Are we ready for a cashless society?

We certainly use cash much less than we used to for our purchases. But all you have to do is mislay your cash-substitute card, and you’re stuffed. What would children do? Will they all have to have bank accounts and cards? What about the elderly who are so often maligned as being unable to deal with an electronic society – but some will have difficulty? How will you hide money from the taxman !? But most important – what do you do about transactions between individuals who won’t have electronic terminals? This is all a bit like cheques – other means have taken a lot of their uses away, but a significant residue remains. So it will be with cash.

Malcolm’s point about mislaid cards is quite relevant for me. Before I set off on holiday I left my wallet containing a debit card, credit card and cash at a friends business premises. I have managed to cope because I have a second credit card and will be able to transfer funds to a friend’s account in exchange for cash.

I have used my debit card for a few contactless payments without problem, so unless I hear of security issues I will probably use it more. But not this week or next because it is locked in my friend’s safe. 🙁

Both my debit and credit cards are contactless but I have never used that element of either and do not want to because I do not want my statements of accounts cluttered with small amounts. I want full control of what appears on my accounts/statements and seeing small amounts (like a supermarket shopping receipt) will not make my job of checking through my statements any easier.

However, if I had a separate bank account specifically for contactless payments then I would be quite happy to use the debit card contactless payment system. One account for the small contactless payments and another account for my current items (the big important stuff) i.e. the bills/direct debits/standing orders/transfers/cash withdrawals. The contactless method of payment will only be used then.

No, a cashless society is a terrible idea. I prefer cash for most things and will go on using it. I never buy anything in a shop on a card and prefer to know exactly where I am up to with my money. Also if you lose you card its always good to have some case until its sorted.

It also gives too much power to the banks and government who can cut you off with the press of a button.

My bank recently sent me new card with the contactless chip on. I rang them an told them I didn’t want it so they sent me new one without it.

Surely the comment “With card fraud up 16% in 2013” requires more than a ‘passing comment, “that’s something to keep an eye on”. Why aren’t the banks and authorities doing more about this.

Similarly your final comment says it all. Why are you not focusing more on what needs to done about safeguards.

“For me, the convenience and efficiency of cashless payments outweigh the disadvantages, provided adequate safeguards are in place”

Until I see more positive action I shall vote NO

We usually stay at b&b’s when on holiday, and none of them accept credit cards as they say it costs too much for the amount of business they do. The same with window cleaners, milkmen, and other one man businesses etc..
But all of these will accept cheques if they have known you for some time.
We use credit cards for most shopping if it is over £10, or if we are buying an expensive item,.
So NO to a contactless and banking app society.

Take a look at the Mondex programme from the mid-1990s. It aimed to deliver a cashless society. Great thinking from 20 years ago.

I made a small purchase recently and offered my card for payment. The trader refused to accept it on the grounds that the sale was under £5. Presumably the bank charges would take most (if not all) of his profit, so it was cash or no sale! Can’t see market traders wanting to bother with cards either for the same reason – bank charges and the reliability of mobile internet.

Get rid of cheques. Get rid of cash. All ideas from the greedy banks who just want to make more money to increase the pay of overpaid fat cats. Yes I agree it will come eventually, but please all you financial whizz kids you have to offer better value for money options and consider ALL your customers.

How would I negotiate cash discounts or tip in restuarants without cash?

Personally, I hope to be able to use cash until I die. I also use cheques a fair amount, and do not, and never will use a cash-point. Banks would no doubt like to do away with cash just as they would like to do away with cheques, but so far they have failed to do so. For my modest needs, I see no advantage in doing away with either.

There are things one just can’t do meaningfully without cash: give a grandchild a couple of pounds for his money box; give a friend in need or a daughter some cash towards their petrol on the way home; buy small items without giving address details to a shop on their system (they get it from the electronic transaction). I’m sure there are plenty of others if I took time to list them. Then what happens if out finances are all controlled electronically. Given security issues we have already experienced, who’s to say someone isn’t just going to press a button and delete us? All electronic – NO THANKS.

I use a credit card for all but the smallest transactions and pay the monthly statement in full and by direct debit. This way I can see all my monthly spend on one statement and using a card is so convenient. I’m always amazed at the number of people who won’t use pay at pump facilities at petrol stations but instead go into the kiosk and pay by card yet are happy to use ATMs. Having said that I think cash will be needed for a long time yet for older people (I am 67) who don’t like/use cards.

NO NO NO TO !!!! CARDS CASH IS KING!!!! NO BANK CHARGES!!!

The “cashless economy” is just PR-spin by the bankers. Once cash is gone they can increase the card fees and extract 1 to 3 percent of the entire economy as the only gatekeepers. It is also an extremely vulnerable system. We need functioning backup systems for power outages, IT failures or bank strikes.

In addition, the cashless society is an Orwellian nightmare. The mass surveillance bureaucracy will be able to track your every payment and no one knows when and how that information will come back and bite you in the back. It will be impossible to do legal things anonymously, for example, travel to another town to cheat on your partner. That information might end up in a divorce court. We live in a democracy today, but that can change into something much more authoritarian where for example dissidents risk losing their jobs or have their children taken away from them. If that happens, it will be impossible to organise opposition. It will be impossible to financially support activism and opposition groups that the government has decided to ban.

A cashless option is fine – a cashless travel card for the occasional user or even to use in shops too saves carrying heavy coins. However to make it mandatory – the only option – is silly. If I go to London for a day out, how am I supposed to know that they do not accept money ? What sort of card do I need and where do I get it? Sudden decision to go tomorrow, can I download one this evening?

I don’t normally check “do they take money” before going somewhere, should I check if they still accept cash in the Lake District.

If cashless cards are so good, they will catch on and we will all have them.

Although I appreciate not having to lug around large pocketfuls of change, there is a lot to be said for retaining the informality of cash. I do use plastic for large purchases, but do a lot of my small and medium purchases via cash.

I am not sure that I am quite ready to allow state or corporate institutions to be able to analyse every purchase I make for the rest of my life – if that makes them feel less secure or less powerful, I could care less…

I use a card in all the shops that will take them. BUT surely most of us constantly need money for all sorts of small transactions. Here are some of mine:
Sharing a car for outings
a collection for a charity
a present for someone special, like a grandchild
market stalls in a small market town
using public toilets.
buying a ticket for a local event such as for a theatre group, concert or other amateur actities
and even for those small one offs, as buying a newspaper or a single bottle of milk.

In an idle moment I calculated that over a year, around 7% of my spend is in cash, but that amounts to between 40 and 50% of the total number of transactions. A long time before I’ll be joining a cashless society.

The Banks also say less people are using cheques, but that’s because Shops decline to accept them – in turn, because the Banks have withdrawn the cheque guarantee clause on Debit Cards applicable to Merchants. I still use cheques to pay for certain bills (Council Tax, Credit card statements etc).

The requirement of paying Utility Bills by Direct Debit is created by those companies and Banks to steer people away from paper bills & using cash/cheques “in order to keep costs down” – Theirs!

If we are approaching a cashless society, perhaps we better advise the BOE to cancel printing the next £5 & £10 notes!