Cash?

[Flutterbybudget]

To think that companies and shops should really be accepting cash again now?
I know that during the last few years, people were being encouraged to use contactless payments “where possible” officially to reduce germ carrying on cash, but NOW with no Covid restrictions and the cost of living soaring, I think that more and more people will WANT to return to paying cash for various purchases (makes budgeting simpler) and it seems bizarre to me that some places are still refusing to accept cash payments.
I, for one, don’t want to live in a cashless society, where every penny that I have can be tracked, traced and taxed. I want to be able to sell an old piece of furniture, without that being questioned and taken as “income”. I want to be able to give my children/ grandchildren coins to put in their money box.

DON’T get me started on those 🙈
Last week, I battled with one for over 20: minutes, before a very kind lady came to my rescue, made a phone call to the security firm, and I didn’t have to pay at all 😂 but in general, just “aaaarrrrgggghhhhh” 😂

On a serious note, cash is often a lifeline to those trying to escape from abusive relationships. A small pot of cash, carefully saved up, can make the difference between being able to leave and not.

I very rarely carry cash and rely on card (or more likely Apple Pay) for pretty much everything however my DS has had a summer job that’s paid him in cash. He tried to take his gf out for a meal, she choose a chain restaurant but when they got there they said they didn’t take cash! They had to then find somewhere else to eat! I couldn’t believe they didn’t take it at all.

Sorry you're quite right. If you are VAT registered you do and then if income over £10k you will be 2024 and then all corporation tax return by 2026 for ltd companies.

Technology did fail in the high street near where I live for an afternoon. The independent shops just accepted cash and wrote down purchases on paper. Not a long term solution, but for short term it was fine. Tills usually have a manual override.

I know someone older who still does paper tax returns. I think he will just retire when they need to be done digitally.

Personally I think more should be done to help people who don't use technology routinely or didn't use it growing up. It's not instinctive unless your surrounded by it or always used it. I know plenty of older retired academics and medics who really struggle.

I meant to say making things digital without that marginalised people in society and depends on people having access, and in particular to smart phones.

And btw I hate clever parking meters but they were put in so they could capture number plates and stop you donating your left over time to someone else. Sigh.
And they often don't work!

Personally I hate cash and love card only spending using my Apple Watch which is so handy. I'd be happy to get rid of cash altogether.

Dirty, horrible stuff way past it’s date now, haven’t carried for about 30 yrs? never had a problem, it’s to expensive to transport from places , even arcades are going cashless now

Went out at the weekend. One business was cash only; another card only. No excuse about no banks, as the town was full of them.

I can see why some places are card only - have been to a couple of concerts recently where the bars are rammed with hundreds if people queuing. It would take so much longer if they had to count money and give change.
However in most places it would be good if cash was an option.

I do wish that authorities who insist on paying for parking through an app would give some thought to whether or not there is mobile signal at the car park. Or provide reliable free wifi (can't pay without a signal!) or accept cash.

Nowadays you don't just need a card and a phone, you also need to make a note of the 'location number' of where you are so that you can pay for the parking when you eventually get signal of wifi. Bad luck if you get given a ticket before you find a signal.

I still think you have more autonomy with cash, they can follow your every move without it not that I'm doing anything wrong

We use cards a lot but I still like cash

I've noticed all the self service machines in tesco have stopped taking cash too 😡theyve got no excuse they are a massive business

The tesco near where I work is card only self service till. As much as anything else, I assume is a cost cutting exercise as they don't need to be emptied. Ditto with parking machines but I begrudge the ones that charge 20p extra to park when using an app/Ringo.

More people must be using cash. My big local Tesco and Lidl have cash options on the serve yourself tills. Previous they were cards only.

Who is following every move, I don’t get that

Not using cash in places also reduces the high risk of fraud, and the stand off with customers who argues that it was a 20£ note passed over & I only got change for 10£. Everybody in retail has been on the review end of that one

Card only is much easier for businesses. Less risk of opportunistic theft by staff. Less time for staff to count and cash up at the end of a shift. Less risk to staff having to take cash into a branch to deposit it (which has become harder as more local branches have closed)/no need to arrange cash collection (at cost) from G4S or the like.

Kids can be set up with eg a revolut or starling card that parents can manage if they're too young for their own debit cards and banking.

Not everyone has a smartphone; some of us like a watch to tell the time, not pay for stuff, and some don't wish to be captured by Apple.

I use cash as much as possible, as I can see the problems if it is lost. Even Sweden, which is virtually cashless, has legislated to ensure that cash access is retained as a matter of national security. Particularly important at present, one might think!

"mogsrus · Today 22:22

Who is following every move, I don’t get that"

Its a question of who can follow your purchasing history

Answer : Whoever issued the card. When you signed up for the card you will have given them permission to 'share' (i.e. sell ) this data

Question 1 : How do the unbanked cope in a cashless country ?

Question 2 : how to give small amounts of money to deserving people/causes in a cashless country ?

Cash is a great invention !

Yes you have more autonomy with cash.

I was in Tesco one evening a few months ago and the card machines had went down. It was absolute chaos. Huge queues, people having to abandon huge trolleys of shopping because they couldn't use the cash machine as they only had phone-pay, hassling staff to keep trying. A lady in the queue said she'd been stuck on the way back from work as the train card systems were also down.

I volunteer in a charity shop and a similar issue happened when the card system went down. We lost out on a £70 sale because a young lady only had her phone to pay and the systems were down.

As for 'danger', the charity shop I volunteer in is in one of the highest crime rate areas in UK, I've been there for years and have had no problems or felt unsafe banking cash.

As for 'dirty', wash your hands or use hand gel.

Cash is no problem, it's literally seconds to get some cash out and use envelopes. I use cash for most transactions. I'd not go back to anywhere that didn't take cash. It's much better for budgeting too.

Be really careful what you wish for re cashless.

I am amazed at all the people who are so concerned about where their data is going online, data hacks etc , yet they are seemingly totally fine with their whereabouts and transactions (even personal transactions) all recorded!!

The people who like to use purely card seem to be missing the point here - that’s their CHOICE. And no one is trying to take that away from them.
Some of us would like to have the CHOICE of using cash

Where I live there is a small local Tesco with 2 self service tills and usually one cashier. It's always busy but usually moved quite quickly between the 3 tills. Then they made the self service tills card only and there is always a queue as so many ppl still want to pay cash for a small spend.
I also work in retail and we were trained how to trade manually if tills crashed - writing receipts on carbon paper, accepting cash or using a "slammer" with a carbon paper for cards. Now that most cards have no raised letters and numbers there is no way to trade manually with them. As only around 10% of transactions in our stores are cash , several stores were not able to trade recently when there was a till failure.

Cash is legal tender and I can't believe businesses are allowed to say no. Physical money helps young children understand how to count money and learn the value. It means more to them when they receive money to put in their piggy banks. Many many people draw out what they need and then aren't tempted to spend anymore. It's so so easy to fritter away money on a card.

Further, women escaping domestic violence, cash means they can't be traced by a controlling abuser.