Cash or plastic?

[crfriend]

Taking a contactless payment, by contrast, is instantaneous, automatic and secure.

Not to mention absolutely trivially trackable by anyone who wants to look. This may not be a problem in the EU, which I'm given to understand has very strong data-privacy laws, but might be in the UK since Brexit. In the USA it's a massive problem because all those bits of data are available to anyone who can meet the asking price, not to mention warrantless authoritarian surveillance. In other words, in the US it's a massive threat to privacy and security -- both of which are already in very short supply here.

And the moves are already afoot to "make cash obsolete" so such tracking/sale/&c are not just possible but mandatory.

[Bill]

In the USA it's a massive problem because all those bits of data are available to anyone who can meet the asking price, not to mention warrantless authoritarian surveillance. In other words, in the US it's a massive threat to privacy and security -- both of which are already in very short supply here.

I'll still use plastic. I've nothing to hide. YMMV

[moonshadow]

My gripe is not for using cash or card, it's charging a fee for using a card when I can demonstrate that handling cash is also a business expense.

I honestly don't care either way, I carry a little cash and plastic for whichever is more appropriate for the situation. I will say though, credit cards, properly managed (paid off every month) are MUCH safer than cash or even debit cards.

If you carry cash and you lose it... oh well, your loss.

If you get held up (mugged) they won't get as much and you can always place a hold on stolen cards.

Also, lest we forget my favorite... the fact that American Law Enforcement Officers can literally take your cash whenever they find it with no due process. You have to fight in court to get it back and often times the legal battle cost more than the cash you're trying to recover... they know this. It's called "Civil Forfeiture", look it up.

Fun fact: Uncle Joe was one of the architects of this bit of legislation.

I like privacy as much as the next guy, but lets face it, privacy is dead. And FWIW, I found it pretty handy on not one, but two occasions when I had to return something to Walmart, I lost the receipt, and was actually able to pull up my transaction in the Walmart app because my credit card database system somehow stored what I purchased. Yes.. yes.. I realize this is primarily for marketing purposes, but damn it came in handy when I was trying to return that $160 toaster oven a few months ago with no box, receipt, etc.

Cash is dirty. It gets shoved between peoples boobs, in their shoes, between their legs... dontcha love when someone hands you a dollar bill that is damp...? eewww!

I've also had cases where I accidentally get a damaged note. I know they are still legal tender but it can be a real pain trying to get cashiers to accept them, you wind up making a special trip to a bank, waiting in line, and hoping they'll exchange it. I've received money back where a corner was torn off, or the bill was ripped in half and taped back together, they argue with me when I hand it back to them and demand a note in better condition. They say "oh you can still spend that", I reply "well, give it to someone else, once I have it I'll never be rid of it.." They know this.

You forget and leave cash in your pocket before you load the washing machine... good luck air drying those notes and hope they don't get destroyed by the agitator. Plastic just comes out clean!

I dunno... just me I guess.

[Midas]

There is no apparent limit on the use of a smartphone to pay. I use my iPhone for more or less everything. My physical cards hardly ever leave my wallet and I tend to take them with me as backup only. As for cash, I always keep a few quid in notes in my wallet and have coins for parking machines that don’t use an app, but hardly ever use it. Even the window cleaner takes payment electronically.

[floatingmetal]

Some platforms make it less visible but trying to do some modelling of expected card transaction costs recently was enough of the nightmare that we gave up - different percentages for every variation of in person/by phone/online / credit/debit /Visa/Mastercard/AmEx/Diners (etc.) /personal/corporate /domestic/international and possibly some others I've blanked out.

If I took cash for my own business, its 0.7% with a minimum charge of £3 to deposit, so I'd need to have a few hundred quid floating around to make it worthwhile, then go to the Post Office with it, with all the joys that brings. As it's "company money" it's accounted for via. the booking system and invoices. None of my suppliers take cash, they're mostly online service subscriptions. Transaction charges - offset against tax. Not having to queue to pay in cash - priceless.

[Myopic Bookworm]

You forget and leave cash in your pocket before you load the washing machine... good luck air drying those notes and hope they don't get destroyed by the agitator. Plastic just comes out clean!

We now have plastic banknotes in the UK. (And they are different colours, so you can tell at a glance what you have in your hand.)

[denimini]

The bank notes in Australia are plastic too. It does make it feasable to launder money.
During to pandemic a person could not give away cash, it was card only.

[pelmut]

During to pandemic a person could not give away cash, it was card only.

The first day of lockdown I devised a simple method of handling cash without risk of transmitting infection. I put my cash in a small wide-mouthed plastic jar and about one-third filled it with isopropanol (industrial alcohol). I handed the wet coins to the shopkeeper and held out the lid of the jar for him to place the change in it. Having counted the change without touching it, I tipped it into the jar.  No infection could pass either way.

At first I only tried this with coins because i was worried that the new plastic notes might be damaged by the isopropanol. Eventually I decided to risk a 5 UKP note; it survived, so I then tried the larger notes and found they were undamaged too.

Only one shop assistant seemed reluctant to handle cash that had come from the jar.  I found out from his boss that his religion forbade alcohol -- though I did explain that this was not drinking alcohol, but was a completely different chemical. Apparently his religion had not caught up with such subtle chemical differences.

[Grok]

New store down the street that only accepts plastic. I believe that is the first such in the neighborhood.