It's just not possible to live without a debit card, annoyingly.

[Anonymousmam]

I lost my debit card, couldn't find it. Froze it and ordered a new one.
Then I got weird messages from my bank to ask me if I'd authorised payments to loan companies, phone companies and Microsoft. No, I hadn't. Turns out my new debit card has probably been stolen en route to my house. So in total I will have been without a debit card for 2 weeks. What a bloody nightmare it's been. I don't have another debit card or credit card to fall back on.

1. I can't put fuel in my car in the middle of the night when doing an emergency hospital run. 7 miles left in the tank once I'd left A&E and the only 3 petrol stations in the area are pay at the pump. Thank heavens for the AA.
2. I can't pay cash in most tourist shops in London. Went to London for a day trip, took plenty of cash and couldn't use it to pay for souvenirs in 2 well known tourist gift shops, that really would me up. DS had his pocket money to spend and wasn't allowed to spend it.
3. Today I can't bloody pay for my DS's school dinners for next week, because their website only take debit or credit cards. I've requested bank details so I can do a bank transfer hopefully.

What the hell is the world coming to?
Since I lost my debit card I have started budgeting my cash into envelopes for bills, car, food etc. Now I'm thinking there's no point because I can't fill up the car using cash when I want to use cash.
I realise I'm probably ranting and it just takes a bit more planning but I'm so annoyed with the world that I have to use a piece of plastic everywhere I go. Does anyone else feel the same?

"I have never heard anyone used ‘advised’ rather than told, outside of corporate speak"

This is a totally normal & common way to use the word "advised".

It would help, when you cancel and order a new card the details will auto update to the new card whilst you are waiting for it to arrive.

I have a few different cards in my Google Pay, my main bank card, Revolut card and Monese card. It means I can easily switch between the 3 and I'm never left stuck if there's a problem with one account. I use plastic cards less than 3 or 4 times a year now.

@Luredbyapomegranate "It’s not phrasing I’ve heard outside of corporate speak no, which is what I said."

What a bizarre thing to say. Poster wasn't using some outlandish new word....advised is a completely normal part of vocabulary for most people.

"just get another card" is a simplification of the real issue about the disappearance of cash. Many, many people don't have access to debit cards, whether they are elderly, have learning disabilities or other reasons. I know someone who is very capable in many ways, but hasn't got a strong understanding of the value of money, so with a debit card she would spend everything in their account. Whereas with an allowance in cash every week she has spending completely under control. I find it very frightening for some people how the world is changing.

Also, the advice to add it to your phone wallet. My phone is only a couple of years old and doesn't have the ability to use to pay with. So that's advice coming from a position of privilege as well.

I totally agree with everything you say. Being forced to use plastic or a phone wallet is discrimination.

I've read the reviews about Google Pay and they are not good. So that's a no go.

If I hadn’t been with him, he’d have had no access to any money whilst on holiday

Which is why I have three cards that can be used fee free abroad.

Im reading this thread with interest because I only have one bank account, so I only have one card.

Do people that have a number of cards have several bank accounts?

I dont use any phone banking, so I wouldnt have a phone wallet even if I knew what that was

I left my purse somewhere and was without it for 2 weeks. Had no cards whatsoever. Didn’t miss it at all, I just used ApplePay. You should freeze your cards rather than stop them when you lose them and add your cards to your wallet on your phone. Frozen cards can still be used online and with mobile payments whereas stopped cards can’t.

I have several bank accounts. It’s very useful for moving money around and in situations where you lose a card!

I've only ever had one banking account but for years have also had a credit card that I use to pay for nearly everything, often via PayPal as an extra layer of security. I wouldn't ever be without a credit card, it's a much safer way of paying for things, especially for online transactions. I only use my debit card occasionally in person in a shop just so I remember the PIN and also so my Bank will send a new card when it expires as my Bank have told me they may not automatically renew my debit card if it hasn't been used in the previous six months.

However, I feel very strongly that people should still have the right to use cash and that shops should start accepting cash again as well as cards. Taking away the option to use cash feels like losing the right in how to manage our finances in our own way. It also means lots of people are disadvantaged and marginalised by not being able to use cash.

I have 2 joint accounts, a current account and a Tesco pay+ debit card. I load all my money into the Tesco cars because you get points clubcard points outwith Tesco - less than you get in Tesco but they add up all the same. I don't even know where the debit cards are for the joint accounts, they are money in and money out accounts so I just transfer the rest for spending. So 2 active debit cards and I use Apple Pay for one (Tesco won't work on it) so that's a choice of 3 payment methods.

