To want to keep our cash.

[TarasHarp55]

What's everyone's thoughts on going digital? Yesterday on the bus was for me, a prime example of why we shouldn't. This man got on and presented his debit card to pay his fare. The card declined. The poor man was on his way to work and was saying "I've just got paid this morning, I don't understand". He had no other way of paying. The driver kept telling him to try again, the poor man getting upset. Anyway the outcome was I paid his fare because he didn't want to miss work.

It got me thinking though, is this going to get more and more common. Relying on a computer to give you your money. There's so many other problems when there's no cash too imo. I hate the thought of a cashless society.

My parents are in their 80s and also love paying by card for everything, not worrying about having to get cash out or anything.

The man was genuine. He was visibly upset. You could tell by his reaction, there was a bus full of people and he was so embarrassed bless him.

@sst1234 Gosh there is some snobbery around about using cash. I use cash therefore I must be into drug peddling or human trafficking and tax dodging!
I hate this digitalised world. How long before the banking chip is in our fingers? It is already being trialled. How long before our steak dinner is declined because we bought too much meat last week?

Supermarkets have back up generators. But cashpoints need power too.

True, but you could have gone to any available cashpoint an hour/day/week/month previously, withdrawn the cash for your shopping, and known for a fact that you are able to pay for your purchases up to that amount. It isn't possible to pay in advance by card for a hitherto unknown total of shopping in the supermarket.

I'm really not trying to do younger people down, and I know that not all are like it, but many digital natives seem to live in the moment and want to act on impulse, expecting everything to just work, without any planning or preparation beforehand or backup plan.

That’s fine. But why do you support card only when they could accept both?

I always have a backup credit card in case something happens with my debit card. never have cash anyway

Paying cash was the only way a friend of mine who was in a domestic abuse situation could survive. She didn't want her partner knowing what she was spending her money on, the abuse got worse if he found she was taking the children out for ice cream or fun stuff. She couldn't buy anything without him know on their joint account and he used to find her cards and destroy them if she opened a bank account of her own He was a controlling arsehole obviously, but she needed cash to survive. I wonder if there are any similar scenarios.

Does nobody ever read news stories about the disruption caused to people's lives when their bank's IT system develops a fault? Is everybody ignoring the massive teams of Russian (and presumably other countries') cyberhackers constantly trying to break in to high-level computer systems? Has nobody ever read The Machine Stops? Deliberately making ourselves more and more reliant on technology that we don't understand and can't control is unwise.

Got stuck recently on a bus out of Heathrow at 10pm.

Train strike, so had to use the bus unexpectedly.

1 card, 3 tickets to buy. Cash not accepted.

It was only the driver's kindness that meant we travelled.

They might have generators for freezers but I recently had exactly this problem - no card transactions for a couple of hours.

Actually the drug dealer I know gets his clients to pay by card, he has a business account and pretends to buy and sell musical instruments.

Soon it will be oh you can't buy xyz as we can see that you've already spent XXX on this and therefore we're cutting you off.

People will tell you how ridiculous and paranoid you're being.... until it happens and then becomes the accepted norm.

They're already talking about rationing gas and electricity, which could easily be done with smart meters. Never mind whether you're heating a massive swimming pool or charging your electric wheelchair - if you've used your 'quota', you're not allowed any more and a computer algorithm can just cut you off.

Go to Scarborough. I saw a sign near there in Filey at a coffee shop saying “Cash only. Help us keep it a cash society”.

We absolutely should not give up cash.
That would allow central banks to enforce negative interest rates on our savings to control inflation and encourage us to spend instead of save
www.bankofengland.co.uk/knowledgebank/what-are-negative-interest-rates

Was in a car park - lady in her 80s does not own a mobile was only pay by phone
I paid for her
The sign said it was for OUR convenience

I recently had exactly this problem - no card transactions for a couple of hours

Was that to do with the banking system rather than a power cut? if the tills were working to take cash payments?

I live in Sweden, our local supermarkets both take cash but I noticed how hard it was to pay with cash in the city chains. Buying back to school stuff was a challenge - H&M, Bix Box, Gina Tricot, Glitter and sports shop were card payments only. Each time I asked if I could pay cash my 15 year old groaned and said I was so embarrassing.

Having spent most of my life in London, as a precaution I always kept bit of cash, some where other than my purse, in case it was lost or stolen. It was never stolen or lost but there have been incidences where my card hasn't work, their system was down and I have had to use cash., So I dislike not having the choice.

What absolute bollocks @sst1234 I take cash out at the beginning of the month at that's all i spend
I want to know down to the last penny what I have in my account

Yes, I had my purse and phone stolen a few day's before a trip to London this year. Had to take a wad of cash someone lent me as couldn't access anything and all cards cancelled.

A few places wouldn't accept cash, they lost my business that weekend ! Luckily I always checked before I committed to any purchase.

We are living longer, many people are developing Alzheimers and other forms of dementia etc. Now is not the time to get rid of cash. Your memory regresses. MIL can no longer use a mobile phone, she gets flummoxed by machines where you just tap the card, so finds bus travel difficult now, she can't remember to take a bus pass, then doesn't know where to place it etc etc. Same in the shops. When some went cashless during covid her world shrunk again.

Nobody helps, they just think she's a stupid old woman. Some people rely on cash.

The sign said it was for OUR convenience

Yes, you see that kind of gaslighting a lot. Very Orwellian.

Like that now infamous quote from the WEF, where they claim we will soon own nothing and we will like it - is that in the sense of it will genuinely make us happier and we will want to choose to adapt, or the other understanding of 'you will like it' i.e. tough crap if you don't, you don't get any other choice.

But if the network was down, you wouldn't be able to use your credit card, either.

A couple of streets near me had no landline/internet for several days a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, it included the streets where our local convenience store is, so the owner couldn't take card payments. He was a lovely man, and was more than happy to let people have credit if they didn't have cash on them (needless to say, a few never paid their tab ) but a lot of businesses wouldn't. That would cause real problems if it continued, the next nearest shop is nearly 2 miles away and there's no public transport after 5.30.

After that, I always make sure I have £100 or so in cash for immediate needs, just in case.

The new owners of that shop won't let people pay by card for energy top-ups, they have to pay for them in cash. I asked them why, and they told me that the tiny amount they make on each top-up is less than the cost of processing the transaction, so they were losing money on every one. Anyone with a prepayment meter living here will need cash if they're to avoid a long walk.

No you couldn’t say that at all because there is no equivalence. It’s actually silly. Car ownership and bank robberies are not a comparison you can make with the number of people getting paid cash in hand.

Yes.

A former client of mine built her "escape fund" by getting cashback every time she went shopping. Her abusive ex never queried why she was spending more and more in the supermarkets.

A cashless society is a death sentence for the homeless.

It was bad enough when people stopped using phone boxes so there were no stray coins to collect.

People stopped using paper tickets in the Tube or train so there are no physical tickets the homeless can collect at the end of the day and use.

Now you see them begging for change but nobody has any to give.

At the start of the month I withdraw all the cash for my everyday spending. I dont want the bank to see how I spend my money not because I have anything to hide but because I dont consider it any of their business to know what I buy and where I am.