Cash - am I out of touch?

[Anewuser]

AIBU thinking I should still be able to use cash?

I accept that most places, and people, find it easier using cards but shouldn’t you still be able to use cash occasionally?

Went out for lunch the other day. The bill came to over £100 but as it was something planned, I had cash. The pub said whilst they can take cash, they don’t give change. Since when was this a thing.

At work, when people get married/have babies/leave etc, we do a collection. You always used to stick your contribution in a pot or envelope but now you have to do it online. Not everyone gives now because it’s obvious how much they’ve contributed.

AINBU, that I should still occasionally be able to use cash or AIBU cash has had its day.

It's also easy to budget using banking apps, given its all written down for you

Nor mine. Not knowingly anyway. I'd see it as them being very presumptuous in trying to keep money that should rightfully be returned to me.

OK, if the bill came to £95 and I gave them £100 then I might say that they could keep the change by way of a tip, but it has to be my own decision, because it is my money and I decide what to do with it, not them.

The majority of these things I do actually pay by card, but on the odd occasion I don't then I expect correct change to be given before I decide what to do with it.

We have two bus companies running in the County. One only takes cash, the other only takes cards. Tourists don't know what's going on.
It's interesting that in Countries that have experienced serious State control over people's lives, for example ex Soviet Countries, the use of cash is much more pravalent. They have experienced what the state does with data and are much more concerned with privacy. We have not experienced that so don't have it as a major concern. But card use is used to track people all the time by the police and investigative agencies.

Be aware that revelut are not covered by the usual financial protection schemes and are thus a favourite of scammers.

@NoisySnail you are quite right. It is my card of last resort!

I found in Greece that away from the main tourist resorts, places often had poor wifi connectivity so we needed cash.

This was a massive issue for my late father during Covid and the time post Covid before he died. He didn’t have a bank account. He had a building society account with passbook and took cash out weekly. He had no cards at all. He didn’t have internet either. He had a smart tv but never actually got to use the smart functions. He didn’t have a mobile phone. His landline wasn’t even portable. There were places he had to stop visiting as they wouldn’t accept cash. He didn’t cook - had no school working kitchen appliances other than a microwave and kettle - so he would eat out every day for lunch. He’d keep a load of bread and use that with tinned soup for meals or tinned stew. I did his shopping and he paid me back in cash. I ended up having to deposit cash when I could get to a bank but that wasn’t always possible with my working hours. Lots of banks have closed or are open funny hours. I used to be able to deposit cash into a cash machine outside the bank but they changed that to withdrawals only and you would have to go inside the bank to use a different on to deposit. Only open between 9-3 which isn’t much use for a teacher.

It is a shame. I use cash for our weekly church collection but some do have a direct debit. I used to tip my hair dresser in cash but I don’t always have cash on me now my dad is no longer alive. The only time I have cash is when my kids get random birthday/xmas/pocket money off a relative and they give it me so I can transfer them money to their bank account online. They prefer to use cash. Teens.

Although recently there was an issue in macdonalds when their systems went down and as we entered we were told cash only. Luckily you could also use the app and pay online via that bit some people left as they didn’t have cash or the app set up. Same with Sainsbury’s recently when their systems crashed too and they went to cash only and people were abandoning trollies. So cash IS still needed as an option.

Cash is freedom. The internet went down in Sainsbury's a few weeks ago, they were taking cash only. It was chaos . It's going to be more likely that card payment systems go down or are attacked by criminals for ransom as they become relied upon to the exclusion of other payment methods. Everyone should keep cash at home as a minimum. If the banks go bust or get hacked you won't be able to pay for anything and imagine the queues at the few remaining cash points in that scenario.

Plus every time you pay by card, visa plus possibly also Google or apple take a cut too. Pay by cash the recipient gets the lot. I know there are charges to handle cash too of course - but that's only if the recipient wants or needs that service, not a tax on every transaction.

Those talking about robberies of pubs etc, true but it must be vastly outnumbered by the amount of card fraud or online scams.

Was in a major city centre on Fri and had to visit 5 cash points before finding one that was working. It's a slippery slope

I rarely use cash now tbh but do keep say £20 in small change on me when I've been caught short for some carparks that wouldn't take card

I pay my window cleaner and hairdresser in cash. As a guider I also accept cash and cheques from the parents paying the terms subs. I do however also offer the parents the option to pay by transfer which most of them do. I also work in retail and we accept cash through the maned and self scan tills.

Well, why do you have an emergency tenner if nobody uses cash?

Cash costs money. Ironically. Banking and all that just takes time and money and hassle and risk - so most places go card only, easier for everyone in the end.

The problem is for businesses paying it in the bank. A lot of banks have closed so they have to travel further. Which means that member of staff is away from the business for longer.
I used to hate doing the banking, I was always worried I’d get mugged.

Most places do not go card only. The only place in the city I live in that is card only is Las Iguanas. There are more places cash only.
We do not all live in trendy areas in London.

Neither DH or I use cash and haven’t for years everything is paid on a credit card and paid off in full, we treat it like a debit card. Better protection plus we get points for various things or a small % odiferous money credited back.

Doing this means various attractions, hotels, ferries, car hire and hotels have been paid for over the years.

No change that's ridiculous what if the bill came to say 45.00 and you only had 10.00 pound notes their robbing you of five quid that might be nothing to some people but food for the weekend for others id cause a scene.

For emergencies?.

Wait for all these card users start moaning when we go completely cashless people have no idea what will happen.

Yes 😀. But if "nobody" uses cash it's pointless as nobody will accept it. However, most shops do accept cash!

Although if people keep using other forms of payment in the end cash might become obsolete. So if you want to be able to use your emergency tenner in an emergency it's best to also use cash in non- emergencies as well ( at least occasionally)!

Where I live is largely cashless, around 2% of transactions involve cash, and the majority of those are at the airport. Its great never needing cash.

I'm a cash person. I really don't want to see a cashless society. Plus, I think it helps to manage your money better if you physically have it in your hand, rather than the constant card tapping.
I have noticed pubs often come at you with the card reader without asking if you're paying card. But I've never been told, we don't give change! (Yet, anyway!) I think if I would underpay them rather than overpay them if they did this. So if the bill was £93 and they wouldn't give change, I'd just give them £90 rather than £100. Who do they think they are, thinking they can just keep people's money like that!- outrageous! We need to stand up to this sort of nonsense!

@Simonjt that is extraordinarly low. The national average is 17%.

A good way of bullying people to go cashless is to accuse them of being criminals if they only want to deal in cash.

I can live without going in either if those places

So what you're saying is we need to keep our money under the bed?