Cash

[Phantom of London]

So when was the last time you put your hand in your pocket and pulled a wad of notes out and bought a theatre ticket? I suspect years.

So why this thread? With the majority of transactions done on plastic these days, should cash be abolished? With so many different platforms to pay now including mobile phone (which I don’t trust).

For me cash is a dirty thing, you don’t know who has handled it before and if they wash their hands, how many different pair of hands does this cash pass through.

Also I find it very attractive in that it would stop cash a lot of crimes, backhanders and also will make tax avoidance and tax evasion impossible.

So do I still go up to the ATM, I certainly do, but it is a lot less often than I did say 5 years ago. The first cashless pub opened late last year, which is a great idea!

www.mirror.co.uk/money/welcome-first-pub-britain-doesnt-13266099

[Deleted]

Apr 14, 2019 18:48:25 GMT Phantom of London said:

So when was the last time you put your hand in your pocket and pulled a wad of notes out and bought a theatre ticket? I suspect years.

So why this thread? With the majority of transactions done on plastic these days, should cash be abolished? With so many different platforms to pay now including mobile phone (which I don’t trust).

For me cash is a dirty thing, you don’t know who has handled it before and if they wash their hands, how many different pair of hands does this cash pass through.

Also I find it very attractive in that it would stop cash a lot of crimes, backhanders and also will make tax avoidance and tax evasion impossible.

So do I still go up to the ATM, I certainly do, but it is a lot less often than I did say 5 years ago. The first cashless pub opened late last year, which is a great idea!

www.mirror.co.uk/money/welcome-first-pub-britain-doesnt-13266099

This. I absolutely can not stand it when people put coins in their mouth. ERGH. The thought of it. It used to be the done thing as 'the trick' for fixing coins that machines wouldn't accept. I want to be sick just thinking about it.
I don't actively deal with cash anymore, unless its given to me as PDs in work, or say if I'm going half's with someone for food/takeout somewhere.

[dippy]

Not long ago, 4th of March, last thing I saw, Company, definitely not years ago!

Cash definitely shouldn't be abolished, I by far prefer using cash to using a card for buying things, especially theatre tickets! Not having a record of exactly how much you spent on going to the theatre is a nice thing.

[Deleted]

Good idea for a thread,Sir
I’ll get the ball rolling with my two pennorth (pun intended)
My issue is with the new notes that have a plasticy(is that a word?)feel and are difficult/impossible to fold and always seem to want to escape my pockets.Don’t use a wallet as they always feel too bulky in my suits.
Contactless payment is a great idea in my opinion.Not sure what the point of small change is anymore to be honest.I buy most of my theatre tickets online these days.

[alece10]

I think it depends on the generation you come from and probably in 20 or so years time cash will be almost non existant.
Currently a lot of older people would not want to go cashless. Many don't even have a bank card or credit card and many who have them don't like using them.
I always have cash on me but pay for most things by card. But I wouldn't use a card for small transactions like a packet of sweets, theatre programme, ice cream etc. Dont know why but just doesn't seem right to me. My rule of thumb is under £5 then pay by cash.
I think cheque books will cease to exist before cash.

[Deleted]

I mainly use a debit card these days but I keep a supply of cash for four reasons:

1) Parking meters.

2) Tips when I've had a meal. Some PIN Entry Devices allow the addition of a gratuity, but if they don't I have to use cash.

3) Small transactions. Bank charges make it uneconomical for small businesses to accept low-value card payments so it's cash or go without. (I suspect anyone attempting to pay by cheque would get a withering "Seriously?")

4) Equipment failure. There are so many possible points of failure between a PED and the bank that it's inevitable you'll eventually find yourself with a card payment that won't work, so it's always worth having enough cash on hand to cover any reasonable sum you're likely to have to pay.

The thing that stopped me using cash was that I kept on ending up with low-value coins that I couldn't be bothered to count out when buying something, so bit by bit they accumulated. When I eventually got around to taking them to the bank I had (IIRC) nearly 8 kg of small change.

