To be annoyed that lots of companies won't take cash

[sicknote26]

Hi,

Been to lots of places that don't take cash, but starting to get really annoyed at not having the option of paying by cash.

Been to a couple of places today, first a well known activity place and a well known restaurant. Both completely cashless.

Aibu or is this a sigh of the times now.

What about the older generation who prefer to pay with cash.

I want cash to continue as an option, both for those uncomfortable getting a card out in public, and because it is a competitor for card payments. Banks would up charges to shops/retailers and others if cash payment was no longer available.

Bank closures don't help, and my experience of those companies who collect and deposit money from stores is poor (not going into detail).

Obviously with contactless and Applepay etc and online banking there are a lot fewer people using banks.
However the closure of banks and ridiculously short hours that banks are open will be as much to do with saving the banks money, than reacting to customer needs.
DH and I do probably 95% banking online and via apps. However there are times we need to go to the bank and every time there is a queue. The most recent time DH wanted to open an account that could only be set up in branch. He arrived before the bank opened (for 3 hours) and there were already people queuing. The staff were able to see about 4 people and the rest were told to come back another day!
Some of DH customers still pay by cheque (we'd rather they didn't but they don't do online banking) the app facility for paying in cheques is really hit and miss so we need to pay them in at the bank (or if they exceed the amount you can pay in via app)

What makes you think you have any control now? Your bank account is operated by a bank, the fiat money underwritten by a government. Your house, if you own one, isn’t an asset you can take anywhere in case of an emergency. Your credit rating, controlled by financial institutions, is more important than your DNA sequence if you want to have a comfortable life. Your pension fund is linked to a stock market, which has no guarantee of paying anything.

Like I say, that ship has sailed.

There's nothing to stop them accepting cash temporarily.

Alternatively, while their broadband was down, they could have switched to one of the many 4G based card readers - for instance, in an emergency you can get a sumup card machine from Rymans for £29 and it runs by Bluetooth to your phone's 4G.

I think we've been forced into a cashless society by the pandemic to a degree. I was always a die hard and you'd never see me making card payments. I always withdrew the cash I needed to use, that way I had it in my hand and knew exactly what I had left. COVID is what eventually steered me into only using cards because far more places stopped taking cash when we didn't know so much about the virus and there was the theory that touching money other people handle was a risk factor. I got so used to using cards through the pandemic that I never really went back to cash and don't think I will now as I find card more convenient.

I mainly use cards but always have some cash on me - during the big storms last year when power was out the only place open (torches for light) took cash.

I also like to squirrel some away each week and every so often treat myself!

I don’t think we’re yet ready as a society for completely cash free.

That's where "modern" banking apps come into play, such as Monzo, as they include budgeting, allocating "pots" of money, analysing your expenses and telling you how many days of spending you have left in the month based on your recent spending patterns. That's better than budgeting in cash, especially having your spending analysed into categories so you can see where you're spending your money.

Okay. But if he’s refusing to change or learn you can’t complain when he is eventually forced by society to change 🤷‍♀️

That ship has long sailed. There's so little you can do these days with cash. Only a tiny proportion of people get paid their wages or pensions in cash, so unless you have literally tens of thousands under the bed, you wouldn't last long anyway. Most occupational pensions are based on investments in govt bonds/securities or company shares, so again, if something meant their value crashed or their finances were put on hold, people wouldn't receive their pensions. Likewise all larger businesses and organisations wouldn't be able to pay wages if their bank accounts were frozen. Shortly, you'll need photo ID to even vote, which basically means driving licences or passports become the norm for ID (you already need them for opening bank accounts, logging onto govt websites such as HMRC etc). Having small amounts of cash for shopping in a power cut (if the shops are open) or paying for small value services is about all that's left really - that's just common sense, but thinking that continuing to use cash occasionally in the pub or Tesco is "keeping" cash and stopping the relentless march of databases etc is naive.

His stubbornness will come back and bite him on the bum in a few years. As he gets older, he'll find it more difficult to adapt and will find himself more and more alienated in so many ways.

I'm sure he's made the effort to do the "techy" things he wants to such as smart phone, social media, car sat nav etc.

It's people like him who need to be forced into moving forward rather than being a luddite. At the end of the day, it's him who'll suffer and you're just facilitating his luddite behaviour.

