cash is no longer king
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Food is the one big essential that can still be bought for cash with out penalty , but a t least one London
resturant has a non-cash policy. Photograph: Alamy
Can you remember what you were doing at 13:03.57 on Friday 28 October 2011?Perhaps you were queuing to withdraw cash from an ATM machine, for that was the
single busiest second in the Link network's 25-year history, with 482 transactions made
simultaneously nationwide.
Economic austerity has prompted a resurgence of the bank note, as squeezed households
try to keep on top of their finances. In 2011 an extra 5.5bn was withdrawn from cash
machines, according to figures from the Payment Council, the first increase since 2008.
And yet, as our fondness for hard cash grows, there are fewer places where we can
flaunt it. The Post Office is the only broadband provider that allows customers to pay in
cash without incurring financial penalties, and some will not accept cash at all. Orange,
which makes no provision for cash payments, claims its intransigence is for theconvenience of its customers.
Utility companies are notorious for penalising customers who either can't or won't fill
their coffers with direct debit payments. Extortionate premiums on prepayment meters,
mostly used by the poorest households, were outlawed in 2010, but customers who
settle their bills by cash or cheque are charged up to 100 a year more than direct debit
conformists.
Research for the Channel 4 programme Dispatches found that anyone attempting to pay
for a holiday by cash or cheque could see their bill increase by up to 400 and, on
arrival, there's no point waving a wad of notes at a car rental desk: the majority of UK
Why cash is no longer kingPenalties for paying with cash or cheque are being dressed up as
a convenience for the consumer. But who really benefits?
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rental firms only accept plastic. The corporate line is that the policy protects the
customer from the dangers of hauling large bags of swag round airport arrivals to fund
the rental and deposit.
At least passengers on UK airlines, once airborne, can resort to an old-fashioned tenner
to feed and water themselves from the trolley; more than a dozen US airlines have
declared cash-free cabins on domestic flights, prompting an unsuccessful lawsuit against
Continental Airlines, which refused to accept cash from a cardless passenger for a $3 set
of headphones. The passenger had totally failed to appreciate that the ban was for his
own benefit. The widespread policy, says a spokesman for American Airlines with
baffling logic, "simplifies the in-flight transaction process for both customers and flight
attendants".
It is probably only a matter of time before UK airlines also discover the joys of this
simplification. In the meantime, food is the one big essential that can still be bought for
cash without penalty. Or is it? At the bottom of the bill at Shrimpy's, a new London
restaurant, is a warning that cash is not accepted. Is this a moral stand against tax-
evasion or a simplification of the in-house transaction process? Is it, I wonder fiercely,
the start of a cashless revolution across the hospitality sector? "No, no!" stammers the
bewildered receptionist who picks up the phone. "It's because we don't have a safe."
Amazingly, there is no cap on the penalties that companies can inflict on the cash-reliant
minority, provided the fees are clearly stated and alternative suppliers are available. In
2008 a judge threw out a lawsuit brought by an elderly customer against BT's levies
because the charges were a core term of the contract between the telecoms giant and
the customer.
So what's to be done? Should companies be forced to accept cash? Have y ou ever been
caught out by a policy like this?
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Stuart Wetton
5 July 2012 1:43PM
In my case, an insistence on using plastic for my first purchase
deters me. Unless you can be absolutely sure of the vendor's
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mandydog
5 July 2012 1:49PM
The airline one was actually introduced for a good reason. NO
cash = fewer trolley-dolly fiddles and less unofficial booze on
board. I suspect a few others had the same thing in mind.
Lerryn
5 July 2012 1:49PM
Refusal to accept cash in order to sett le accounts for goods and
services
certainly appeals to institutions and traders since it rids them of
cash handling
costs. In addition insistence on the use of bank/computer based
products to
settle accounts is welcomed by "big brother" as a means of
information.
However not everyone is either able, or content, to use cheques,
credit cards,direct debits and standing orders: no doubt numbers will rise
following the
ongoing RBS computer problems! So, in conclusion, I am of the
opinion that
CASH should be made to be a legal acceptable means of payment
for all
goods and serv ices within the UK.
si8bqm
5 July 2012 1:51PM
Legal tender needs a law to make it illegal to charge penalties or
refuse to accept it. Otherwise, how long will it be before it
becomes illegal tender.
However, this move makes payments "off the books" pretty
much impossible. Is the tax man behind all this ?
parttimer
5 July 2012 1:51PM
Never mind cash being banned - it should be compulsory on
payments of less than a tenner. Few things are mor irritatingthan queuing while some t0sser at the head of the queue pays for
some gum and a can of Tizer with a card.
luckybear
5 July 2012 1:53PM
Prepayment metres? That's going too far...
[already in the cab]
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damasene
5 July 2012 1:54PM
Response to stevenjameshyde, 5 July 2012 1 :44PM
You googled the phone number on the receipt in the photo? Are
you completely mental? I don't think they were trying to claim
that that was a photo of a receipt from the same restaurant they
refer to in the article. I think it's from a stock-image site.
khall54
5 July 2012 1:56PM
I always pay cash for groceries and anything I buy over a
counter, including railway tickets, clothes, and anything up to
100 at eg Argos, because it's convenient and I want to keep the
option open. I'd rather lose 30 pounds than my debit card
anyhow if someone steals my purse - don't take cards out unless
I need them.
