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When was the last time you used cash to pay for something?

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?
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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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.
I wouldn’t mind being able to use my smartphone to buy my fuel, the keypads for [email protected] are often sticky which sets off my OCD
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.
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
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 [email protected] 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!!
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.
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.
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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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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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.
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.
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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@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...
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
I used to pay in cash all the time and always had cash in my wallet.
Now when I think of it I have two ten pound notes in it that I had forgotten about.
Wow it's lovely to find money 😁
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I find it very handy but do worry about losing the card.
Out of curiosity does Apple Pay work well, and is it accepted in most shops? I am yet to set it up on my phone but maybe it’s safer than using contactless.
I very rarely use cash in normal times @66Mustang, same as Chloe I struggle to tell the difference between the coins and much prefer the convenience of contactless payments. I haven't used cash since before the pandemic.
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I'm yet to find somewhere that doesn't accept Apple Pay, I find it easy to use and with it using face ID or touch ID I feel it's more secure.
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Do you just double tap the home button then wave your phone near the card reader and it’s all done? Sorry for the questions I get a bit worried trying new stuff and prefer to know exactly what I’m doing when I do something like pay for stuff in public haha
I can imagine distinguishing the coins being hard with a visual impairment. Are notes just as hard to use as well? I‘m sure it wasn’t even designed for this reason but contactless card payments (or Apple Pay or equivalents) must be a godsend for people who can’t use cash for whatever reason. I guess one of the rare times disabled people benefitted by accident instead of the other way around.
Yeah notes are much easier, although I find myself spending quite a few seconds sometimes trying to find the corner where the big number is
That's an interesting observation actually, I'd agree with you on the whole. But much like with many other developments in this kind of technology, it presents new tasks, like trying to find the card reader to actually scan your card. But on the whole yes I agree with you, it's made things much easier.
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Here is more info which might help.
Pay with iPhone with Touch ID
Watch the demo to see how it works.
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But I still pay cash where I can, and will continue to do so. With cash o know exactly how much I've spent.
If i allowed myself say ten pounds a week to spend on whatever I please in cash it would be easier for me to have the self discipline to keep to that amount. Having a card just means I can spend whatever I like within reason obviously but my cut off point is far higher. To conclude, I think I spend more because I have a card on me mostly always.
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These days as well you can sit in a restaurant and order your food or drinks right from your phone. Not having to stand up and queue at a bar can often promote greater spending.
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