Are we ready for a 'cashless' society ?

[TonyDown]

I do the same as @Charlie

 I keep a stash of 5's and 10's.

I always carry cash with me.

Some folks carry large amounts of cash on them.  A friend's father carries thousands because "you'll never know when you'll need it".  He is quite wealthy.  He's probably an anomaly, yet I expect there are other folks that do the same.

To me, cash seems like a safety net as a back up if other methods fail for some reason. 

 

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

Here's a summary of every business I visited or will visit today:

1. Breakfast at a diner.  Restaurant charges 2.5% for credit cards.  I paid with cash.

2. Bought hair products at a salon.  Solon quoted me 30% off if I paid in cash.  I paid with cash.  (Yes, 30% not 3%)

3. Car detail.  Business charges 8% for credit cards.  I paid with cash. 

4. Gay bar for a drink (TGIF!).  Bar only accepts cash.  I paid with cash. 

5.  Haircut/wax/manicure/pedicure/body scrub.  The provider charges 10% to accept credit cards.  I will pay in cash, as usual. 

I am glad I always have cash on hand to take advantage of these savings.  I only allow my tenants to only pay me via cash, check, or money other.  Right now, they all choose cash.  Therefore, I always have enough cash to avoid visits to the ATM or bank, and I can grab these great cash discounts that are more than my Rewards Credit Cards can offer me.

Edited May 9, 2025 by Vegas_Millennial

[Nightowl]

The only time I use cash now is when that’s the only form of payment accepted for an erotic massage.

[TonyDown]

I paid cash for my smog test last Friday, and for therapeutic massage Thursday.

[+ purplekow]

To my mind, credit cards and cash apps are a means of authorities keeping track of what I am buying, where I am buying it and how often.  While I have no reason to care who knows what I buy, I am not generally in favor of giving out such information.  If I want to buy a sex toy, why should anyone with access to my credit information know about that.  I was recently scolded by an escort for using cash.  He wanted an app payment.  He grudingly has been accepting cash but he claims it is extra work for him to go to the bank and there is the possibility of loss of cash.  On the other hand, I have chastised him about not having cash.  I guess when it is usually the case that someone else is paying , that there is no reason to have cash for small items.   

In 1969, in freshman English I wrote a short story about a time when you needed indentification to pay with cash.  The protagonist of the story did not have traditional identification and tried convincing the salesperson that his autographed Joe Namath poster that he was carrying should be more than adequate to prove his identity.  more than half a century later, the plot of my story has come to pass except very few people know who Joe Namath is.  In 1969 he was one of the most famous people in the US.  

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

I arrived in Vienna last night.  The popular cafe I went to this morning does not accept credit or debit cards.... Cash only

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

I'm still in Vienna, at the hustler bar Cafe Alte Lampe.  They only take cash... No credit or debit cards

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

On 1/21/2025 at 8:02 PM, TonyDown said:

I do the same as @Charlie

 I keep a stash of 5's and 10's.

I always carry cash with me.

Some folks carry large amounts of cash on them.  A friend's father carries thousands because "you'll never know when you'll need it".  He is quite wealthy.  He's probably an anomaly, yet I expect there are other folks that do the same.

To me, cash seems like a safety net as a back up if other methods fail for some reason. 

 

I always thought a credit card was a backup, to finance something I needed in an emergency if I didn't have enough cash on me.

[Frequentflier]

On 5/9/2025 at 4:18 PM, Vegas_Millennial said:

Here's a summary of every business I visited or will visit today:

1. Breakfast at a diner.  Restaurant charges 2.5% for credit cards.  I paid with cash.

2. Bought hair products at a salon.  Solon quoted me 30% off if I paid in cash.  I paid with cash.  (Yes, 30% not 3%)

3. Car detail.  Business charges 8% for credit cards.  I paid with cash. 

4. Gay bar for a drink (TGIF!).  Bar only accepts cash.  I paid with cash. 

5.  Haircut/wax/manicure/pedicure/body scrub.  The provider charges 10% to accept credit cards.  I will pay in cash, as usual. 

