I thought this was interesting. A lot of people assume it is free to use cash but the lower overall usage and other expenses (coin sorting, counterfeit notes, transporting cash) mean card payments can be cheaper for retailers.
It’s always the same with every business owner. They just care about their needs. They could vote for parties that increase public spending, do away with austerity policies and abolish landlords, which would increase their customers’ spending power but basic social democracy is ‘communism’ apparently
Nope – Not going in on that propaganda.
Cash remains king.
My wife owns a small business. The cost of card fees is minimal (the fee works out to be around £5 on average for every £1000 taken by card). Given the cost of potential theft, time taken to bank the money, etc, it’s worth it. Anyone business who says cash is king is likely not paying tax.
I’ll use Cash just because ppl like you tell me I can’t
~~So take cards.~~
~~The “it costs more” isn’t really a valid argument not to when you’re complaining that cash handling costs you more money.~~
Read the article again.
This is charity shop owners asking **customers** to pay with cards, because it’s a lot cheaper for them.
The point about underreporting income stands though, if you consider that all those “cash only” shops are paying **more** in bank charges to not process cards.
Unless your real aim is to underreport your income of course.
Cash is a faff, but it’s also resilient in the face of cyberattacks or infrastructure failure. It’s also hard to monitor or control at scale, which the powers that be absolutely hate.
So keep using cash, or it’ll be gone when you need it.
“to pay by card which reduces that spend” – surprised as it’s the other way around for most places. Not sure what they want here – banks deal with less cash hence they close down branches and such – it costs more now to then bankf cash and such that’s just the way of the world and society changing. If you take cash you have to manage those costs. Every business is the same, it’s why some have removed it entirely because the costs of having someone cash up, get cash, drop off cash, change or pay a company to collect your takings adds up. Cash is still a valid form of payment – not sure there’s anything the government needs to do here
I refuse to buy from businesses that only take cash, not only is it inconvenient but they are almost certainly committing tax fraud and I do not wish to support that.
The excuse that it saves the business money doesn’t seem to hold up.
But all the old people keep telling me cash is king before making me count their loose change…
Whenever I have an evening meal out – I always pay in cash as it allows me to just provide a random and in the ballpark tip (e.g. sometimes its high, sometimes its low but if its one of my regular places it balances out over the long run). Does this make me a bad person?
The only bad thing is that all the payment processors are US based. We need a Great British Card or some such thing without paying a billion to Capita and getting naff all from it.
I would argue most of working age people who pay with cash – got this cash through types of engagement that avoid paying taxes. Aside from very very specific and rare situations – adult people shouldn’t be using cash. Looking at the length of queues in Asda/Lidl/Aldi to pay in cash I always wonder how many 100 bns get past taxman
Shops around these parts plea for cash instead of card
Then pass on the savings to people who pay with a card
Nobody benefits except businesses and you will be giving control of what you can buy to what visa and Mastercard allow you to buy.
Yes cash is more cumbersome and more expensive to deal with
However it’s also financial freedom – you can give it to a friend’s child in a birthday card, you can give it to a homeless person on the street. You do not need to prove who you are or have a bank account to use it
Cash is also the only thing that will keep you afloat when someone identity thefts you and sends your new bank cards to a different address whilst cancelling your old ones. How long can you function if you have ZERO access to your bank?
Cash is a pain. But it’s a necessary pain for the 1% of use cases where it’s absolutely needed.
Look at China with its credit scoring, deciding on what they can or cannot do. Coming to a town near you soon.
Card fees arw a joke. Pay almost £2k a month in card fees. It’s a joke.
Reading about people who enjoy using cash is so frustrating, when ultimately a significant portion of them are evading their taxes
Always surprises me at the self checkout how many people just wave me through as it’s only card terminals vacant.
21 comments
I thought this was interesting. A lot of people assume it is free to use cash but the lower overall usage and other expenses (coin sorting, counterfeit notes, transporting cash) mean card payments can be cheaper for retailers.
It’s always the same with every business owner. They just care about their needs. They could vote for parties that increase public spending, do away with austerity policies and abolish landlords, which would increase their customers’ spending power but basic social democracy is ‘communism’ apparently
Nope – Not going in on that propaganda.
Cash remains king.
My wife owns a small business. The cost of card fees is minimal (the fee works out to be around £5 on average for every £1000 taken by card). Given the cost of potential theft, time taken to bank the money, etc, it’s worth it. Anyone business who says cash is king is likely not paying tax.
I’ll use Cash just because ppl like you tell me I can’t
~~So take cards.~~
~~The “it costs more” isn’t really a valid argument not to when you’re complaining that cash handling costs you more money.~~
Read the article again.
This is charity shop owners asking **customers** to pay with cards, because it’s a lot cheaper for them.
The point about underreporting income stands though, if you consider that all those “cash only” shops are paying **more** in bank charges to not process cards.
Unless your real aim is to underreport your income of course.
Cash is a faff, but it’s also resilient in the face of cyberattacks or infrastructure failure. It’s also hard to monitor or control at scale, which the powers that be absolutely hate.
So keep using cash, or it’ll be gone when you need it.
“to pay by card which reduces that spend” – surprised as it’s the other way around for most places. Not sure what they want here – banks deal with less cash hence they close down branches and such – it costs more now to then bankf cash and such that’s just the way of the world and society changing. If you take cash you have to manage those costs. Every business is the same, it’s why some have removed it entirely because the costs of having someone cash up, get cash, drop off cash, change or pay a company to collect your takings adds up. Cash is still a valid form of payment – not sure there’s anything the government needs to do here
I refuse to buy from businesses that only take cash, not only is it inconvenient but they are almost certainly committing tax fraud and I do not wish to support that.
The excuse that it saves the business money doesn’t seem to hold up.
But all the old people keep telling me cash is king before making me count their loose change…
Whenever I have an evening meal out – I always pay in cash as it allows me to just provide a random and in the ballpark tip (e.g. sometimes its high, sometimes its low but if its one of my regular places it balances out over the long run). Does this make me a bad person?
The only bad thing is that all the payment processors are US based. We need a Great British Card or some such thing without paying a billion to Capita and getting naff all from it.
I would argue most of working age people who pay with cash – got this cash through types of engagement that avoid paying taxes. Aside from very very specific and rare situations – adult people shouldn’t be using cash. Looking at the length of queues in Asda/Lidl/Aldi to pay in cash I always wonder how many 100 bns get past taxman
Shops around these parts plea for cash instead of card
Then pass on the savings to people who pay with a card
Nobody benefits except businesses and you will be giving control of what you can buy to what visa and Mastercard allow you to buy.
Yes cash is more cumbersome and more expensive to deal with
However it’s also financial freedom – you can give it to a friend’s child in a birthday card, you can give it to a homeless person on the street. You do not need to prove who you are or have a bank account to use it
Cash is also the only thing that will keep you afloat when someone identity thefts you and sends your new bank cards to a different address whilst cancelling your old ones. How long can you function if you have ZERO access to your bank?
Cash is a pain. But it’s a necessary pain for the 1% of use cases where it’s absolutely needed.
Look at China with its credit scoring, deciding on what they can or cannot do. Coming to a town near you soon.
Card fees arw a joke. Pay almost £2k a month in card fees. It’s a joke.
Reading about people who enjoy using cash is so frustrating, when ultimately a significant portion of them are evading their taxes
Always surprises me at the self checkout how many people just wave me through as it’s only card terminals vacant.