Are You Still Using Cash?

[Pound Coin]

It took me years to accept contactless cards, but I do use them sometimes,
So I don't always use cash.

Oddly I preferred cash to contactless, until I got my watch. Anyone with my card could wave it over a terminal to pay. My watch and phone need a log-in, and I am able to lock them without having to call a bank.

 

[Cobra]

Oddly I preferred cash to contactless, until I got my watch. Anyone with my card could wave it over a terminal to pay.

But there is a £100 limit and a random please insert your card from time to time ( usually if I use it in a couple of places in quick succession.)
And of course the card be blocked at a moments notice can that be done if you loose your watch? ( serious question)

But my response was about "no limits" as posted by @LCPete

if you pay using the card in wallet on your phone apparently there’s not transaction limit

 

[Marc]

I use my iPhone and the Barclays app so the transaction shows as a notification straight away.

Should these be moved to the Cash thread btw?

 

[Pound Coin]

But there is a £100 limit and a random please insert your card from time to time ( usually if I use it in a couple of places in quick succession.)
And of course the card be blocked at a moments notice can that be done if you loose your watch? ( serious question)

But my response was about "no limits" as posted by @LCPete

If you lose your watch the person with it needs the code. It won't work without that. Much like a non-contactless card - you need the PIN. So no transactions possible unless they have tortured you

If you lose your contactless card then someone can carry on using it up to £100 per transaction until it is blocked or needs a random insert into an actual cash machine.

Edited to add: regarding blocking it. With a card you need a phone, and to know your details for the bank. With a watch you can do it from your phone, and if you lose your phone at the same time you can do it on any internet device, if you know your AppleID. So similar in terms of practicality, I'd think.

 

[Tringa]

It took me years to accept contactless cards, but I do use them sometimes,
So I don't always use cash.

I don't use cash very much at all now but I am not too happy with contactless. I think I'm probably being a bit daft because I can see the amount on the terminal so swiping the card over is not that different confirming the purchase by typing in the PIN.

My main worry about contactless is if I lose my card(or have it stolen) but don't realise for a few hours, someone could have fun with it. I assume the bank would recompense me but it could be difficult convincing them which purchases are fraudulent, though in fairness Barclaycard have a pretty good view of my spending patterns.

Dave

 

[Cobra]

Should these be moved to the Cash thread btw?

As it seems to have taken on a life of its own, Tis done.

 

[Cobra]

With a card you need a phone,

No you don't it can be done on tinternet

If you lose your contactless card then someone can carry on using it up to £100 per transaction until it is blocked o

Most CC / DC have indemnity insurance with the provider and they will reimburse the transactions.

if you know your AppleID.

That's me screwed I don't have one and don't want one

 

[Marc]

Interestingly, I had a new card from Barclays about a month ago despite my old one not expiring until 2027. When I phoned them, it turned out that ordering cinema tickets at 2am (don't ask!) triggered the anti-fraud protocols. I confirmed it was me who made the transaction and they said I was fine to keep using my old card.

Fast forward to last Monday. I went to pay in a shop with my card and it was declined. A message popped up on my phone from Barclays to say they'd switched me over to my new card. Fortunately, my Apple wallet had automatically updated. Apple Pay saved me a lot of embarrassment!

 

[gman]

I don't use cash very much at all now but I am not too happy with contactless. I think I'm probably being a bit daft because I can see the amount on the terminal so swiping the card over is not that different confirming the purchase by typing in the PIN.

My main worry about contactless is if I lose my card(or have it stolen) but don't realise for a few hours, someone could have fun with it. I assume the bank would recompense me but it could be difficult convincing them which purchases are fraudulent, though in fairness Barclaycard have a pretty good view of my spending patterns.

Dave

I'm not sure about other banks, but with NatWest/RBS my phone notifies me every time there's activity and it's pretty quick, in fact so quick when I was drawing cash out of the machine two nights ago my phone beeped and notified me before the cash had actually had time to be dispensed out of the machine! lol

My issue is that cards, phones, watches and of course the terminal/facilities being used to take the payment are all vulnerable to loss/lack of network. I've experienced this quite a few times and cash is a handy backup.

 

[Cobra]

My issue is that cards, phones, watches and of course the terminal/facilities being used to take the payment are all vulnerable to loss/lack of network. I've experienced this quite a few times and cash is a handy backup.

I just think we are relying on technology far to much, for this and other things.

