When was the last time you used cash to pay for something? — Scope | Disability forum
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When was the last time you used cash to pay for something?

66Mustang
66Mustang Community member Posts: 13,367 Disability Gamechanger
edited October 2020 in Coffee lounge
I used to withdraw about £50 every 6 months or so and it would slowly get used until I needed to withdraw some more. Mostly I would use my card but I would still use cash as well.

I don’t think I have used any cash since the start of the Covid problems. I have had 2 £5 notes in my wallet since the start of the Coronavirus and have just given them to a family member who needed them for something. I seem to use my card for everything now. The new contactless limit of £45 is helpful I think although it does make me worry about losing my card.

Has the amount of cash you use changed since the Covid problems started?
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Comments

  • OverlyAnxious
    OverlyAnxious Community member Posts: 2,586 Disability Gamechanger
    I haven't used cash at all since Covid started but even before that I rarely used it.  I use Contactless in the supermarket and a smartphone app to pay for fuel.  Anything else I buy online.

    I think the last time I used cash would've been a car show entrance fee in September last year!  I did make a small coin donation at a local fireworks display in November if that counts.

    I do always keep some cash in my wallet in case the card fails though, I have a few old 20's in there so will need to spend those before they become obsolete!  So far there's no end date for spending them and I doubt there will be before Corona has passed now.
  • 66Mustang
    66Mustang Community member Posts: 13,367 Disability Gamechanger
    Thanks for sharing @OverlyAnxious

    I wouldn’t mind being able to use my smartphone to buy my fuel, the keypads for Pay@Pump are often sticky which sets off my OCD :s so I have to use the plastic gloves but sometimes they don’t have any. However, I go to Tesco as it is cheapest and I’m not sure they offer such a facility.

    Just so you know, bank notes always retain their face value with the Bank of England. You can trade in any old coins or notes with them and receive the face value of the cash. Most of the time a regular bank will also provide the same service but they can refuse i.e. if you are trading in very old money (although that would probably be worth more than its face value to a collector anyway). However the Bank of England works as a last resort. That said it’s probably easier to just spend them. :D
  • janer1967
    janer1967 Community member Posts: 21,964 Disability Gamechanger
    I used cash yesterday to pay for my sons haircut at the barbers I also use it to pay for taxis as not many take cards 

    Also to give my son when he goes to the shop for me so I usually have some in my purse 

    I also pay my gardener and chiropodist in cash 
  • 66Mustang
    66Mustang Community member Posts: 13,367 Disability Gamechanger
    Thanks for posting @janer1967 so you still use it quite a lot then!
  • roberttaylor570
    roberttaylor570 Community member Posts: 575 Pioneering
    Since lockdown I have started using a debit card for the first time in a couple of decades.  I prefer cash and cheques to get cash from the bank or building society.  I have found contactless payments take a long time to clear my account.  When al this is over I am going back to cashing a cheque for cash at the bank and paying for shopping with cash.  I don't use internet banking and my old phone can't cope with apps.
  • OverlyAnxious
    OverlyAnxious Community member Posts: 2,586 Disability Gamechanger
    66Mustang said:
    Thanks for sharing @OverlyAnxious

    I wouldn’t mind being able to use my smartphone to buy my fuel, the keypads for Pay@Pump are often sticky which sets off my OCD :s so I have to use the plastic gloves but sometimes they don’t have any. However, I go to Tesco as it is cheapest and I’m not sure they offer such a facility.

    Just so you know, bank notes always retain their face value with the Bank of England. You can trade in any old coins or notes with them and receive the face value of the cash. Most of the time a regular bank will also provide the same service but they can refuse i.e. if you are trading in very old money (although that would probably be worth more than its face value to a collector anyway). However the Bank of England works as a last resort. That said it’s probably easier to just spend them. :D
    I've been taking my own gloves to handle the pump since Covid started, never used to before - a sensible safety idea or a new compulsion?  Not sure! 

    I don't think any supermarket offers the app use yet but I use a small branded forecourt in town which costs the same as the supermarkets that are just off the dual carriageways.  The app also automatically adds your points and gives offers, as well as emailing a receipt, so it is very useful.  It isn't totally failsafe though, so I am tempted to try pay@pump in future...just not really sure of the procedure and don't want to look a fool haha!  I'd definitely want gloves for a sticky keypad too!

    As for the notes...definitely easier to just spend them I think!!  :D
  • 66Mustang
    66Mustang Community member Posts: 13,367 Disability Gamechanger
    @roberttaylor570 that is a good point. When you withdraw cash from your account it is instant whereas a card payment often takes days to come out so you need to keep a track of how much you actually have to spend compared to what it says you have in your account, so as to not go overdrawn.
  • 66Mustang
    66Mustang Community member Posts: 13,367 Disability Gamechanger
    edited October 2020
    @OverlyAnxious Pay@Pump is really easy, you put your card in and enter your PIN and it authorises a £99 payment then you can take as much fuel as you need up to £99. The one thing that is a bit confusing is that, with Tesco, it shows as a £1 transaction until the payment is actually taken which can take a few days, so for a few days it seems as though you have that money available to spend.

    Example if my account has £200 in and I buy £50 of fuel, it shows as £1 taken and £199 available so it’s easy to go off and spend £199 then after a few days the £50 comes out and you go overdrawn haha. You do get used to just remembering how much fuel you put in though and budgeting accordingly.
  • leeCal
    leeCal Community member Posts: 7,550 Disability Gamechanger
    edited October 2020
    Use it or lose it applies here. When the Covid pandemic is over we should resume to use cash again if we value the little bit of financial freedom it gives. The problem with banks is that they are tied to the government and work hand in glove with them. 

