Cashless everything is annoying and inconvenient

[JazbayGrapes]

Went to London last weekend. A concert in Hyde Park. Nobody in food/drink stalls wanted to take cash. Is this a new normal?

*opinions, not options.

Nope.

It's expensive for me because

• Santander charge 7% if you deposit over £1000 per month - when a minority of the transactions are cash I can recycle most of the cash within the business and avoid it, but if everyone paid me in cash it would be MUCH more expensive than only doing cards
• I have to spend time going to the post office for change and deposits
• there's the risk of theft - either by employees or the general public
• we run at capacity a lot of the time - literally not stopping. With a card payment it takes a few taps and then I sort their order while they faff about with their card. Getting change takes a few seconds, which when we are targeting 30 seconds per customer really adds up.

For those who do food there's hygiene issues as well.

I do take cash but frequently think about going card only. Unaccompanied children are the only thing that really stops me.

Isn't that more likely to be the COL crisis, if people are.paying card for soft play?

I’m jealous of anybody who can easily get cash. I wfh and most banks and free atms near me have closed. Nearest cash machine is now a bus ride away (despite many shops, cafes etc in walking distance).

I much prefer paying by card, in fact it's a pain to have to get cash to go to cash only places! Always have my card so it's easy

So you get paid, and then withdraw most of it out in cash and just have that at home? What if your house burgled?

Even the arcades on the pier by me have started to use a contact less arcade card you can you up at a machine using either cash or card, unfortunately it's easier to spend more money that way, but easier for the kids they just tap the card on the contactless panel and play the games.

Dfriend got annoyed in Hyde park… her dh does lots of cash in hand work which I assume avoids tax. I can’t think of many reasons people would find cash easier. It’s been the case at concerts since way before the pandemic.

Hopefully some day someone doesn’t think you deserve it too.

I don’t even use my debit card anymore. I just use Applepay.
I started during lockdown. I’d go for my walk and just take my phone. If I passed our local shop and there wasn’t a queue outside, I would run in and get a few bits. Just carrying my phone was much easier and it’s stated that way

This 👆

Used to be that banks charged for anything other than cash to be deposited by businesses. Now they charge for cash to be deposited. They want everything cashless so they don't have to have branches etc.

I am terrible for spending money on absolute shite that I think I need when I'm in town. I used to take a set amount when I'd go in to town for a browse, say a tenner, to cover a coffee or if I wanted a bottle of water etc, and that was it. Now I have to take my card everywhere and come home with so much unneeded stuff every time I'm in town because I can just swipe when I see something I like.

I'd probably be better working on my self control, but yeah, it was much easier when I simply had cash.

It's obvious that banks will disappear or it'll be just machines instead or maybe a robot !
The banks will love it. The public not so much

I left retail banking nearly 30 years ago. Paying in cash was more expensive, for businesses, than any other sort of transaction even then!

I just prefer cash. I do use card but i leave a limited amount on there in case its stolen and swiped.

Surely you only carry a limited amount of cash, so what's the difference? If you used a credit card you'd be protected.

I like cash. It makes me think about what I'm spending,once it's gone that's it, if you use a card it's too easy to just keep tapping away and going over any budget you've set.

I think having and using cash is a good learning tool for kids, they can see what they have and what will be left, a plastic card that keeps giving until it says no isn't great in my opinion.

Also im not keen on the contactless limit being so high, theres a potential of £400/£500 being taken from a lost card before it asks for a pin or the card gets stopped.

Also I live in quite a rural area and run a few events (for work and my hobby) phone signal can be shocking so using a card machine just isn't practical.

Cash is legal tender and should be accepted everywhere.

No, I can assure you (and Dfriend) that payments made in cash are still taxable. I've paid plenty of tax on it over the last twenty years or so and there's been no rule changes.

Of course some people assume that everybody accepting cash must be some kind of tax dodging, thieving parasite, but I'm sure that isn't what you meant .

Are you quite certain it hasn't coincided with something else - like a bad food hygiene rating, an unpopular menu change, or a cost of living crisis leading people to stump up for soft play but forgo the coffee?

I run a business that's similar insofar as we do lots of small transactions. I've just checked the records and last month only 14% was cash even though customers do get the option.

I use cash every week, is someone taking a poll?

Banks charge businesses for cash deposits, especially coins. They also frequently have cash deposit daily limits.

I paid cash on the bus the other day
The driver gave me a suspicious look

Perhaps, but it coincided with the cafe going cashless. I don’t think twice about paying the entry fee with Apple Pay but I’m more likely to spend change in my purse on something small like a cake or coffee because it’s “spare”, I think others must be the same.

It’s been the norm for years now.

I can’t even remember the last time I had cash. I love that I never need cash, it’s just so much more convenient - I don’t even take a care out with me anymore. I pay with my phone or Apple Watch. My mil who is 86, uses Apple Pay!

@SocksAndTheCity df has previously commented and hinted it’s to avoid putting it through the business (keeps her dh under the 40% tax threshold.) it’s a pain - I pay for a spa day and ask her to transfer £ but she drops round cash that I then have to pay into my bank.

It’s not that these vendors don’t want your cash, the event organisers make it this way by putting their
Own card machines into all the units so they get their cut of the earnings.

where possible I refuse to go anywhere that’s cashless (within reason of course) but where there’s cash taking alternatives I’ll go there. Cashless is madness, card machines go down often especially at large events.