As an aside, my bank has been in the high street for 50 years to my knowledge,
it closed just the other month.
I'm not even sure how or where I would pay in cash, Not that I get that much theses days, so I guess its just easier to use it for shopping.

 

[Pound Coin]

Cash is just as vulnerable to loss, and you don't get any chance of compensation from the bank if you lose it, and no way to turn it off if lost/stolen.

 

[Cobra]

Cash is just as vulnerable to loss,

Keep it in your jock strap, no one will be looking for it down there

Of course any monetary system can be subject to loss.
But I was making the point ... V

I just think we are relying on technology far to much, for this and other things.

 

[Pound Coin]

Keep it in your jock strap, no one will be looking for it down there

Of course any monetary system can be subject to loss.
But I was making the point ... V

I get your point, but personally don't feel the risk is any higher.

Plastic notes certainly help with jock-strap storage, although you have to be careful with the sharp edges.

 

[Cobra]

although you have to be careful with the sharp edges.

I know being circumcised at over 50, is no laughing matter

I get your point, but personally don't feel the risk is any higher.

And we agree to disagree, I still say we rely on technology far too much, for pretty much anything really.
Look at the chaos when air traffic control computers went down recently.
did they break? were they hacked?.
No one is going to say it was the latter, if it was of course ...

 

[Pound Coin]

Without the tech (that broke for a few hours) there wouldn't be thousands of flights every day.

 

[Cobra]

Without the tech (that broke for a few hours) there wouldn't be thousands of flights every day.

Leaving some people stranded for up to a week and many with no where to sleep.

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

Leaving some people stranded for up to a week and many with no where to sleep.

That's the UTB syndrome at work and is why, any time a manager told me that such and such was "unlikely to break", I felt a strong desire to get into the life boat, pronto.

The more critical a system is, the more you need to allow for it breaking. You must assume that failure will always occur at the worst possible time and always in the most obscure way. That's why sensible people, who are running critical systems, accept the need for two entirely independent systems.

Managers, on the other hand, would rather save money, because they'll be long gone when the brown stuff starts bouncing off the fan.

 

[Cobra]

That's the UTB syndrome at work and is why, any time a manager told me that such and such was "unlikely to break", I felt a strong desire to get into the life boat, pronto.

The more critical a system is, the more you need to allow for it breaking. You must assume that failure will always occur at the worst possible time and always in the most obscure way. That's why sensible people, who are running critical systems, accept the need for two entirely independent systems.

Managers, on the other hand, would rather save money, because they'll be long gone when the brown stuff starts bouncing off the fan.

TBH That's all a bit beyond me, but I get the gist.
Its know as sod law, if I'm not mistaken.

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

Its know as sod law, if I'm not mistaken.

It's related but where sod's law assumes unpredictability, UTB is like the witch doctor's curse.

 

[gman]

I just think we are relying on technology far to much, for this and other things.

As an aside, my bank has been in the high street for 50 years to my knowledge,
it closed just the other month.
I'm not even sure how or where I would pay in cash, Not that I get that much theses days, so I guess its just easier to use it for shopping.

The Post Office seems to be getting lumbered with it. Before they pulled out of the SME market in the UK, Allied Irish Bank stopped taking cash citing high insurance costs and the Post Office became the new deposit and withdrawal location. Switched to Santander and it's exactly the same, must use the Post Office. I don't actually mind as there's a great sandwich shop next door and easy parking!

 

[Pound Coin]

Managers, on the other hand, would rather save money, because they'll be long gone when the brown stuff starts bouncing off the fan.

Don't blame the managers. It is the accountants.

 

[Cobra]

the Post Office became the new deposit and withdrawal location.

I didn't know that.
TBH it suits as I have a post office closer than where my bank was.
And a cash point just down the road at my local Tesco or Co-op

 

[gman]

Don't blame the managers. It is the accountants.

Yawn....

 

[Nod]

Yes there is fingerprint, facial or retina scan ( is that what they call and eye phone? ) but I'm sure they are capable of being hacked.

My phone is set to "do" facial recognition. Sometimes it won't recognise me at all but on other occasions has recognised me wearing mirrored shades and a face mask (when they were supposed to be worn in public. I don't use it for anything financial and don't have internet banking.

a random please insert your card from time to time

It's not random. A little camera in the unit sees when you put the card back in your wallet and in your pocket, at which point it asks for it to be inserted...

