I never withdraw money