Cash on the way out

[davidfin]

Just returned from a wonderful golf trip to western England and St. Andrew’s in Scotland. We played 11 rounds over 9 days of a 16 day trip. One thing among many I noticed was an almost complete abandonment of cash in the UK. Literally the only cash I spent was to pay directly our caddies. Every other expense and there were many, was in the form of a tap and go credit card machine. So if you’re planning a UK visit, don’t need to buy a bunch of pounds or Euros.

 

[DrRoy]

Sounds good.

 

[Koolau]

Mentioned elsewhere, I'm not a fan of ditching cash. Simplest explanation (very simplified): See my tag line.

 

[Alan]

Mentioned elsewhere, I'm not a fan of ditching cash. Simplest explanation (very simplified): See my tag line.

Don’t panic, cash in the UK is still legal, and there is no push to give it up, it’s just that most folk prefer not to use it.

 

[disneysteve]

I don't see cash disappearing in the US because of the large "unbanked" population. But certainly cash is far less common than it used to be. About the only time I use cash is when I go to estate sales and yard sales. Everything else goes on a rewards credit card. It's even easier now with chip cards that you just tap or Apple Pay where you don't even need a physical card.


A number of cities have passed laws banning businesses from going cash-free because it's discriminatory. In other places, though, I have encountered cash-free businesses. It's much cheaper, safer, and more productive for them to not have to handle cash.

 

[FlaMariner]

.....the barber is my last cash requirement when home....Her Majesty must pay her beauty parlor lady in cash also......when we travel, the teamsters slinging luggage at the cruise ship pier require cash tips or the luggage ends up in the Atlantic....and we add tip money for the hotel maid, the cruise ship crew and the guy driving the airport/hotel shuttle......everything else is on the credit card

 

[Koolau]

.....the barber is my last cash requirement when home....Her Majesty must pay her beauty parlor lady in cash also......when we travel, the teamsters slinging luggage at the cruise ship pier require cash tips or the luggage ends up in the Atlantic....and we add tip money for the hotel maid, the cruise ship crew and the guy driving the airport/hotel shuttle......everything else is on the credit card

Yeah, the big story here is that we tolerate extortion - not that cash is or isn't going away.

 

[gcgang]

Doesn’t it say on cash, This Note is Legal Tender for all Debts, Public and Private?
So they can’t not accept it as payment, right?

But it also says In God We Trust, and who does that anymore, so I guess cash will become trash.

 

[Koolau]

Doesn’t it say on cash, This Note is Legal Tender for all Debts, Public and Private?
So they can’t not accept it as payment, right?

But it also says In God We Trust, and who does that anymore, so I guess cash will become trash.

Gummints can do anything we LET them do. No matter what it says. It is up to us so YMMV.

 

[Alan]

Doesn’t it say on cash, This Note is Legal Tender for all Debts, Public and Private?
So they can’t not accept it as payment, right?

That is definitely the case in the UK where merchants cannot refuse cash to pay for a debt. They can refuse cash to make a purchase and although I personally don’t know of any card only shops. Our favorite takeaway curry house is cash only plus the 2 fish and chip shops in the town and the fresh fish man who comes to the market once a week straight from the docks.

 

[yakers]

Last year visited Iceland and got $100 in local cash at the airport for local purchases. Could not spend the cash, everything was digital; food, parking and unattended gas pumps far from anywhere. Spent the cash in duty free on the way home.

 

[brett]

Australia is the same. We live in Canada. We seldom use cash. Tap and go for most just about everything.

 

[Texas Proud]

The talk of cash being obsolete has been going on since I was a teenager...and it is still here...


It also matters what country you are in ... my DW is in Turkey and she said everybody wants cash..


We were recently in Italy and Switzerland and we used cash all over the place... most small purchases wanted cash... but the major companies and fast food (think McDonalds) were CC...



Around here I rarely use cash... but always carry some.. (BTW, my local donut shop wants cash)

 

[djsander]

We still use some cash depending on the establishment. We paid cash yesterday at an outing with our friends just because it was more convenient than running the CC. Some restaurants have gone to if you use cash then the server does the transaction, there isn’t a till. A former coworkers daughter worked at the place and told me at the end of the shift the computer totals their receipts and tells them what they owe the establishment in cash. We went to one of those places and the server rounded up and shorted us. We left a minimal tip as we were owed change. We decided not to go back there. We have no problem using cash and don’t like the attitude of you have to use plastic. We’ve run across a few places that only take credit cards and will comply, but it still should be the customers choice.

 

[Music Lover]

We went to one of those places and the server rounded up and shorted us. We left a minimal tip as we were owed change. We decided not to go back there.

The server rounded your bill up and didn't give you your change and you still tipped them?

 

[racy]

I'm traveling now in Scandinavia; everything is on cards.

 

[RxMan]

I just got back from a week vacation at the beach at Oak Island. One evening we ordered a pizza from a local pizza place there. They were a cash only establishment. My assumption is that this was done to avoid the credit card fees but I didn’t ask.

Personally, I’m against going completely digital for currency. It’s just another means of monitoring and control by a government that has already been proven to be untrustworthy. Plus as a Christian the idea of all digital monetary transactions hits a little too close to home regarding some end times prophecies spelled out in the Bible. I would prefer to simply opt out but I can see where the world is headed and a completely cashless society could become a reality soon.

I hope precious metals will be considered “collectibles” if and when this all digital monetary system becomes a reality. That way I can continue to buy something physical that could be used as currency in the future if needed. I’ll just say that I am a collector but what I’m really doing is looking for ways around the system.

 

[djsander]

The server rounded your bill up and didn't give you your change and you still tipped them?

When I say didn’t give us change they gave us bills not the coins. Yeah, when I say minimal it was on the lines of some change in our pocket that was probably 50 cents for a tip on a $40 or so bill. I was about to ask the manager if they condone stealing from the customers, but the wife who is more cool headed said let it go. Another place we frequented had the same policy, but the servers always rounded the bill down. They would get an excellent tip.