However I was bullied into using Direct Debit by the utilities
some years ago - reckon they mostly do it so that however broke
you are, they have first call on your bank account, eg if there is
enough in there to cover the electricity bill and to buy food for
the week, you are expected to starve.
dedicatedtutoneilove
5 July 2012 2:05PM
. The widespread policy, says a spokesmans baffling logic,
"simplifies the in-flight transaction process for both customers
and flight attendants"
OR in otherwords perhaps ; " hey we can make ways for the
workers to hog all the means of any transaction "
Ordinary members of the public in the real world get treated like
roadkill - we're all going to hell in a handcart, it seems to me.
Existangst
5 July 2012 2:06PM
You try to deposit 1 0,000 or more cash into a bank and they
look at you as if y ou were a criminal.
Oraea
5 July 2012 2:07PM
Ive hired a house in the south of Ireland later in the year, I have
to pay the balance of the rental in cash...... in sterling
Restrictions paying by cash are one thing....ever tried to pay in
cash to an internet back. Intelligent Finance Im talking about you
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.....
Deniski
5 July 2012 2:17PM
I find it appalling that our opportunities for paying in legal tender
are being withered away.
After being ripped offby a bank years ago without repayment or
apology, I decided that cards were not in my interest and haverefused to have one. A few things are more complicated because
of this decision but I sleep easy nonetheless.
As the corruption and exploitation by the banks and financial
firms comes to light; as the common man and woman pays more
and more as income drops; as venality and hypocrisy ooze out of
the political body into the public gaze; I stand astounded at the
pacific acceptance of events that are ripping the humanity out of
our society .
Pay cash, defend society !
DrPlokta5 July 2012 2:19PM
If you offer a restaurant cash and they refuse to accept it, you
can just walk out -- you have paid. An offer of legal tender settles
a debt whether or not it is accepted -- that's what legal tender is.
If you pay someone up-front, they can refuse cash, but if you're
paying them after you've incurred a debt, they have to accept it.
davefb
5 July 2012 2:19PM
"we dont have a safe"
no probs.. I dont hav e a card.. Bit late on the bill isn't it?
Mokujin
5 July 2012 2:23PM
Charging more to pay utilities bills by anything other than direct
debits is not because of handling costs but because customers
who pay by direct debit are statistically much more likely to
meet their payments on time.
Kipperphill
5 July 2012 2:31PM
What sensationalist twaddle.
The ex amples given are:
paying for utilities (of which broadband is probably one) - well
there is an obvious additional cost for the utility companies in you
not paying by direct debit or over the phone - the post office and
banks charge them a lot for allowing people to pay their bills in
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cash
paying for your rented car - this isn't new - they don't like you
paying in cash because it is harder to track y ou down and/or bill
you more ifyou damage the car
nothing about shops or restaurants, which is where anyone would
normally pay cash.
JustBeaze5 July 2012 2:32PM
Having worked in IT security and analysis, I made the very
conscious decision that I would be using cash for as much as
possible in my life. It's so very easy to build up a profile of
someone from their electronic receipts, and it's so very easy to
buy that information legally. However the information in
question is used almost exclusively for marketing rather than
spotting criminal behaviour or tax avoidance. Big brother is most
definitely watching, but he's more interested in making money
from your details rather shopping you for fraud.
hexyar
5 July 2012 2:37PM
Response to matt71, 5 July 2012 1:49PM
Your frustration is understandable but say ing this country is shit
because it is at the forefront of the inevitable demise of paper in
favour of electronic money seems like ranting to me.
I, as opposed to you, came and stayed in this country because
even though the weather is really depressing me, I found that the
opportunities, level of civility and individual's power and rights
are way better than what I was used to in my country of birth.
Have been here 14 years now and no intention of leaving.
A friend of mine who runs his own restaurant moans about
everybody wanting to pay by card. He doesn't like having to pay
for a dedicated phone line and having to pay fees but what he
likes the least is having to declare all his takings.
Was it not for PAYE and electronic money, we'd be like Greece.
People only pay tax because they can't avoid it and then gets all
stroppy when others manage to.
I personally like to pay for everything I can by card. It makes
managing my spread sheet much easier. I account for every
penny in and out of my household.
