Being asked to keep cash?

[SpringDreams26]

AIBU to be a bit annoyed the UK Goverment is now asking us to keep cash, where it’s otherwise been effectively eradicated.

I never carry cash and numerous places don’t accept it anylonger!

No, because small businesses see the cost of paying by card more than the larger businesses. There is a fee for every card transaction.

Absolutely outrageous that a place thinks it can refuse to accept legal tender.

If 20 million households draw out 100 quid cash and store it, that's 2 billion.

You’d have to work out dependent on your circumstances.

No set sum is going to cover everyone. I have 4 kids at home and 3 adults so I’ll need a fair chunk more to cover basic bread/milk/etc than someone who lives by themselves.

If society has broken down to the extent that cash becomes mandatory, then obviously the security around cash will need to be considered.

Or am I genuinely the only person who can imagine a bunch of criminals (who hadn't bothered keeping cash) just relieving others of their cash ? Starting with the most vulnerable.

I wonder if the supermarkets have contingency plans for electronic payment/electricity going down? The price isn’t written on the product anymore so would need to figure that out first and would take forever! Small corner shops would be ok if they have old school tills but I wonder if, given how society seems to be these days, there would just be a panic looting!

We took out £10k at the start of Covid and the bank were really reluctant to allow us to have it. What realistically am I going to do with £50? That can’t wait 3 days. It’s frustrating because you’re discourses from accepting cash as a business - I run a small business and have had 2 cash payments in almost a year. Only last week did a customer need an invoice raising for £2.

Exactly be a nightmare. They won’t be able
to open.

But you don't have to do anything it is just advice but if you need to buy milk, food or whatever if there is a cyber attack then you will be stuck. I don't know why you took out 10k in cash but I can see why the bank were iffy about it

I don’t understand why people don’t have cash in the house.
I pay my window cleaner in cash,I tip in cash,I pay for takeaways with cash where possible.

I run a business and always accept cash and I think people need to continue to keep it in circulation.
cashless is NOT the way to go as a country for many many reasons I don’t need to explain

I one got caught out a few years ago in a supermarket where all their systems went down and everyone had trollies full of shopping they had to abandon as they didn’t carry cash and the cashpoints outside had also gone down.

I now always make sure I have enough cash in my purse for a food shop plus fuel in an emergency.

tha e same things happened a few times since but I’ve been able to pay with cash.

Where I work if the tills go down we can’t even take cash! We’ve no way of scanning stock/putting shopping through the till. The company has no back up plan for that.

Exactly!

I always keep £500 in cash in the house for situations which may arise.

Maybe the company will prepare one now?

If you don't have cash, you will need to barter.

How can you prepare ? You'd need to make sure people can do the basic arithmetic of addition and subtraction for a start. Because a lot can't.

I guess calculators could be used - battery powered. But even then you still have to know how to use one. And I wouldn't stake my life on that.

And (see previous) I would worry that when the local scrotes realise there is a good chance of a few folding fivers in more houses, they will act accordingly.

Telling people to keep cash at home. What could possibly go wrong ?

What’s wrong with cash?

I guess customers/staff would have to go back to mental arithmetic (or calculators) to add up the cost of the shopping. Notes and coins could just be collected in a tin/box until things improved.

we don’t have a local corner shop. Only co-ops which are all digitalised and won’t be able to accept cash as their tills won’t work.

YABU. Having cash is a standard part of emergency preparations in Australia. Cash means that you can buy goods like milk, bread or a meal, bagged ice to keep your perishables cold, fuel for your car, medicines, and more.

You might find that a lot of small businesses like corner shops have a generator to use during electricity outages, so they’ll be able to open up and sell. When we had power out for days due to flooding electricity restoration was prioritised for businesses so people could buy fresh products like milk and ice.

It’s a bit of cash. Get some out, preferably in smaller notes and not just one or two large ones, write on the front of it “cash for emergency” and store it in your kitchen junk drawer, or with spare batteries, or with your wind up radio, then forget about it.

Husband works in retail. It’s all controlled at distribution centre/back office not in store. They won’t know how.

so you are supporting them in not declaring their takings.

Too easily stolen.

I guess customers/staff would have to go back to mental arithmetic

Yeah. Good luck with that.

"I don't like having cash around the place". What did you do before using a card for everything? It's not around the place its just maybe a small envelope which could be hidden anywhere in the house, it's not like it is going to be on show on the window sill or similar.
I always keep cash for small purchases up to about £10 and nobody would find my stash in the house no matter how long you looked for it and my son knows where it is if I die tomorrow.