Cash

I can't remember the last time I used cash other than to pay a tradesperson doing work in my home.

Every couple of months I get £20 of .50p coins from the bank. I like to tip my regular morning coffee haunt (and I'll always look for one of the picture / commemorative .50p's which I keep (not collect, just like to have them) although I've only ever had 1 or 2 out of 40 coins).

I'll tip cash to my hairdresser, that's about it. I've made a first appointment with a local chiropodist next week and was told over the phone she prefers cash payment but will take cards if she has to. Immediately my head went to money laundering / tax avoidance.

I also get suspicious when I see cash only businesses.

I would have said we should ditch cash so that all purchases/services/whatever are traceable and as a way of ending tax dodging.

But then there’s the whole Post Office thing. We’re really not good at all at IT systems.

Where do you live in London because this has certainly not been my experience!

I think usage of cash has been increasing recently partly because of the Keep Cash campaign as well as the rising cost of living.

Apparently in some parts of the country many businesses have been switching to cash only. And that obviously makes people there use cash more widely.

https://www.reddit.com/r/northernireland/comments/17oi9xf/i_absolutely_hate_all_these_businesses_going_cash/

www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/comments/u4yglm/why_has_every_local_takeaway_switched_to_cash_only/

I think it's very regional and demographic based.

Probably because they themselves don't use much cash they have not noticed the increase.

The cashless theaters will find if it continues to rise that people will start turning up more and more without a card on them.

In some European countries it is illegal in some circumstances for a bussiness to refuse to accpet cash but I am not sure it applies to the selling of ice cream at theaters

Furthermore the fact that the Keep Cash Campaign is on GB News doesn't mean it's not quite widely known about. It is discussed on social media, has been championed by at least one national newspaper, and by corporate entities like the Post Office, and several charities like Age UK, and the consumer organisation Which ?

Personally I heard about it because a bunch of their more militant supporters disrupted traffic on Hammersmith Broadway the other day.

Also of course GB News has quite a wide reach even though the high-status view is to disapprove of it and hope no-one is watching. Its news website has an audience of 8 million which is 16% of the population (BARB) and its TV News has a bigger audience than Sky News in some slots.

My sister runs a bakery/deli/coffee shop and still very much prefers cash. Yes, she has to make the occasional trip to get change but that is still cheaper than having to pay the transaction charges that come with every card payment.

She has a card machine and it is in regular use. But with cash she gets to keep all the income rather than giving a percentage/fixed to the service provider.

Yes, cards are very convenient. But small traders with relatively low margins do notice the extra costs that card transactions bring particularly with lower average spends per customer.

I find it very hard to believe that businesses are switching to cash only. Unless you're a very small business or a market trader, cutting off people who use card or contactless is 1. cutting your potential revenue 2. will attract attention from HRMC.

I think if the issue with rejecting card payments is the transaction fees, then that's the fight we should be fighting! Greedy banks and other companies taking larger cuts from transactions even from smaller traders.

As for carrying cash? I don't, really. I have maybe a fiver at most in my wallet just in case, a little emergency cash in my house should my card get stolen or have to be suddenly cancelled, but aside from that I never use it.

And those that do insist on using it everywhere? Why? Why are you withdrawing so much cash and carrying it around with you? If it gets stolen it's gone! A card can be cancelled and subsequent transactions can be flagged as fraudulent. Cash is just gone!

I even find the argument from some that it helps them keep track of their spending to be odd. Does it? I suppose it limits what you can spend, but using a card will mean that you can see a real-time list of recent transactions whenever you want, so you know exactly what you're spending and where you've spent it. With cash what are you doing? going through handfuls of paper receipts?

Contactless is great but can be a pain if you're working on a till. So many customers tap their cards and casually wander off before waiting for the transaction to be approved. If it says "insert card" or is declined, you literally have to go chasing after them.