Hard Cash Making A Comeback?

Zuzu

We ate lunch the other day at a local restaurant we've eaten at many times, always paying with a debit. I noticed a "customer fee" on the bill of 4%. Asked about it and was told it covered the cost of using a card. I'm in the US, but thought this was tacky and cheap. Felt like I was paying a fee for the lights to be on. Some things are simply part of the cost of doing business. Plus 4% seemed high to me. I should go back to cash, I suppose. But a card is so convenient.

This used to be the case in the UK if you used a credit card though not a debit card if I remember correctly. However it is now illegal to add a charge to the customer for using a card.
When I first had a credit card I never used it. It was there for emergencies. Then I had one - car repairs. I asked my boss what \i had to do to use it and he was amazed I had a card and had never used it! Some businesses only take cards if the purchase is above a certain amount and that is still allowed. Since many people use cards nowadays prices are set to reflect this. I'm not sure if it is legal to give a discount for cash these days. There was a time when my ex would negotiate a discount for cash on large purchases.

Lots of dodgy deals can be done in a cash only business as we all know. Money laundering etc.

I'm seeing the opposite problem at the moment. I volunteer for a small local charity who've now decided to go cash free, only card payments are accepted. They say that it cuts admin costs with no banking etc. and safer not to have cash on the premises. We get lots of elderly people on coach outings, who, when told we only accept card payments, cannot pay entrance fees as they only have cash, so they have to give our venue a miss. They miss the experience, we lose the revenue. I made this point at the meeting where the decision was made, but was out voted. Surely there is a justification for either method of payment to be available.

I am really puzzled that some people think banks should carry out all their services free of charge. They are businesses .
Why not expect your builder or hairdresser to work free of charge then ?

But of course every time somebody does this the tax take goes down and government spending has to come from somewhere

Governements seem to find plenty to reward and pay off their mates for bum contracts, squander in foreign wars and send aid to countries like India.

I'm self-employed and all my fees are paid into my account via bank transfer.
All my minded children's parents pay through the government Tax Free Childcare account, which is beneficial to them as it saves them 20% off their bill.

Virtually all my spending is done online via credit card.

I like the traceability when I work out my income and expenses for my tax return.

EmilyHarburn

My hair dresser has stopped using cards and now is cash only. the card people charged the hairdressers twice once to have the card reading equipment etc and on every transaction they took a fee. Really really greedy people.

When I was in business I was also charged to deposit cash.

A lot of people like to physically track the disappearance of their cash knowing just how much they have left to spend each week. I'm one of them.

They’re a business - how do you expect them to exist?

My hair dresser has stopped using cards and now is cash only. the card people charged the hairdressers twice once to have the card reading equipment etc and on every transaction they took a fee. Really really greedy people.

The one time we were in America 25 years ago, we were in NY walking down the road after a rather indifferent meal. To our surprise the waiter charged out after us, shouting because we had ‘only’ left a 10% tip.
At that time 10% was fairly generous here in the uk as tipping wasn’t expected as it is now , and still isn’t at all in many countries in mainland Europe , but clearly it was not enough fir this waiter.
We were astonished as nothing like that had ever happened, not before or since.

If you pay in cash to avoid VAT you are assisting in the commission of a crime - tax evasion. Don’t risk it. If the person you have paid is caught you may be too.

biglouis

There is nothing like a recession for the black economy to flourish.

If you look at the postings on my local marketplace platform there are plenty of people tooking for others to do small jobs - assemble flatpacks, put up shelves, plastering etc and seemingly plenty of people looking for such work. Assuming most of these folks will want cash in hand there is cash about. You can spend it on your weekly shop, put petrol in the car or on public transport and plenty of small shops and markets happily accepting cash.

And of course in the antiques/vintage world where I deal cash has always been preferred.

Yes, the black economy is certainly flourishing amongst people we know. Who wants to pay a builder an extra 20% if it can be avoided?
But of course every time somebody does this the tax take goes down and government spending has to come from somewhere.
Personally I think the VAT rate is ruinously high, people would not try so hard to avoid paying it if the rate was lower.
One local tradesman said that as soon as his income was high enough to be registered for VAT he had to add it to his quotes and lost a lot of work to tradesmen with a turnover below the VAT threshhold.

Summerlove

Zuzu

We ate lunch the other day at a local restaurant we've eaten at many times, always paying with a debit. I noticed a "customer fee" on the bill of 4%. Asked about it and was told it covered the cost of using a card. I'm in the US, but thought this was tacky and cheap. Felt like I was paying a fee for the lights to be on. Some things are simply part of the cost of doing business. Plus 4% seemed high to me. I should go back to cash, I suppose. But a card is so convenient.

