It’s cash folks…

[xvivalve]

Use it, or lose it!

https://youtu.be/j7lpltSLA4Q

[soe8m]

Old news...

Jeroen

[xvivalve]

It's only just hitting the fringe here, not on mainstream news as far as I'm aware

[cliftyhanger]

I don't have too many issues wit the way it is going.
I regularly pay in reasonable cash sums into teh bank, but as counter service is disappearing, it is often by machine which asks no questions. Same for cheques, though they are very very rare these days.

What is being hit will be the black economy. And probably the reasons for the push towards cashless.
When I had some work done on our house, I got the disting feeling a lot of the workers were ion low wages in cash, but being supported by the state. Nothing conclusive, but from talking to them etc.

Some of the builders I have used on projects have refused cash payments at all, too much grief.
I bet taxi drivers are paying rather more tax now most pay via card... so there is hope that it will result in a fairer taxation system where some people actually pay their fair share.

[Bumpa]

Here's a case in point. I was doing front-of-house duties at the local theatre last night, and one of the things I was doing was trying to sell programmes. Quite a few people said they would buy a programme but then wanted to pay by their phone, and of course being a small theatre with extremely limited resources they can't possibly give a reading gadget to every programme seller. I can't see a cashless society working at any point in the near future.

[xvivalve]

I don't have too many issues wit the way it is going.
I regularly pay in reasonable cash sums into teh bank, but as counter service is disappearing, it is often by machine which asks no questions. Same for cheques, though they are very very rare these days.

What is being hit will be the black economy. And probably the reasons for the push towards cashless.
When I had some work done on our house, I got the disting feeling a lot of the workers were ion low wages in cash, but being supported by the state. Nothing conclusive, but from talking to them etc.

Some of the builders I have used on projects have refused cash payments at all, too much grief.
I bet taxi drivers are paying rather more tax now most pay via card... so there is hope that it will result in a fairer taxation system where some people actually pay their fair share.

Can't disagree with any of that, though I do still insist on personal service by a human at banks, supermarkets etc. Automation is all well and good (except it destroys employment opportunities) until something goes wrong which needs sorting out, or you have a peculiar 'non-standard' transaction to make which the machine hasn't been programmed for...

BUT (yes, that's a big but)

You only need look at how folk can then be controlled by access to your credit being limited or withdrawn entirely; say the wrong thing, have a counter opinion, befriend the wrong person, refuse the wrong injection etc etc and in the dystopian future of Programable Central Bank Digital Currency your liberties are curtailed. Trudeau did this earlier in the year with the Canadian truckers, forcing the banks to freeze not only their assets, but also anyone else who assisted them!

I have never used contactless payment, use cash wherever I can, and have stood in Sainsburys demanding they open a till when none were with the threat of having a trolley full of goods for them to put back on the shelves. I'm already in a minority, but when the inevitable happens, I certainly won't have been a facilitator. Sitting at the bar in the local some months back watching the rugby on the widescreen, I noticed I was about the only person in a packed pub paying for beer with cash; most refused the offered receipt and few if any gave the terminal a second glance before tapping it with their card or 'phone, madness!

As for theatre programmes, they'll soon be digitally supplied to an app on your 'phone after digital payment, removing the need for a human programme seller, the cost of printing them and the livelihood of the print shop that makes them. When all the jobs at the banks, the supermarkets and printers have gone, who'll be able to afford the luxury of a theatre visit anyway?

Being hassled by a 7 year old recently at the motorway services as she wanted a 'ride' in the 'postman pat' van, I demonstrated I didn't have the correct coinage in my pocket, only to be shown by her that it took card payments...for a 30p ride!!

[geeksteve]

being a small theatre with extremely limited resources they can't possibly give a reading gadget to every programme seller

How many sellers do they have? You can get readers for about £20 now, they probably spend that much on a uniform..

I've not used cash since shortly before covid kicked off, and whenever I get given any it's mostly an inconvenience!

Steve

[cliftyhanger]

being a small theatre with extremely limited resources they can't possibly give a reading gadget to every programme seller

How many sellers do they have? You can get readers for about £20 now, they probably spend that much on a uniform..

I've not used cash since shortly before covid kicked off, and whenever I get given any it's mostly an inconvenience!

Steve

Business owners like card payments as, unlike cash, it doesn't go missing.
The Canadian truckers issue is interesting, but for many years the authorities have been able to freeze bank accounts. So unless you have cash under the mattress you are still stuffed.

And yes, when I have done charity collections, we are all issued with card readers. Its the future. In fact using yoiur phone as a card reader is the future, just as so many use their phone to pay rather than carry a card.

If too worried, buy some gold coins. I jest not, tuck some away in a safe place.

[xvivalve]

...but for many years the authorities have been able to freeze bank accounts

They have, under very special circumstances, usually criminal ones and in the UK it requires a court order, not just at the whim of an authoritarian official for someone having a different opinion or being slightly dissident.

As cash disappears, the 'gold standard' will become less relevant; as for possession by the individual it will only have value whilst it can be sold.

I can't fathom a concept of cash being 'inconvenient'? As it is currently almost universally accepted, I find it most convenient. If it's that much of an inconvenience to you, I'll happily take it away for you

[sprint95m]

Confession time…

I am one of they dinosaurs who only uses cash.
Never done the contactless thing.
Don’t like Direct Debits so avoid if I can


For remote transactions I do have a credit card and I destroyed the PIN notification
without learning the number, deliberately removing the option of paying by card.


For businesses, the charges for accepting card payments are eye watering….



Ian

[xvivalve]

I’ve disabled the contactless function on the cards I have which allow it.

I used to go watch rugger at Worcester Warriors, but the catering and bar is now contactless only, so I no longer go. I hear they’re now in financial trouble…

[Steve28]

I use cash mostly but do also use cards when i choose too and when that choice is taken away from me i stop going there or using them like the local chip shop has now gone to card only so i now go elsewhere, but if cash is legal tender how are they allowed to refuse it ?

[cliftyhanger]

I use cash mostly but do also use cards when i choose too and when that choice is taken away from me i stop going there or using them like the local chip shop has now gone to card only so i now go elsewhere, but if cash is legal tender how are they allowed to refuse it ?

Nobody has to sell you anything. So if you won't pay by card, they can refuse to sell you your dinner.
But expect it to become more common as cash handling becomes more of an issue for businesses, especially small ones. Banks are getting harder and harder to use. I can't easily pay in coins anywhere now. I think cash use will slowly decline, in he same way cheques are almost extinct. (I haven't written a cheque for several years)

[dollyman]

I am a cash only person most of the time, i went into a cafe for a breakfast and a coffee. Went to pay when i finished and they said sorry card only! But i only have cash... They reluctantly accepted it but another place i won't be visiting again.
Cash is here to stay..... What if you sell some parts to someone you don't know? I don't do online banking or even wish to

Tony.

[Mad Mart]

I must admit I rarely use cash & rarely have any cash on me these days. I do most of my purchases online and make or receive payments by bank transfer or PayPal.