Going cashless

I haven't had a cheque book in over a decade but don't use contactless either as I rarely make small purchases. Chip and pin works fine for me. Like others I like to carry a minimum of 20 quid cash no matter how much is in the bank, I've had cards declined in the past for no apparent reason so would feel uncomfortable only carrying one card and no other form of payment

There are real privacy and intrusion issues if we go enirely cashless. It will be possible for any security system to track you by your spending. Tax authorities will be able to trace every penny you spend and its use to commercial companies for marketing, is invaluable if they get access to it

The Chinese government is already forcing many of their population to go cashless for the explicit reason of controlling anyone who they consider a criminal - and China has a lot of 'political' crimes.

We really will end up living in the world of George Orwell's '1984'

I find now even at work if someone is selling a raffle ticket for charity, no one has cash, but co-workers e-transfer small amounts of money by phone. I admit it is very convenient.

Certainly we are more vulnerable to hacking and scammers, but when is the last time you have heard of a purse-snatching? Though criminals will always find a way to benefit themselves.

Further to ideas that criminals use cash, it has come to light in Vancouver area that the money-laundering business is booming, with even houses being purchased with cash. The move to electronic financial transactions will at least allow the government to trace nefarious business transactions.

I fear its coming. The cashless society. I hate all this control by snooping unknown systems. I don't have store cards, won't use Siri or Alexa and don't link my computer/iPad/phone. Too much big brother.

But then, I live in a small market town where the hairdresser and greengrocer don't possess a card machine. I'm not sure that the bakers or butchers do either! We only shop in Sainsburys about three times a year and would confuse them utterly if we had a store card. Toilet rolls, booze and Primula cheese with prawns (can't get that locally) being our main buys. And I'm the one who always messes up the auto payment machine thing. They don't like me.

LondonGranny, my husband was in the software industry before he died and felt the same way your husband does- He'd sum it up in 5 words (when not ranting on about it) It Makes Us Financially Vulnerable-

In the US, at least some states, cash is required or check for the following:

Auto Licence, plates, registration, titles and violations such as speeding and parking tickets-

Bailing someone out of jail is cash only-

EllanVannin hairless and cashless? The mind boggles but like you I need cash at the moment: collection boxes, the odd small currency purchase and more.

If we really do lose out currency, we'll lost a cultural icon.

Fiachna50
My husband was a computer programmer before he retired and he wouldn't touch online banking with a bargepole because he knows how leaky these things can be. I think you're correct.

My youngest daughter was asked to pay for something by cheque, she has never owned a chequebook. My oldest daughter is very wary, and refuses to use contactless.

Personally I love it, and use it all the time, and very rarely have much more than a fiver on me.

I dont like the idea of going totally cashless. Apart from anything else we are targeted enough online as they can track what you buy. I dont completely trust online banking either after the TSB debacle and wont touch mobile banking apps. I dont believe any of this is as safe as its made out to be. If massive companies like Facebook and Twitter get hacked and even the Pentagon, I think online banking is not that safe. I may sound paranoid, but the reason we are losing our bank branches and our ATMs is because we have all been forced into being on these things. For example better interest rates on your bank balance, only if you go online and paperless. To me its blackmail. There is one thing I find contactless handy for and that is bus fare, it does save scrabbling about for change. If we allow ourselves to become cashless, we then cannot complain about loss of privacy and targeted ads. On YouTube have a look at Amazing Polly and do a search about Social Media. You will find some downright scary things on there which at first, I thought was just crazy but watch a few and have a think about what is really happening. Its the same with Smartmeters and Alexas, wouldnt have them. Alexa would only be of use if I ever had mobility problems as I have to admit they are great for people with mobility issues but thats all.

Baggs, my bank doesn't issue cheque books any more, neither does my husband's bank. Maybe you have to request them by letter now, dunno. What I do know, from when I worked for a small charity, is the vast majority of donations were by cheque.

Cheques can be posted to one's bank to be paid into one's account. There are no branches of my bank(s) anywhere near where I live so I've done this quite a lot. It (posting cheques to one's bank) is becoming less necessary since bank transfers became easy and obviate the need for cheques.

Perhaps there will be more local currencies in future. New credit unions and small banks which are not in the global markets.
Meanwhile I have had to sign up to on-line banking as our branch has closed including the ATM! I miss it.
We can still use the post office and yes I use cash but use a card too.
Cheques are tricky now without a local branch so that nice cheque in a birthday card isn't easy to pay in. I have to do a 30 mile round trip to the nearest branch.

Our new government here in Italy is talking of taxing the use of cash! I hope they don't succeed.

MamaCaz, you are a wise woman.

agnurse,
I am reliably informed by someone I know in the police that a lot of drugs (mainly by white middle-class people) are bought online with cryptocurrency. It was the same police officer (quite senior, a chief inspector) that convinced me, from completely the opposite position, that all drugs should be legalised to take it out of the hands of organised (and chaotic disorganised) crime. His feeling was that cannabis should be legal to grow at home and drugs such as crack & heroin should be administered in safe spaces by the NHS. He said most crime like burglary, street robbery & shoplifting is driven by the drugs trade.

I live in one of the most 10 deprived areas in the country (according to super-output data) and the poor rely on cash.

I think a cashless society will put vulnerable people in an even more hopeless position.
Take, for example, an abused partner.
Chances are that the abuser will have access to/control over every penny that the abused partner earns, even if that person supposedly has a bank account of their own.
At least with cash, there is the possibility of them squirrelling some away into a secret 'emergency/escape' fund.
Take away cash, and you take away that possible escape route!

I do use my cards, but just thinking about today - I have paid cash to my hairdresser, bought a few groceries, a good luck card and stamp with cash

One of the benefits of going cashless is that it can potentially reduce crime rates. Seriously.

Most criminal transactions (e.g. drug deals, for example) involve cash because it can't be tracked. Limiting the amount of cash available makes this more difficult.

Now, I do recognize that some people will use cryptocurrencies to get the same effect. (For the record: I have never been involved in such transactions. I only know this because I am fond of watching crime dramas.) But I would tend to think one would be less likely to use a cryptocurrency to buy a few quid worth of cocaine or heroin.

I do agree about being uncomfortable about my spending habits being trackable. I do not do anything that the vicar needs to be shielded from, but even so, it bothers me. I did advise my DD, when a student, to draw out her money for the week rather than just keep tapping her card for every purchase, it is all the little £2.50 here, £3.75 there.....that adds up over a week. One of the biggest problems is when we eat out, pay the bill, and then find that neither of us has cash to leave a tip, I prefer not to put it on a card, so now we make sure that we always have a bit of cash on us.

I think the OP is about the danger of what I'm calling reckless debt rather than debt as a way of 'affording' a university education or a house.

Good point, londongranny. You are right when the larger picture is looked at, but I was talking about people staying within the means available to them whether it is 'loaned' or not.

One can be a good manager of money and still, technically, be in debt. There's a difference between unavoidable debt such as a student loan or a mortgage and reckless debt.

I think a mix is the best way. Cashless is very convenient and it must be great for retailers to not have a lot of cash to worry about at the end of the day, it has also been suggested that it makes it more difficult for 'cash transactions' to disappear from the taxman, all well and good, but, I do like to have some cash on me, or at least tucked away in the house and we have all seen the calamities when one of the banks has an IT problem.

*probably not price

I hardly ever carry money these days. Been caught out at a few places that don’t work cards but just move elsewhere. I don’t like carrying cash about.

True the next generation won’t be able to deal with money but they price won’t need to