[talkingheads]

Apr 14, 2019 19:24:35 GMT @thematthew said:

2) Tips when I've had a meal. Some PIN Entry Devices allow the addition of a gratuity, but if they don't I have to use cash.

Another good reason for cash in this instance, as you can be sure it goes to the waiter or server. If you add it to the bill paying by card it is likely to just go into the boss's pocket rather than the waiter

[Deleted]

I'm like Her Maj, I don't carry cash anymore.

I like tapping away. I also like contactless too. Fnar.

[Jon]

I think a cashless society is inevitable, I wonder we'll see the likes of AliPay or WeChat Pay in the UK.

[kimbahorel]

Apr 14, 2019 18:48:25 GMT Phantom of London said:

So when was the last time you put your hand in your pocket and pulled a wad of notes out and bought a theatre ticket? I suspect years.

So why this thread? With the majority of transactions done on plastic these days, should cash be abolished? With so many different platforms to pay now including mobile phone (which I don’t trust).

For me cash is a dirty thing, you don’t know who has handled it before and if they wash their hands, how many different pair of hands does this cash pass through.

Also I find it very attractive in that it would stop cash a lot of crimes, backhanders and also will make tax avoidance and tax evasion impossible.

So do I still go up to the ATM, I certainly do, but it is a lot less often than I did say 5 years ago. The first cashless pub opened late last year, which is a great idea!

www.mirror.co.uk/money/welcome-first-pub-britain-doesnt-13266099

Because of certain situation I can't at the moment or have I ever had a debit or credit card. I mean I can't do a lot of things including going to see shows you can only book with a card. I have bought every ticket for shows at box office or tkts in cash. My life is cash. I work in a shop and average 30% of our sales are cash. I doubt very much if it would be applicable unless banking changed dramatically that we would ever be cashless. You would have to ensure EVERYONE had access to some sort of card and no ID (like homeless and a small % of people who have had problems and can't get ID like passport/DL).

[Tibidabo]

Apr 14, 2019 18:48:25 GMT Phantom of London said:

For me cash is a dirty thing, you don’t know who has handled it before and if they wash their hands, how many different pair of hands does this cash pass through.

Oh, I'd say roughly the same number as those who have touched the card machine keypad before it's your turn.🤮🤮

[Jon]

You only have to look at China to see that it’s entirely possible to go cashless. You can’t stop progress and I think much like the digital switchover or Decimalisation, it’ll be governments that decide when to phase out cash.

[Deleted]

It's like cheques; they were going to phase them out all together but a surprising number of people still use them, including (though not limited to) some of the more vulnerable members of society, so they backpedalled on that plan. I can very easily imagine a huge rise in establishments that will only take card or contactless phone payments, but I think cash will still always be there, in the same way that radio-cinema-television-internet have all failed to kill off books.

[Backdrifter]

Apr 14, 2019 18:48:25 GMT Phantom of London said:

For me cash is a dirty thing, you don’t know who has handled it before and if they wash their hands, how many different pair of hands does this cash pass through.

When you are out and about in public do you wear disposable gloves and carry disinfectant with you, while wearing a surgical mask, to avoid all the germs, dirt, skin flakes, mites, snot, phlegm, urine and other bodily fluids that exist on every single object and surface you come into contact with and inhale with every breath?!

[Deleted]

I just looked up "China cashless society" out of interest. The article that enthuses about how the entire country is going completely cashless is largely behind a paywall, so I read this article instead: foreignpolicy.com/2018/09/11/china-cant-afford-a-cashless-society/

[Jon]

Apr 14, 2019 22:54:40 GMT @baemax said:

I just looked up "China cashless society" out of interest. The article that enthuses about how the entire country is going completely cashless is largely behind a paywall, so I read this article instead: foreignpolicy.com/2018/09/11/china-cant-afford-a-cashless-society/

There's ton of videos on it from various news organisations like CNN and the Wall Street Journal. This is a very interesting non news based one from Mamahuhu, 

[Deleted]

Apr 14, 2019 22:13:01 GMT Jon said:

You only have to look at China to see that it’s entirely possible to go cashless. You can’t stop progress and I think much like the digital switchover or Decimalisation, it’ll be governments that decide when to phase out cash.

