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?

I had the opposite problem, wanted ice cream at school fair & van insisted on cash! Most these days take card, i almost never have cash on me.

I'm very old and usually pay with groats and farthings but, may I ask the tech savvy folk on here, what happens if you lose or break your phone if all your banking details are on it?
Do you add any extra security "stuff" to your phone to keep your details safe and inaccessible to others?

As small business owner, dealing with. Ash is just so expensive and inconvenient for me.
It's a 15 mile drive to my bank, there's no blue badge parking close enough to the bank and it just takes too much time out of my working day to go and they charge me to deposit cash and collect change. My business insurance stipulates that I cannot keep more than £500 on the premises (my home), I can't pay my suppliers in cash because everything is ordered online and paid for with order.
I took nearly £700 in cash over the weekend at an event so bad to take Monday morning off to bank it.

I definitely would pay for crisps on card! Most businesses now pay a flat rate % of the transaction, so it doesn't matter if it is 50p or £500 they're still paying the same %

You don't need a business bank account to get a card reader. You can go into Rymans and buy a SumUp card reader to link to your personal bank account, or vet an izettle card reader from PayPal

Hard no-cash rules disadvantage the most marginalized - children, beggars, people (mainly women and girls) under coercive control or typically policed by a relative, people who rely on tips or handouts, and people who don't have enough money, an address, or ID to open a bank account - or who can't afford to open more than one and are left without options if their one account/card is compromised or has technical difficulties. Also international travellers, who get dinged for transation and conversion fees with every 90p tap. By all means, have cash-free options for people who want it, but there are also reasons to resist it.

🥱

There are lots of no-fee international cards (Wise, Monzo, Revolut) that just charge inter-bank exchange rates, so international travellers aren't inhrently getting screwed.

There are equally well lots of credit cards that will give you cashback or rewards for spending money using them - these rewards are paid out of the merchant fees that the vendors pay for accepting cards.

If your bank is worth anything they'll enforce multi-factor authentication, so anyone who steals your phone won't be able to log in - plus of course you have a passcode/face/fingerprint lock on the phone so they won't be able to unlock it anyway. If you don't - come on now, it's 2023.

You're not interesting enough for the card processors or banks to care what you're spending money on. Cashless society is the way things are going. Cash is a pain to handle.

If you're worried about your card being stolen/ swiped, have you thought about using Apple Pay/ phone payments? They're more secure in that way especially if you have your phone locked with a passcode/ Face ID etc.

To be honest though you are probably worrying unnecessarily because most major banks will give you the money back if your card is stolen and used, as long as you report it as soon as you realise.

@JazbayGrapes You're actually more likely to lose money permanently if your wallet/ cash is stolen than if your card is stolen. No bank will reimburse you for lost cash.

1. You tell your phone provider and they instantly lock down your phone so it is completely useless to anyone who has stolen/ found it.
2. Some people have location services like 'find my iphone' so it can be tracked.
3. Most phones these days need Face ID or a fingerprint to unlock them, or at the very least a pass code.
4. Most banking apps have two factor authentication or a separate password to the phone unlock, so even if you got into the phone you couldn't get into the banking apps.

It's pretty secure.

If you're a sole trader working a market stall cash is a security risk and a logistical effort that you've got to factor in. If you're employing staff you have to pay them for the time it takes to balance the till, bank the cash, and to withdraw and set out the float at the beginning of the next shift.

@Flopsythebunny you do realise that you can pay cash into post offices?

Yeah not really seeing how it’s inconvenient. Personally if I’m going to a Gig or festival etc. I transfer money onto my Monzo card so if I misplace it or whatever it’s no big deal.

I find it inconvenient too and every transaction takes a fee.
Cash is cheaper for the buyer.
In protest I use more cash than ever ..

I got my dd a parent managed debit card at 13 because cash is is definitely not the preferred currency in our area. Some venues are specifically cashless, some stores just state a preference for cashless or only have one register that takes cash.

My friends a hairdresser she’s gone cashless
no trips to the bank
no carting cash about all day
no float for customers change
everything recorded makes book keeping easier

It has been recommended quite recently to not have your banking app on your phone because of people watching you put your password in and then stealing the phone, if you have biometric ID on your phone this is less likely to happen.

I don't keep the actual banking apps on my phone as I rarely use it, I use my iPad mainly, which is at home, I have never had to do any banking when I have been out as I just use cards. I only use credit cards for paying for things as I wouldn't want fraud on my bank account. I also use a different credit card for Amazon and PayPal as they can be hacked and you can lose access to that card. I obviously pay these credit cards off each month to not incur interest charges. I am fairly old so probably a bit more suspicious of technology than a younger person.

It is much more convenient but also discriminating against the very poor and potentially dangerous. It's mad to give banks and the government power to freeze your bank accounts if you do or say something they don't like? Seems a mad conspiracy theory until you realise they have already done this to others.

It has been recommended recently not to have banking apps on your phone as some people have had money stolen from their bank accounts so obviously all this multi factor authentication didn't work, best to keep all the apps on iPad and just use a phone for general stuff, not many people bank when they are at the pub or shopping.

Not for businesses.

OP My local community shop is cash only so there are some places still taking cash.

I generally keep about £200 at home anyway so I would have some cash without going to the cashpoint, I think cash stolen from the home is probably covered by house insurance but if the house was burgled that would probably be the least of my worries. I also keep about £20 in my purse

What? If this ever happened, just go on your banking app and lock your card.

Are you very elderly OP? Maybe someone ca. guide you on banking tech.

You may not know it has been stolen or lost immediately

I like the option of both. I don’t want my bank to know of EVERY transaction I make. That smacks of Big Brother.

I’d like the option of taking out cash and spending it how I like. I don’t want my entire financial life digitally tracked.

In my local shop, it’s a split of about 50/50 with cash and contactless payments.

I don’t know the last time I paid with cash! I can’t even remember my pin to take cash out 😂