I have just received a message from TfL - the gang running the Tubes and buses and everything else related to transport in London - that from the end of this month, money -cash - will no longer be accepted at any Oyster machines at Canary Wharf station. It is credit card or contactless to top up your Oysters there.
My guess is that this is the thin edge of the wedge.
Excellent! Loving the trend to cashless. Italy has a way to go, though. 😉
I thought this was going to be yet another warning about pickpockets 😬
Bad, bad news. Forcing you to use a card so the banks get a cut of the transaction. I am a cash person.
On privacy grounds, I don't like using cards unnecessarily. And I don't want to leave a data trail as I am on the run from a CIA hit-squad ☺
I presume you will still be able to top-up your Oyster Card at corner shops.
On a similar note, London Rail has begun setting up stations to use ONLY contactless cards. No Oyster. No paper tickets. Not really an issue (yet) for tourists, but the day is coming.
Nigel,
Thanks for sharing this info.
What SPAM is Larry referring to in his post? I am clueless...was it a post ahead of yours by someone else? Yours sure is NOT spam.
Thin of the wedge indeed.
I'm no wearer of a tinfoil hat by any means but it is my genuine held belief that the governments of this world would love to get rid of cash entirely, that way all transactions can be monitored.
I have it on good authority that the Department of Work and Pensions forces loyalty card companies to hand over customer data. They use it to establish what recipients of various welfare payments spend on their weekly shopping in Tesco for example and whether it is beyond their means which may suggest undeclared income.
Whilst card use is convenient, even more so with the introduction of contactless payment, we must all resist to temptation to forego cash at every opportunity. The Germans have a good balance in this respect. My recent trip to Berlin exposed me to a large number of establishments that would only take cash, a lot of those were small restaurants, bars etc but it's something to bear in mind when visiting. Even one of the most popular bars in the city, The Monkey Bar, had just one card machine and this was only used by the bar manager, all the other staff could accept cash but he was the sole custodian of the precious card machine. It was actually quite frustrating and extremely inefficient but looking at the bigger picture and with hindsight away from the torturous queues I like the reticence for adoption of all payments by plastic.
I’d put away the tin foil hats. I think it’s more that cash is such a pain to deal with in a cashless society.
Someone’s got to count it, take it to the bank and account for it. It’s fine to get on your high horse. But remember you’re paying for those employees to do that rather than other jobs.
At least there aren't any chips inserted into your body yet in the UK. The US is full of stories about Swedens move toward a microchip under the skin. Check it out.
The good thing about cash is that it still works when the electronic payment system is down, as has happened to me in a few shops in the past 6 months.
As someone who works retail, when the system is down, a lot of people don't have cash, so we do lose out on a few sales.
Here's an interesting take on going cashless and the unintended consequences for the elderly, homeless and poor...(mind you, I'm sure future gens will just have chips in their neck or something Big Brother-ish like that ;) ) https://qz.com/1516563/cashless-societies-are-harmful-for-the-poor-elderly-and-homeless/
On official figures only Sweden, Denmark, and Norway have lower usage of cash in number of transaction terms than the UK, and with Sweden this is only marginal. The curious thing is in those three countries production and amount of cash out with the public has been falling steadily, whereas in the UK it is rising. Potential suggestions to explain this put forward include that people are hoarding cash at home, or that it is being used for illicit transactions, or to help facilitate tax evasion where transactions are kept off the books.
Nicole's referenced article makes a good point. But I think there is bigger problem for the relatively large number of people (I think 12-15 percent in the US) of people who can't get credit cards or even have bank accounts - people with bad credit, people who cant do computers or smart phones, etc. I'd like to know how Sweden & Denmark, e.g., handle that problem.
George Orwell had a very clear vision of the future.
To think governments won’t use “data” for freedom limiting purposes is not to think.
Cashless May be “cheaper” but at what cost to a society. Not everyone can be an IT tech/programmer. To reduce all human activity to a price point is and will be 1984 coming true; and your missing the point to human life.
Travel safe,
One Fast Bob
...and today there was an article in our paper about how the bank of Canada was looking into a digital currency to eventually replace cash money. Now, how far in the future this may or may not happen is another matter.
Listened to a podcast this morning talking about the digital currency subject and the interviewee mentioned the homeless/poor issue and stores not accepting cash.
Call me old fashioned, but I’d hate having to take out my debit card to pay for a $1 can of soda.
"Call me old fashioned, but I’d hate having to take out my debit card to pay for a $1 can of soda."
There's nothing wrong with being old-fashioned. I certainly am. But I'd rather pay by "flashing" my card or 'phone, than rootling around in my pocket for some loose change. There was a time when getting rid of cheques would have seemed unbelievable, but how many of those do we use today?
I always have my money in hand when I get to the register...lol. I'm FAST! (Unlike my husband...ugh). But seriously - I've had people take way longer to pay with a debit or credit card than with cash. At the grocery store they never seem to take the card out until it's time to pay, then have to dig around in their bag for it....sigh. (Flip side is true as well - I'm just one of those people who is prepared).
And I have a cheap cell without wifi, so I can't just use a phone to pay for things. We rarely use the cell (we can put $100 worth of minutes on it, good for a year, and use maybe $20 of that). It doesn't make sense for us to pay the ridiculous monthly fees for something we rarely use.
Ah well, I'll probably be close to death before this all ever happens anyways. So I prob don't have to look forward to it. ;)
I’d hate having to take out my debit card to pay for a $1 can of soda.
You don't have to. There are multiple options including using your smart phone and even some watches where all you do is wave it in front of the terminal and the transaction is done. Since my smart phone is my only phone, I use it so don't mind the monthly charge which isn't very high for the plan I chose (I am not one of those people with my nose constantly glued to my phone. I use it when necessary.) Much faster than digging around in a purse or wallet for the cash. No worries about counting your change (or having a cashier who cannot count to 19 when you hand him/her a $20, because that is all the ATM would give out that day, to pay for the $1 drink).
I do still use cash when traveling to Europe, it just seems easier and faster there because I don't know if my credit card is going to work or not. While it has and continues to improve, there are still the surprises where the cards just won't work.