spainfan
5 July 2012 2:49PM
Response to stevenjameshyde, 5 July 2012 1 :44PM
I imagine the subs meant to put "at least one restaurant has a
CARD-only policy" since such a restaurant is mentioned in the
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money in your bank account here, because the chances it's going
to go walkies are incredibly high. On the day I'm paid I make any
internet purchases I need, then go straight to the bank and
withdraw everything apart from what I've just used. Having
been extremely poor when living in UK I learned the hard way to
budget extremely efficiently. I ev en managed to buy a house
here with hav ing no credit card (i.e. no credit history either) and
even though it cost me 1% more in cash down as they obligingly
informed me one week before closing the transaction, it was do-able. The only thing which has thus far defeated my cash-only
lifestlye is my intention to hire a car in US, but I have actually
found a low-limit, low-fee occasional-use credit card which is
ideal for me through my mortgage provider, which, if I really
HAVE to give in, is fine with me. With any credit card here, we
have the highest interest rates in the world and again, the
incidence of credit card cloning & fraud is endemic, (and in
Mexico YOU, personally, are responsible for all the money stolen,
NOT the bank) so I have zero interest in anything more. In UK
one takes it for granted one's money is safe in the bank and one
has recourse if anything dodgy happens with a credit card,
whereas actually in other places anything other than using cash
for everything can be courting disaster. Unfortunately.
thisismycreed
5 July 2012 2:58PM
Response to Existangst, 5 July 2012 2:06PM
You try to deposit 1 0,000 or more cash into a bank
and they look at you as if you were a criminal.
Well I certainly won't be doing that then
CaptainMurdoch
5 July 2012 3:00PM
Response to Lokolo, 5 July 2012 1:43PM
I've always been suspicious of paying tips by card. I prefer
paying the waiting staff in person as I know they have/will
receive it. Plus I can show my appreciation with a thank you as
well.
lilithingreen
5 July 2012 3:07PM
only a couple of years ago a good friend of mine couldn't get a
bank accout. he'd had poor credit history for years, and while all
debts were now either paid, or being paid (in cash) we really
struggled to find a bank that would give him an account. there
was a stage where we genuinely weren't sure what to do, as his
new employer wouldn't pay him in cash - only into a bank
account, or by cheque - and while there are plenty of landlords
who would take rent in cash, utilities were out of the question.
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i can see plenty of perfectly sensible reasons for this march
towards electronic money, but for those who have been locked
out of the financial market (if that's what you call it) due to
poverty and endebtedness surely this isa really worrying trend?
Jimjimjeroo
5 July 2012 3:15PM
Response to earhole, 5 July 2012 2:50PM
In the wake of the Natwest cockup ... can anyone
doubt that a cash free economy is a really, really bad
idea?
Hear hear, sir.
Not only do I pay cash as often as I possibly can, I keep a good
500 of it at home for these scenarios. While the media are
constantly regurgitating articles claiming that cash is on life-
support, they hardly mention other occurrences such as that in
Germany at the start of 2011, when one-third of cards could
not be used for about a fortnight due to a (ahem) computer glitch.
IMHO we need more incidents like that, just to give those drippy
"I-buy-chewing-gum-with-a-card" hipsters a proper kick up
their frikkin arses.
WhatsMyPoint
5 July 2012 3:15PM
Response to damasene, 5 July 2012 1:54PM
No, no. This conspiracy goes deeper than we first feared! I too
have taken the time to Google the number on the article's stockphoto (...I know). It leads me to a Little Italy restaurant, indeed
not the non-cash restaurant quoted. And there's more... the kids
menu.... it's 5.95, not 3.99.
New. World. Order.
Run.
LinRichardson
5 July 2012 3:17PM
How is reducing the payment options av ailable to the customer inhis or her interest?
puljon
5 July 2012 3:22PM
Simply not right.
AllOutPious
5 July 2012 3:22PM
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To take cash as payment should be a legal requirement. Pisses
me right off that the big banks get to grow fat of just about
anything these days. Plenty of countries are largely cash based
and they sure as hell aren't doing worse than us.
imjakethepeg
5 July 2012 3:26PM
Try Soutj African banks, even for personal accounts. They chargeextra for depositng cash and extra for withdrawing it, and even
for a balance request. That is why i say they are like prostitutes,
you have to pay to put it in, pay to take it out and even charge
you just to look at it!
JimGriffin
5 July 2012 3:29PM
Response to Kipperphill, 5 July 2012 2:31PM
Apart from the restaurant Anna mentions
Trollopean
5 July 2012 3:29PM
Response toWhatsMyPoint, 5 July 2012 3:15PM
Kid's menu - Evidence, I think, that the photo was taken some
time ago and is from a library .
One of my favourite small restaurants in Paris does notaccept
credit cards - settlement by cheque or in cash required. Some
restaurants here accept cheques only from clients they know.
Apart from utilities, most department stores and businesses I 've
dealt with in France seem happy with cash, cheques or credit
cards.
tiresiae
5 July 2012 3:30PM
I didn't have any trouble making payments during the Natwest
problems. Anyone who did would have had just the same trouble
taking money out of a cash machine, so it doesn't really work as
an argument - unless you want to go back to, what, everyone
gets paid in cash and then you all do your tax returns at the end
of the year?
Nah.
And frankly paying for a handful of groceries with a card takes no
longer than fumbling about for change, whether I'm doing it or
the cashier is when I've paid with my mandatory tenner that I
apparently have to carry around in order to show the bankers
what's what.
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tiresiae
5 July 2012 3:31PM
And it should be pretty obvious why utilities etc. prefer card or
bank payments - because it can be automated and doesn't
require human admin to count it out and accept the payment.
Like it or not, that means paying someone to accept the cash and
so incurs fees.