For people who struggle with understanding/controlling money, they can have a debit card account and you just set up a regular weekly transfer of their "spending money" so that they can't spend more than their weekly allowance, which is basically the same as giving them a weekly allowance in cash. It's what we did with our son when he started secondary school as we were worried about him going mad and spending too much, or it getting stolen and us losing too much.

We've just done the same with my MIL who's got dementia. She hadn't a clue about money even before get got dementia, and had a weird/convoluted system where every week she went to one bank to draw out cash, which she then walked around to a different bank to pay most of it in, and kept back her "spending money" in cash for shopping, etc. Then when she had bills to pay, she'd take the payslips to another different bank where another pension was paid into to pay the bills over the counter. She hadn't a clue what she was doing nor how much she had in each account - it was all set up by her husband who died a decade ago, and she just carried on out of habit alone! Trouble was that she started losing the cash (she either randomly gave it away, was having it stolen or was hiding it in the house and then forgot!), so she was going to the bank to withdraw cash every other day, even though she never actually went anywhere to spend it - looking at her bank books, it was a few hundred pounds every 2-3 days!

We took control, got all her pensions paid into a single account, got all her household bills (utilities etc) set up for being paid by direct debit our of that same single account, and set her up a debit card where we set up a weekly standing order for what we thought she'd "need" for her shopping each week, and then taught her how to use the debit card. We were happy she couldn't overspend as it was a pretty low amount in the debit card account. We set that up a year ago, and it's worked perfectly, we had to "tweak" the standing order as she was starting to get low on funds as grocery prices started to rise, but she doesn't "lose" money anymore. It's now all very easy, just one account that she doesn't have easy access to (where monies are paid in and bills automatically paid out), and the debit card account for her weekly shopping. Even she says how easy it is and she can't work out why she had to spend so long going between banks every week!

You can buy a pre pay debit card at the post office that you top up.

I have my main account and a different basic account with a different branch incase something like this happens or similar. They are so easy to open online these days and only take a couple of minutes. Might be worth doing it so you can transfer money between the two etc.. it's been a life saver for me.

Yep. Lifesaver for me too when I had my purse stolen on holiday in Rome. I always keep a couple of cards back in the hotel room safe, so I just went back to the hotel, got the spare cards, and was back enjoying my holiday within an hour or so! I cancelled the stolen cards online via the banking apps before they could be used, so didn't lose out either and replacement cards were sat on my doormat when I got home a few days later! The only annoyance was the cash that was in my purse, which obviously was lost forever, but at least it wasn't much, just about 20-30 Euros in a few small notes and a bit of change as I never carry much cash anymore, due exactly to the risk of theft/loss of the purse!

I have 4 current accounts and 3 credit cards. I think only having one card is quite unusual.
I’m not sure if you actually need the banking app to use Apple/Google Pay but the card is accessed via Apple Wallet for iPhones (same as any tickets or loyalty cards you have saved), not through the banking app.

I have three accounts and two credit cards so never without a card of some sort.

It is pain how cash is being seemly phased out. My bank has closed all but three branches in my county ( one of the biggest counties) its only open 9-3 weekdays and up till midday at the weekend. Plus they never have change! Never!

Do I pay my sons tutor in cash and little kids get cash pocket money which I put in envelopes too now.

I get my cash from the arcades now when I visit the coast! Hence having to divy it up in envelopes. I also loose at least £5 in 2p's to my daughter at the same time.

Anyway, multiple accounts is also proving useful to move any savings straight out from my main current account

I agree. I would expect a bank to advise me, rather than tell me.

And yes you should be able to use cash if you want to, but covid has given lots of businesses the excuse to go card only. It's more secure for them and less hassle as they don't have to queue up in a bank.

Just wait until it's app-only payment though! When we were in Denmark recently we twice had to forego coffee because the coffee van didn't take cards! You could use cash (which we'd not bothered with) or an app.

You ask what the world is coming to, but it seems your real issue is that you don't really know how to do modern banking? It's not a world problem, its a you problem.

I still don't know what a phone wallet is. Is it just for Apple which may be why I have never heard of it?

raininsummer a wallet would be either ApplePay for iPhone or GooglePay for android. You simply add your cards to a secure app (called a wallet) and then you can just open the app, swipe to the card you want to use to pay and then tap your card on the contactless reader. I also have all my loyalty cards on there plus my football season ticket. If you get concert tickets you can add them too. I dont take a bag or even a purse with me these days, just my phone. The only problem is if you're out of range but that's only happened to me once.

You can also use it on the tube where you'd have previously tapped your card and mainline rail too.

Ah I am enlightened. Ty v much. Will have a look if it's for Android too.

Apple Pay. I ditched my purse about 4 years ago.