I am glad I always have cash on hand to take advantage of these savings.  I only allow my tenants to only pay me via cash, check, or money other.  Right now, they all choose cash.  Therefore, I always have enough cash to avoid visits to the ATM or bank, and I can grab these great cash discounts that are more than my Rewards Credit Cards can offer me.

Nice. You saved a bunch being able to pay with cash. 

I read that Colorado passed a law limiting how much a merchant can charge for accepting a credit card. Note that they don't have to accept credit cards, just that if they do high fees aren't possible. Fee has to be disclosed prominently. Limit is 2% or actual amount business pays whichever is less. No fee on debit card. A friend has a Maserati and his dealership charges a high percent to pay by credit card. Like what? He now pays for service, which as we know can be high on cars like a Maserati, with cash. He says he wants them to have to deal with taking cash to a bank. My thinking is, don't buy a Maserati. Haha.

It is easier to evade taxes by accepting cash. And now that the IRS has fewer agents its even less likely an auditor will show up and be able to figure out using other data from a business whether all the revenue has been reported. As with the above examples there are still plenty of ways to pay others with cash; recipients who are likely also avoiding taxes.

For tenants I started using a service years ago that automatically pulls payments directly from tenant bank accounts. I was more interested in the service because tenants can opt into credit bureau reporting so their on time payments helped their scores. Every tenant I've had and have now opted in. The fee is $5 a month and it can be paid by either party or split. I pay the $5. 

[TonyDown]

Today I arrived at my credit union with $25 in quarters and asked if I could make a deposit.  

The answer was no, because they are a "cashless" branch.   Cash is transacted through the ATM including a coin ATM inside the branch, below.

So this was a wake up call, a first hand example for me how the world is more and more "cashless".

 

 

 

Edited May 22, 2025 by TonyDown

[Frequentflier]

22 hours ago, TonyDown said:

Today I arrived at my credit union with $25 in quarters and asked if I could make a deposit.  

The answer was no, because they are a "cashless" branch.   Cash is transacted through the ATM including a coin ATM inside the branch, below.

So this was a wake up call, a first hand example for me how the world is more and more "cashless".

 

 

 

As I guess is one more step in that cashless direction, I read a headline today that the U.S. mint just placed its last order for pennies. Surely there are a lot of pennies out there already so it is doubtful they will disappear completely in what remains of my lifetime.

[mike carey]

1 hour ago, Frequentflier said:

As I guess is one more step in that cashless direction, I read a headline today that the U.S. mint just placed its last order for pennies. Surely there are a lot of pennies out there already so it is doubtful they will disappear completely in what remains of my lifetime.

I think that's less a harbinger of a cashless society than a recognition that having pennies makes less sense than in the past when a cent was actually worth something. It's not uncommon for low value coins to be withdrawn but for cash to remain an important payment method. Both Australia and New Zealand withdrew one and two cent coins last century, and in 2006 New Zealand issued new, smaller coins with 10 cents being the lowest value. In both countries, the low value coins were completely withdrawn from circulation, but in many settings there were still prices to the nearest cent, and exact payments were still made electronically (and by credit cards and cheques at the time). In Australia at least, the law specified how prices for non 0 and 5 cent totals had to be rounded when using cash.

[TonyDown]

Full disclosure, the coin ATM I mentioned at the credit union was out-of-order.   My bank would accept quarters if in rolls.  So I have that option or else driving to another credit union branch that confirmed their coin ATM is operational.

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

3 hours ago, mike carey said:

I think that's less a harbinger of a cashless society than a recognition that having pennies makes less sense than in the past when a cent was actually worth something. It's not uncommon for low value coins to be withdrawn but for cash to remain an important payment method. Both Australia and New Zealand withdrew one and two cent coins last century, and in 2006 New Zealand issued new, smaller coins with 10 cents being the lowest value. In both countries, the low value coins were completely withdrawn from circulation, but in many settings there were still prices to the nearest cent, and exact payments were still made electronically (and by credit cards and cheques at the time). In Australia at least, the law specified how prices for non 0 and 5 cent totals had to be rounded when using cash.