    Would car boot  sales be as popular if everyone used cards, I think not. How about selling your second hand car? I think we should keep cash as long as possible and I say that because it’s inevitable that They will get rid of it eventually...for our benefit of course.

    “This is my simple religion. No need for temples. No need for complicated philosophy. Your own mind, your own heart is the temple. Your philosophy is simple kindness.” 
    ― Dalai Lama XIV

  • Tori_Scope
    Tori_Scope Scope Posts: 12,488 Disability Gamechanger
    @66Mustang @roberttaylor570 my banking app tells me what my 'pending' payments are, which is quite handy, but I still have to do the maths if there are multiple payments in there to work out how much I need to take off my balance. 

    I really hate using cash because find myself getting nervy over whether I've got the right amount, whereas with card I only have to worry that I've got enough in my account to make the payment (which I hopefully do!). The last time I used cash was at the hairdressers the week before last and that's the only thing I use it for really now, other than the occasional one-off thing.
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  • 66Mustang
    66Mustang Community member Posts: 13,367 Disability Gamechanger
    You are right @leeCal it is easy to “diss” cash but I think we would miss it if it were to go. I don’t think I would want to give up being able to use cash completely.
  • 66Mustang
    66Mustang Community member Posts: 13,367 Disability Gamechanger
    @Tori_Scope thanks for posting, good point about having the right money. I guess another benefit is that there is no chance of being short changed with a card as well!
  • 66Mustang
    66Mustang Community member Posts: 13,367 Disability Gamechanger
    Does anyone know what happens if say you lose your card and someone goes on a contactless spree with it? Can you claim the money back or is it gone?
  • Tori_Scope
    Tori_Scope Scope Posts: 12,488 Disability Gamechanger
    edited October 2020
    Yes, that's also true @66Mustang! Although it is sometimes worth checking that they've entered the right amount into the card machine, especially in a bar or club.
    Does anyone know what happens if say you lose your card and someone goes on a contactless spree with it? Can you claim the money back or is it gone?

    That's happened to me once before. They didn't go on a 'spree' as such, but they made one or two small-ish payments. I cancelled my card via the app as soon as I realised my card was missing, and rang the bank the next day to order a new card and tell them about the payments that weren't made by me. I was reimbursed the money with few questions asked, but that might just have been because it was a relatively small amount (under £20). I'm not sure what the actual policy is. 
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  • 66Mustang
    66Mustang Community member Posts: 13,367 Disability Gamechanger
    Thanks @Tori_Scope. Good point, I guess it only takes one button mis-press for £4.50 to turn into £45.00.

    We have found 2 contactless cards on the ground over the years and handed them both in. I am hoping someone does the same when I inevitably lose mine but I dread them going crazy with it haha. Apparently it sometimes asks for your PIN to verify the card isn’t stolen but I’ve never been asked for it when using contactless.
  • roberttaylor570
    roberttaylor570 Community member Posts: 575 Pioneering
    @66Mustang I was denied when shopping in Iceland and they accepted cash, this was about a month ago.  I took the card to the bank and they agreed to replace it.  They did say that after a while it demands a reset by drawing out cash or using a service at the bank.  I just want to go back to cash but it is too dangerous just yet.  I used cash this morning for a special collection at church, I have moved my donation to fortnightly direct debit.
  • leeCal
    leeCal Community member Posts: 7,550 Disability Gamechanger
    edited October 2020
    @66Mustang years ago Gordon Brown the then chancellor was convinced that the black market was worth over £5 billion a year, he wanted to reduce that and raise taxes by doing so. Ie if everything has to be accounted for then taxes can be levied, with cash sales and purchases that can’t be done.

    im not condoning the black market but I do believe we should have some freedom in our financial dealings without everything being taxed and vatable.

    “This is my simple religion. No need for temples. No need for complicated philosophy. Your own mind, your own heart is the temple. Your philosophy is simple kindness.” 
    ― Dalai Lama XIV

  • Tori_Scope
    Tori_Scope Scope Posts: 12,488 Disability Gamechanger
    edited October 2020
    Yeah, mine was stolen off of me so that's why they made some payments I suppose @66Mustang! I'd like to think most people would hand them in. 

    I definitely get asked to type my pin in every now and again. I don't know whether it does it based on how much I've spent or how many times I've made a payment though. 
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  • OverlyAnxious
    OverlyAnxious Community member Posts: 2,586 Disability Gamechanger
    @leeCal Most people buy used cars using instant bank transfer via phone apps nowadays.  It's much safer than carrying a wad of cash around to a strangers house.  Also takes days to get it out of the ATM in £300 increments if you don't live near the bank.  The only trouble with that is that the seller also needs to have a device to check that it's gone through...last few cars I sold I didn't have a phone capable of banking apps and had to ask them to wait for 10 minutes while I fired up the laptop and online banking!


    @66Mustang Regarding the contactless card, mine 'fails' roughly every 10 uses or so and needs to be inserted and put the PIN in.  I've often wondered if that's a safety thing or just dodgy machines.  I've never been asked to enter a PIN after a contactless tap.  The bank track your spending, so they'll should be able to tell if someone else has used your card...  Of course that's not a perfect solution...if you always got to Tesco on a Monday morning and buy £20 of food, you could drop your card on the way round and then someone else spends £20 at your usual time in your usual place...  :#
  • 66Mustang
    66Mustang Community member Posts: 13,367 Disability Gamechanger
    Ahh that makes sense. Yes - most of my spending is at the same places and similar amounts and times of day so that maybe explains why I’ve never had to insert my card.

    That said I did once go to a bar and buy a drink which should have raised alarm bells with the bank as an “out of character” transaction but that also worked fine hahaha :D

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