[Paul_Sengupta]

I used to have a token thing on my keyring but the holder broke. I have various ones, but the pound coin loose in the pocket uses up the least amount of room.

[romille]

The best thing about going cashless is that it will make fiddling taxes more difficult for those that operate the black economy.

[johnm]

I think these things tend to happen through stick and carrot. Cash may become harder to get and more expensive for retailers to pay in, depending on how ATMs are used.

The carrot seems to be convenience and maybe will include small discounts in some cases.

There’s also the issue of generations and culture as with so much else.

I certainly use a lot less cash than I did just a few years ago, not just because I’m a tight barsteward who tries to avoid buying things either

[PaulB]

I use the phone for my shopping.... the one downside is not knowing if the £30 “contactless” limit applies or not. Usually I just try it - more often than not, it works.

Usually, the only place it doesn't work is in the imagination of the checkout operator!

I've had more than one checkout operator say "I've just learned something!" after the transaction that they said was "over the limit" gets approved.

[stevelup]

We were at an event at Birmingham Arena a couple of weeks ago - the whole place is completely cashless and there are warnings printed on the tickets.

[riverrock]

And having given a tip, I have to make sure I still have a pound coin to put in the supermarket trolley.

I prefer using a €1 coin. They used to be worth 70p but are now up to 90p

[flybymike]

The best thing about going cashless is that it will make fiddling taxes more difficult for those that operate the black economy.

I retired a couple of years ago after a lifetime in the construction industry.
Dealing with sub contractors my business would not have been viable in a cashless society.
Doubtless the same is still true of many small businesses to this day.

[akg1486]

In Sweden, more and more bars and smaller retail outlets no longer accept cash. Handling cash is expensive, difficult (now that fewer banks deal with them) and potentially dangerous. The downside is that a sizeable portion of the community neither have bank accounts nor qualify for credit cards and are in effect banned from such establishments.

I've read about research that says that people are more frugal when shopping with cash, when it's plainly visible how much money you have left in your purse, than when shopping with cards. We obviously need to change how we learn about "the value of money".

[romille]

I retired a couple of years ago after a lifetime in the construction industry.
Dealing with sub contractors my business would not have been viable in a cashless society.
Doubtless the same is still true of many small businesses to this day.

I understand where you are coming from and agree that most of us would pay cash to avoid VAT or get a better price. The issue is that people offering those sort of deals are generally defrauding HMRC of VAT, Tax and NI and even worse many are claiming out of work benefit, so there is a double hit.

[Miscellaneous]

The issue is that people offering those sort of deals are generally defrauding HMRC of VAT, Tax and NI and even worse many are claiming out of work benefit, so there is a double hit.

I don't question your assertion, nor do I condone it. I do however frequently feel defrauded by HMRC.

We obviously need to change how we learn about "the value of money".

Sadly I believe it is the lack of financial awareness (knowledge of money) that is the cause of so much financial strife. Well, that and the present entitlement generation, although they are of course linked.

It never ceases to amaze me how people simply exclaim they don't understand money and appear quite happy with the fact.

[romille]

I don't question your assertion, nor do I condone it. I do however frequently feel defrauded by HMRC.

I feel your pain but if the black economists contributed their fair share, honest people might be allowed to contribute less.

[Miscellaneous]

I don't question your assertion, nor do I condone it. I do however frequently feel defrauded by HMRC.

I feel your pain but if the black economists contributed their fair share, honest people might be allowed to contribute less.

It's not so much the contributing that irks me, it's the waste and the stealth like methods.

[defcribed]

For better or for worse, a move to a cashless society is essentially privatisation of our currency.

Cash is a medium of exchange provided by HM Government for all to use free of charge. Its production and management is paid for out of general taxation. Using it requires no account/login, no identification, no subscription payments, no fee per transaction, nothing. Anyone can pay with it or receive it. It's a great leveller.

What this means is that no-one makes any money out of it being used. When you use cash you are not a customer of any financial services provider and you are not cutting any middleman in on the transaction you're making.

Vested interests want to abolish cheques for the same reason. No-one gets a cut.

Abolish cash and cheques and it'll be very difficult to pay anyone for day-to-day activities without cutting some financial services provider in on the deal. If it happens, then I'd imagine BACS transfers would go the same way in fairly short order, or at least become a chargeable service.

Cash is long established in most countries as a government-provided medium of exchange. Saying that we're going to get rid of it and in its place you have to become a customer of one or more of these lovely companies, well, that's not a direction I really want us to go in.

I have to say that whenever I go anywhere 'cashless' (e.g. the canteen at the office to which I am loosely attached, which is about once a quarter) it's nothing but a pain in the butt. I'm rarely there, but when I am I just want to pay for a sandwich. I don't want to set up an account and keep money on a venue-specific card, a card which will take a week to turn up and which I would use very rarely.

Are any other countries talking about abolishing physical currency?

[PeteSpencer]

Dunno about cashless, but I think the brown shrapnel stuff will become a thing of the past ere long

Peter

[nallen]

Are any other countries talking about abolishing physical currency?

Denmark