In the U.S., the half-penny was removed from circulation in the 19th century for its low value and rare use, when it was worth more than today's quarter dollar.

Edited May 23, 2025 by Vegas_Millennial

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

This past weekend, my auto mechanic of 16 years started charging a credit card fee.

I was already beginning to search for a new mechanic because of other changes over the past year resulting in lackluster customer service, but went to him this one last time.  The most noticeable change was the lack of a thorough written vehicle inspection report provided with every service.  Now, that's no longer provided as they've "gone paperless".

When it was time to pay, I saw the fee added to my pending credit card transaction.  I cancelled the payment and told the cashier that I wish I was told up front about this new fee, before I decided to proceed with the service.  I could have used the hours waiting for my car to be serviced to walk to the bank and withdraw enough cash.  The cashier gave me a discount to offset the credit card fee, but it was the straw that broke the camel's back in terms of lackluster service, so next time I'm going elsewhere.

Oh, and I found a new "technology fee" added to my receipt as well, whatever that's for.   I've already set myself a reminder to go to a different store for future service, and to bring plenty of cash!

Edited August 6, 2025 by Vegas_Millennial

[mike carey]

What, @Vegas_Millennial, they didn't add a 10% gratuity? They weren't even trying!

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

I'm at a restaurant in Puerto Vallarta right now, and the menu says pay in cash gets a 10% discount just ask your server.

I'm hearing every table around me asking to pay in cash (as I always do anyway).

Edited December 3, 2025 by Vegas_Millennial

[TryItAllTwice]

I'm rarely a fan of bills; at this point it would be easier for everyone to just have square and charge that way. I know I'd appreciate that ease of transaction between people. Or no transaction fees. Oh. That'd be the day 

[Becket]

Not in this particular hobby, no.....not at all.........

[Rudynate]

On 9/17/2024 at 11:38 PM, DynamicUno said:

I can't believe GenXers are complaining in significant numbers about Target not accepting checks. I stopped writing checks years ago and don't know anyone in my age group who hasn't switched to other payment methods.  

Checks are not the same as cash, however.  Retailers certainly don't consider checks as good as cash, they are the riskiest payment method.

I still see customers paying with cash, but less frequently since retail prices have soared in recent years.  It's less convenient to pay with cash when getting a few things at the supermarket now routinely exceeds $100.  People have to remember to hit the ATM more frequently before shopping and using a debit or credit card is perceived as more convenient.

As for Zoomers having worse credit than older cohorts, that's easily attributed to many of them having less consistent incomes and lower paying jobs (i.e. shiftwork or gigwork) since many are still getting established. They're using credit cards the same way older people used "float" years ago, deferring payments until they have been paid, and sometimes finding themselves short when the bills are due. Also splitting a restaurant tab is less hassle when everyone can settle up using Venmo than pooling cash and trying to make change when almost everyone has 20s and no smaller bills.

In short, cash usage has declined as even small trips to the store are more expensive, but I don't see it going away any time soon. Generational trends are more attributable to where people are at economically, and their comfort level with newer payment methods.  Checks will become a niche reserved for mostly business payments and slowly disappear as the boomers shuffle off the mortal coil.

 

I have checkbooks for three separate checking accounts.  A few months ago, I wrote a check for the first time, literally, in years.  I only did that because it was an exceptional circumstance in which sending a check seemed easiest.

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

2 hours ago, Rudynate said:

I have checkbooks for three separate checking accounts.  A few months ago, I wrote a check for the first time, literally, in years.  I only did that because it was an exceptional circumstance in which sending a check seemed easiest.

I'm down to 2 checkbooks for two separate checking accounts (always need a spare checking account, at a separate bank, in case of temporary bank closure in the event of a repeat of the Savings & Loan crisis of the 1980s).  I just mailed a check yesterday.  That reminds me, I need to buy more stamps when I'm at the post office to mail my 2025 taxes.