You must be very unlucky because I can't remember the last time that happened to me. It must be years ago!

Surely if he can see well enough to use cash he can do contactless payments? Or is he regularly spending over £100 in a transaction?

You don't need to go into the bank to cancel the card. You can do it on the phone.

Exactly...progress is inevitable, it has me in mind of a Victorian drama (based on the author's reminiscences) I was watching some time ago, where they were discussing the new 'flying machines'...one of the characters responded with "If it was decreed that we should fly we'd have been given wings". Seems some things never change.

Did you miss the bit where I did a second post acknowledging that I missed it?

I'm not saying that it doesnt happen but to work on the premise that everyone business that accepts cash is the front for a dodgy business is pretty ridiculous.

You all act like online is infinitely risk free, safe and eradicated all illegal activity yet cyber terrorism is the next big threat and very much real risk where they could wipe out entire money stocks

My DH takes his wages out of the bank in cash every week and only leaves enough in his account to cover his phone bill. He pays cash or he doesn’t shop there. He’s always done it, he’s 54. Just prefers cash. Once it’s accumulated into a few hundred pounds spare I’ll get it from him as I don’t like it in the house and pay it into the savings account. After 26 years I’m not going to try and change him

You may not try to change him, but he might find that society as a whole does. It will become increasingly difficult for him to function by only spending cash, it will limit his choices. Change is not always a bad thing, and usually we just have to move with the times, or get left behind.

To those saying it's unfair on older people, I'd much rather my elderly mother carried only a card with her, and not wads of cash. If her card is stolen, she can stop that straight away, but if cash is stolen, it's gone for good. Mum is 90, and is perfectly capable of doing online banking, using contactless cards etc. She hasn't forgotten her pin yet, but worries that she could do, and has it written down, but she keeps it separately in her coat pocket (disguised as a phone number) , so it would be unlikely to be stolen at the same time as her card.

Personally I found it much more annoying when places were cash only and didn't take card, or card only over a certain amount.

I hate cash. It's dirty and heavy, and inconvenient to have to go and get it out.

Happily since covid you can use your card everywhere.

There are lots of downsides

Brilliant post. I agree with you.

Online banking these days is remarkably simple, more so with mobile phone apps.

For you and me, yes. For someone with dementia they would struggle. My late MIL couldn’t even remember how to use her non smart simple to use mobile phone to just make a phone call when her memory started to go.

Debit cards started to come into use in the early 1970's though

Are you sure you aren’t confusing them with credit cards that you could use in an ATM? I remember being excited to get a debit card in the mid 1990s.

Also’ I never understand why people say it is easier to budget with cash? It just…isn’t?

In some ways it is @CosyScentedCandles. If you take £100 out of a cash machine to last a week it is much easier to stay within your budget than just getting a debit card or using your phone every time to pay for something. The temptation to overspend using modern payment methods is much greater. It is much quicker and simpler to open your purse and see how much you have left than to log into your banking app multiple times a day.

The buskers and the people on market stalls all have SumUps round here!

Unfortunately, not everywhere in the UK has a good enough signal to use one @JassyRadlett. I agree that they are simple to use though. When we were fundraising for the local hospice recently the vast majority of donations were in cash. When people said they never carried cash they were told that we could accept card payments, but 98% of the donations were still in cash.

Don’t you get charged for every time you use your card? I do. Small amount but it all adds up.

No. I’m with Nationwide. They don’t charge for transactions.

For the record I use my debit card for 99.99% of any payments I make. However, I always have a couple of banknotes in my phone case. I tend not to carry a purse around with me any more as all my store cards are on my phone as well, making a purse redundant.

You're in a busy part of London. That's not the whole country.

These responses are so daft. Your grandad would find it much easier to pay contactless than with cash, and would be much safer too. Instead of letting him carry around large amounts opf cash and be sad about not being able to use it, simply help him to get a contactless card or use a a phone.

Honestly, the fuss poeople make when there are simpler better alternatives so easily available.

Terrible argument. I actually rarely use cash but think it's very dangerous to lose it.

To them it probably is though. They think beyond the m25 is abroad

@AbreathofFrenchair i open the app and it unlocks with Face ID, I don’t see how that is more difficult than opening your purse? Also it’s not exactly practical to say I’m only going to spend £100 this week but oh dear this takes me to £101 so I won’t be able to get it🙄