 

[mj4456]

Cash having a wee resurgence, debit card still top but more people using cash to control spending, perhaps prudence over technology.

 

[Nod]

The Sainsbury's we use has a problem today - no card payments! Not sure if their cashpoints were working but they had staff at the entrance to the car park telling customers it was cash only.

 

[gman]

The Sainsbury's we use has a problem today - no card payments! Not sure if their cashpoints were working but they had staff at the entrance to the car park telling customers it was cash only.

I wonder what they would have done if cash was no longer in existence? Or perhaps more accurately, I wonder how much they would have lost in sales....

 

[cambsno]

I wonder what they would have done if cash was no longer in existence? Or perhaps more accurately, I wonder how much they would have lost in sales....

I never have cash, and neither do a lot of people.

But then what savings could they make in terms of less cash handling like security, processing and theft/miscounting?

 

[Pound Coin]

I wonder what they would have done if cash was no longer in existence? Or perhaps more accurately, I wonder how much they would have lost in sales....

Part of a days sales. Not a lot.

If it was 10th of a day, it would have been 0.027% of the annual turnover, assuming that all hours were equal in spend and no one who was inconvenienced come back later.

Plus, that's just sales, not profit. All the stock will still have been there after the problem was solved.

 

[gman]

I never have cash, and neither do a lot of people.

But then what savings could they make in terms of less cash handling like security, processing and theft/miscounting?

But there would still be the option of drawing cash out of the wall and most supermarkets I know of have cash machines outside. Of course some people will not take their bank card out, so they'll just have to go elsewhere or go home.

If cash was no longer in existence then that would become irrelevant. All that would be left is the loss of sales and potentially customers if they went elsewhere and ended up preferring another store.

 

[andya700]

I never have cash, and neither do a lot of people.

Well, I can only assume that you have carried out a nationwide survey, because I know plenty of people who use cash. Our Chinese takeaway, hairdressers, local baker, window cleaner, odd job man, gardener, markets, all take cash only.

 

[Nod]

There are several places in town that only take card payments. I don't use them.

 

[Tigger.ufo]

But there would still be the option of drawing cash out of the wall and most supermarkets I know of have cash machines outside. Of course some people will not take their bank card out, so they'll just have to go elsewhere or go home.

If they didn't have their card with them in the first place how were they going to pay?

 

[Marc]

If they didn't have their card with them in the first place how were they going to pay?

Using their phone?

 

[Pound Coin]

or watch.

 

[Tigger.ufo]

Using their phone?

or watch.

Doh! As I don't use either of these they didn't occur to me.

 

[wyx087]

The mobile payment contactless limit only applies when the terminal can only accept contactless payment. If the terminal accepts mobile payment such as Apple Pay, there is no limit.


I was in China last week. Everywhere accepts wechat wallet and alipay without exception, both are done via QR code through phone camera/screen. Street market merchant accepts it, tiny corner shop accepts it. I think most importantly there is no transaction fee, so adopting it was no brainer.

Downside of their app based QR code system is convenience. Unlike Express travel card or Apple pay, the payment apps isn't baked into the mobile OS. I once saw 5+ people standing at tube exit turnstyle tapping on their phones to bring up the QR code.

 

[mj4456]

Staying in Harrogate over the last weekend, card only payment in the bar, card/wallet in room so everything was charged to the room, requested a receipt at every round, staff tutted a few times but I was never asked to sign the till slip! End of stay, bill incorrect, I did suggest they might want to check, “No Sir, the bill will be correct”, so I sighed and paid up, 2 rounds missing from the bill, bonus to me.

 

[bass_junkie83]

Had a rare cash moment this evening when we decided to be lazy and have a fish & chips dinner so had to stop off at the cash point on the way as they don't accept card.

So I get to the cash point, put in my card, and the screen is still saying insert card. No amount of button bashing would give me my card back and there was no sign of it in the slot. Tried inserting another card to see if that would trigger anything but that wouldn't work.

So there I am with no cash for dinner and no card. From my phone using my banks app I was able to cancel my card on the spot, order a replacement card and get the new card details straight away. Then downloaded google wallet and with one tap was able to transfer the new card details over and was able to use my phone for payments straight away. It meant we had to have pizza instead, but at least I can get through the 5 day wait for the new card to arrive without much fuss.

Cash isn't immune to technology screw ups, but at the same time technology can also save the day.

 

[Nod]

It was the cashless part of the technology that screwed up!