I mean, since the last time I’ve visited: it seems like no one ever carries it. I prefer it because CC charge additional fees (which end up making the item cost more) I have a small rant about that: STOP RIPPING OFF PEOPLE WITH THOSE SURCHARGES?! (It should be 0 rather than 1%) as it may seem trivial, they add up overtime. Are stores allowed to refuse cash payments outright despite them being legal tender?
Yes they can refuse cash, but if they do that they must provide a fee free alternative such that they’re still complying with price advertising laws (which must be the lowest amount a consumer can expect to pay).
The surcharges suck, and in another month they won’t be allowed, but it’s not as though everything is going to be cheaper in the long run.
What we want is for the list price to be the final price, instead of this plus this plus that nonsense.
Yes, by carrying cash things might be 1% cheaper, but most people are happy to pay an extra 1% for the convenience of not carrying cash.
That said, as a card-only person for decades, I think I’m old and grumpy enough to start carrying cash again just because I don’t like my bank being all up in my stuff.
Yes, by carrying cash things might be 1% cheaper, but most people are happy to pay an extra 1% for the convenience of not carrying cash.
Many stores agree. In the U.S., there’s a debate about whether cities should require private businesses to accept cash, and the only reason why it’s a debate is because some stores are going cashless already. It saves them the labor of counting cash and depositing it at a bank, and it reduces the risk of mistakes, lost/misplaced money, theft/robbery, etc.
Unfortunately the new legislation only stops unforwarding the charge directly, there is nothing to stop the banks and card companies charging the vendor. Prices will likely go up across the board and if you pay cash, you’ll technically be paying part of everyone’s card surcharge.
I suspect that any attempts to discount for cash will be quashed, if it’s not already buried in there.
Banks have always charged the vendor.
Yes, I realise this, my point was that the cost doesn’t disappear, it’s just hidden
Cash has a cost. It needs to be physically handled, counted, stored securely, moved in armed transport, and cash in all businesses is lost to theft every hour.
Small business insists on cash not to avoid bank fees, but to avoid taxes. My barber’s lifestyle does not match his income on paper.
Exactly, I’m not sure how people can’t fathom how expensive it used to be to run everything on cash.
The free cash cost of the past had factored into it, the 30 minutes of wage needed to clear the tills and check the balances, the bank fee that they get to process 5kg of shrapnel, armoured guards to move large sums of cash around, specialised training, firearms and custom vehicles. Cash was an industry, of which a small amount remains.
Now the extra cents they slap on your card payment at the tap, that has always been bulshit. The price on the sticker being the amount you pay is a core tenant of this country, and I’m glad they are cracking down on it.
I’m also strongly in favour of keeping the cash option there. Many many good reasons to have it around.
You seem to be laboring under the misconception that people don’t want to pay for things by card.
Card payments are more convenient than cash.
They rely on a network, which costs money. Yes, the fees exceed the cost, which allows the network provider to make a profit. However, if the profit was excessive there would be alternatives, and most Australian’s will be invested in that payment network through their super anyway.
In summary, consumers are enjoying convenience in exchange for a fee. You personally might find the fee unreasonable but you’re the minority.
You seem fixated on the idea that when paying with cash you will be burdened with the card fee even though you’re not availing yourself of that service. I’m a self employed consultant. The vast majority of customers pay electronically, by bank transfer. A few times a year someone wants to pay with cash, so I have to make a special trip to the ATM to deposit it just for them. Handling cash has a non-trivial cost.
No, I hate cash and love the convenience of card via phone. I just don’t think it’s fair that if someone chooses to pay via cash, or a lower surcharge card, etc, that they are burdened with the cost of every one else’s choice. I’m happy to pay extra for what’s convenient for me and I think this concept of card fees meaning you don’t pay the “real cost” is idealogical nonsense, especially when you can get service fees, convenience fees, digital ticket fee, etc, etc. A good change would have been regulating reasonable costs by the bank.
You seem to have missed my point.
In my business cash is much more costly than card payments.
Cards are absolutely subsidising the people who pay cash.
Have I got good news for you. On 1 oct, those surcharges become illegal again.
Guilty. I never use cash. I rarely even carry my wallet these days. Everything is on/via my phone. All my ID, all my payments. Now that Transperth can do phones for tagging on/off public transport, there is literally nothing in my wallet that my phone can’t also do.
Phone is simply more convenient. I’ve been basically cashless for about a decade, now.
One of my local Vietnamese takeaway joints offers 10% discount for cash… So I carry cash now 😜
Good news! Surcharges are ending in October
I use cash very often; almost always at cafes and restaurants, and often in other places too.
I have several reasons for using cash:
- Avoid surcharges.
- Avoid entrenching dependency on payment-processing companies.
- Avoid easy tracking by banks and payment processors.
- Maintaining a sense of deliberate decision-making with purchases. (Using cash means I physically and necessarily think about how much money I’m handing over, whereas with a phone or card it takes no thought at all.)
- (and other reasons along similar lines and values as those I’ve listed.)
Really, I think it would be a disaster if cash was no longer widely accepted. Having all transactions funneled through a handful of private companies, with no way of avoiding them, … that would be very bad for a heap of different reasons. So continuing to use cash simply so that cash continues to be an option is good enough reason on its own.
Cash’s days are numbered. The main advantage of cash is tax avoidance and an underground economy, which is not sustainable.
I haven’t used cash for at least 5 years.
I don’t even take my wallet much anymore. My phone is all I need. If someone doesn’t have tap to pay facilities, I just don’t buy their good or service.
What if you lose it? Do you have a plan?
Honestly if I lose my phone, buying a hamburger or whatever is a lower priority than finding my phone or replacing my phone.
The places I go without a wallet are places I can be rescued/ rescue myself pretty easily. I wouldn’t leave a wallet at home when I’m travelling for example, but heading to the shops or going to a friend’s place I’ll leave it at home. My car starts with the phone too so I don’t even take keys most of the time.
Have you thought about this from an alternate security point of view?
What if someone breaks into your house/apartment? They now have your wallet with ID, cash(?), credit cards and any other goodies. If it’s with you, at least you have an option to put up a fight!
I suspect the chances of a wallet being stolen while you’re out and about is way higher than it being stolen from home.
Also with how many companies take all your personal information as “verification” and then immediately lose it to a hack, all my information is likely already out there anyway. Feels like The Simpsons where Burns and Smithers go through 9001 different security doors and then get to the control room and the rickety old back door is sitting ajar and there’s a stray dog hanging out inside.
Like so:
