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!

It is in case of cyber-attacks. You can always choose not to follow the advice. I don't understand why this annoys you.

My hairdresser doesn't take card although I can balance transfer, I always get a receipt tbf. Their building gets absolutely no signal so got rid of their card reader.

Yep, visiting the BOE every few years is a regular activity for people who keep cash in the attic.

Cash has not been effectively eradicated.

Well for starters it hasn’t been eradicated, but how would you feel if the government hadn’t issued this advice and then a cyber attack left you without the means to buy food ?

I use cash all the time in shops, the only one who doesn’t take cash where I live is Gail’s.

Just get some cash out and keep it somewhere for an emergency. It's not hard

Yer another of these threads where quite simply, if you don't want to do it, don't do it...? No one is forcing you to, equally if people wish to, they can.

AIBU to be a bit annoyed the UK Goverment is now asking us to keep cash

Yes.

Where it’s otherwise been effectively eradicated.

It hasn't everywhere.

If you find any old notes, just go to your bank and pay into your account. You can also do it at the new banking hubs.

Where I live in rural Wales cash is still very much in everyday use and we keep a cash reserve at home as a matter of course. I always have cash in my purse for things like local market stalls or small purchases. You obviously live in an urban area, but plenty of people still don't.

I just love MN overreactions - 'eradicated' - since when was cash eradicated 😂

We always keep cash as DS gets paid cash in hand - I have never had any issue paying in cash in retailers. If they are cashless then more fool them!

It just seems to be that by some, it has to be questioned to exhaustion, when most adults can just decide yes, or no.

In a world where only cash works because "everything" has gone down, what use would a phone or payment card be ?

😎

I am very familiar with how retail business works.

yes, every card transaction has fees ( which are always negotiable), so to does paying money into the bank. Of which there are limits on too. Plus the time involved. Paying in cash costs more than the transaction fees on cards.

It's not really about encouraging people to use cash day to day. The advice is for emergencies, such as a major cyber attack or a banking/payment system outage. If card networks, ATMs or banking systems were temporarily unavailable, having a small amount of cash at home could help you buy essentials until services were restored.

Cash certainly hasn't been eradicated. Around 19% of UK retail transactions are still made in cash, with about 81% being cashless. So it's far less common than it used to be, but millions of people still use it regularly.

The government isn't demanding that people keep cash. It's simply suggesting that households consider holding a small amount as part of basic emergency preparedness, much like keeping a torch, batteries or a few days' worth of essentials. Whether people choose to do that is entirely up to them.

The government won't come to your house to inspect it and fine you for not keeping cash. If you don't want to keep cash - don't do it

@SpringDreams26 I really don't understand your attitude anymore.

Of course the co-op can take cash without a till working. They can write down sales. Yes it would be long but no reason they can't do it. I went to a small hardware store that did that when there till was down.

If you are completely stocked up with everything then you won't need cash for a few days to a week. However, if you have forgotten one thing then you might need cash. If £50 is enough to keep your family going for a few days to a week then great.

Earlier you complained about not having enough money to have some cash at home. Now you are saying you took out £10k in Covid. I don't know anyone else at all that did that (or took out any cash).

I don't get you - if you were that extreme last time why is it is such an inconvenience this time you need to make a thread?

Swimming lessons etc can all take cash if there is no alternative. If they don't currently that's a choice not a requirement.

It's a while since I've been in Starbucks but last time I was there a friend tried to pay cash and I entered up having to get her drink on my card.

We had to get our kids bank cards as the buses stopped accepting it, not sure if this is still the case.

We discovered center parcs is completely card only when we sent our kids off with some change to get an ice cream and they came back empty handed.

I see lots of local companies with cash preferred signs and I try to keep some with me for these.

If you want a thriving local economy then stop paying cash, you aren’t helping them run an efficient business, its costing them more!

interesting thread because its obvious that every part of soceity needs to 'be ready' right? as PPs said, if the shops cant accept cash currently then they need to have contigency plans. We were chatting about this and said we would keep enough to buy flights back home (we're expats) but thats assuming you would even be able to buy travel back and that air traffic won't be grounded. It is a minefield and I think good that this advice is making people think.
I think having physical docs, contacts, numbers etc just in case you cant google was one of the best suggestions and embarassed that I had that 'emergency list' only on my google drive!!

I keep some cash hidden in the sun visor in my car. Handy when I've left the house with just my phone and no purse and the phone battery is down to 1%.

Why can people not grasp that they are not being asked to prepare for the apocalypse. The chances of everything going down at once - water, electric, utilities is close to zero.

The chances of a targeted cyber attack or storm damage causing short term but serious disruption are significant & as we don't know which one will happen when it's sensible to be prepared

Some cash, some food & water, a torch & some batteries will cover most bases.

The what aboutery is just silly.

If payment systems went down & you had no cash because you thought that would be useless in the apocalypse then you will be stuck & then also potentially putting a strain on the overstretched emergency responders.

How so?

If they buy goods for sale, it's quite likely they pay for them in cash.

They may further reduce the amount of cash they have to bank by taking personal drawings in cash to use for groceries and other personal spending. This could still all still be above board and declared.

They could use downtime within the business to count and bank takings or drop it into a safety deposit box on the way home.

Leaving a minority of the cash taken into the business to be banked and attract fees.

Many card processing fees are a fixed amount, which can eat significantly into the profit from a small sale.

I always carry cash but I have been in shops where the electronic till is down and they stopped trading they would not take cash
Last xmas eve in a pub the till went down the staff said they cannot take cash so everyone left