I can see the headlines in the year 3056: A reluctant Britain (formerly Great Britain) becomes the last country in the world to abandon physical cash in exchange for digital transactions.

[jamb0r]

I don't think I've used cash at all so far in 2019. No transaction amount is too small - bought a banana yesterday for 25p on my AmEx.

[Mark]

Apr 15, 2019 8:02:17 GMT jamb0r said:

I don't think I've used cash at all so far in 2019. No transaction amount is too small - bought a banana yesterday for 25p on my AmEx.

Onion. 8p Amex!

[Stasia]

In Russia I still need cash for buses, small outdoor shops/stalls. And also pretty much everything may accidentally be "sorry we do not accept cards at the moment please pay in cash only".
I used to bring cash only to the UK due to the currency exchange rate fluctuations: at least with cash, I knew exactly how much money I have. But this year I got a GBP account meaning I can convert rubles into pounds and then just change the account I'm paying from when I'm arriving in the UK. It is actually much easier to pay with Apple Pay everywhere, and it feels like in London you can actually survive without cash. In Moscow, you can do that as well but I live 20 km outside Moscow and our town buses are still behind the progress.

[TallPaul]

Apr 14, 2019 18:48:25 GMT Phantom of London said:

make tax avoidance...impossible.

Why would you want to make tax avoidance impossible? Not only is it perfectly legal, but often actively encouraged by HM Treasury.

Anyone with an ISA or private pension is avoiding tax, as is any couple that transfers personal allowances between themselves.

Incidentally, your beloved Caffe Nero hasn't paid any corporation tax for 12 years.

[anita]

I usually use cash.Not everyone has a smartphone. I no longer have any mobile.

[Deleted]

What bothers me about all this talk of cashless societies is that nobody tackles the issue of what happens when the technology fails. A purely electronic payment system needs to work 100% of the time, because if it only works 99.99% of the time then that's tens of thousands of failed transactions every day. It's easy to have a payment system that works reliably in a city, but you also need it to work when your car is almost out of fuel and you're at the only petrol station for miles (in Scotland, for example) and someone's just dragged a backhoe through the phone line.

You need a fallback. "Sucks to be you, then" is not a fallback.

[latefortheoverture]

I always where possible use cash.

I have bank accounts and cards that are all active and I use them when buying tickets and bits online, but whenever in public I 99% of the time use cash. I do use my card when on the tube as I find it easier.

Bear in mind I'm not old, I fall into the *post-millennial* category. And as said before technology fails all the time, last year when all VISA's went down at one of my busiest events!!!! I wouldn't hesitate to say many thousands at the event were stuck without cash- their cards wouldn't work at all! I have apple pay in my phone and I'd say out of the few times I've used it, it hasn't worked and I end up paying cash. In my mind things are good just now. Cashless technology is advancing, good, but also having the common sense to realise tech can't be trusted, and have something to fall back on.

I think every person, no matter their age will have a different take on this issue.

[NeilVHughes]

Primarily cashless, will carry a £20 note as a backup, nowadays only have a 4 slot credit card holder as no longer need to a bulky wallet, my card, photo ID and a £20 is all that I usually have on me with my phone acting as a backup if I have any issues with my card.

Have an aversion to loose change, if I use cash and get some change will put to one side when I get home, hate the £xx.99 pricing as usually have a horde of coppers which are a pain to get cashed and too small to be useful currency.

Noticed my behaviour is changing have been known to move on from cafe’s and pubs that are not cashless and will eat at places that do not require a tip as unsure whether it can be added to the bill.