That does seem high- especially when you are expected to tip 15%-20% per meal to subsidize the wait staffs wages.

It now costs 25% more

Most of our local restaurants leave it to the customers' descretion how much they tip, though one does add 12.5%. You can add what tip you want on the card machine and nobody in our area charges extra for using a credit card

Our local shop likes us to pay with cash when we top up our travel cards, apparently he makes almost no profit on it at the best of times and the credit card charge takes even more,
Our local bank has gone, as has the next nearest and now they are closing the third. This means that we have to travel for 45 minutes by bus if we want to take more than the daily ATM limit out. Most of the larger branches only have one till so we always have to queue.

Zuzu

We ate lunch the other day at a local restaurant we've eaten at many times, always paying with a debit. I noticed a "customer fee" on the bill of 4%. Asked about it and was told it covered the cost of using a card. I'm in the US, but thought this was tacky and cheap. Felt like I was paying a fee for the lights to be on. Some things are simply part of the cost of doing business. Plus 4% seemed high to me. I should go back to cash, I suppose. But a card is so convenient.

That does seem high- especially when you are expected to tip 15%-20% per meal to subsidize the wait staffs wages.

It now costs 25% more

There is nothing like a recession for the black economy to flourish.

If you look at the postings on my local marketplace platform there are plenty of people tooking for others to do small jobs - assemble flatpacks, put up shelves, plastering etc and seemingly plenty of people looking for such work. Assuming most of these folks will want cash in hand there is cash about. You can spend it on your weekly shop, put petrol in the car or on public transport and plenty of small shops and markets happily accepting cash.

And of course in the antiques/vintage world where I deal cash has always been preferred.

Which is fine, mostly!

Oh yes Nan, and finding a hole in the wall isn’t easy either. In Germany they are still a cash culture.

I was in Germany last week, Cologne.They like cash., though option to pay with card is available..

>There would not be a lack of spending. There would be a withdrawal say weekly, to spend as one wished, without being spied on.

Same difference. Even if HMRC were spying, they don’t need an itemised list. They’re very good at glancing at overall in/out figures then asking ‘so what DID you live on?’

Germanshepherdsmum

The lack of spending would be a red flag Desdemona.

There would not be a lack of spending. There would be a withdrawal say weekly, to spend as one wished, without being spied on.

We ate lunch the other day at a local restaurant we've eaten at many times, always paying with a debit. I noticed a "customer fee" on the bill of 4%. Asked about it and was told it covered the cost of using a card. I'm in the US, but thought this was tacky and cheap. Felt like I was paying a fee for the lights to be on. Some things are simply part of the cost of doing business. Plus 4% seemed high to me. I should go back to cash, I suppose. But a card is so convenient.

The banks were glad to use covid as an excuse to have to use cards for everything. Well firstly, up in the Dales it doesnt matter if you are a millionaire with the latest phone available. Tough!! No signal and cash is king. In any case I object to the fact that companies think they can refuse coin of the realm!! Personally I am prepared to use a card in a few trusted places, but definitely use cash especially in our local open market. i want to support my local shops and market, and also I live alone and do not want to buy 6 apples or pears, and much prefer to chose a variety , which I am able to do on the market. My bank know who I am , I can withdraw cash inside the bank and am very aware of exactly what money I have in my account. With the amount of scammers and untrustworthy people keen to get hold of your details, that are not being stopped by the banks who have the nerve to try and blame you whenever possible, my way is much safer for me. I inform my bank if I am going to spend a large amount which is unusual for me and so am safe. Last christmas eve someone tried to get something paid from my credit card, but as I rarely use it I was immediately aware of it and stopped it . I rang the fraud people 3 times and they did not answer and so I got in my car and went to the bank and they stopped it safely Again my way I keep myself safe and in charge of my spending. It is up to people to choose what and how they want to use their accounts and money. But there are many people without a bank account, for a variety of reasons, and the small traders are being fleeced by the wretched banks taking their cut first. I stick to my principles, I went to buy something in a large store where they said "We only take cards" I did want the item but said in that case put it back I will buy it elsewhere. Having a choice is important and we should not let banks dictate what we do and how. It is our money not theirs and they will not dictate to me . Dont let them dictate to you and again supporting the local and small traders is important, if you want to keep a live town centre and a greater variety of options

I've grown to love my bank card, even though I never thought I would. But I still like cash for smaller things, like paying the window cleaner etc.
And what if banks are hacked into? Better have a bit of cash just in case.