In the United States there are a small number of business that are cash-only or prefer cash. Usually they are small family-owned delicatessens or convenience stores (bodegas).
I understand that in Germany, for example, it is still the general rule that one pays in cash for smallish purchases. I’ve heard that you can’t really get by on a daily basis in Germany without carrying cash.
With the pandemic, a lot of places here are moving to cashless systems.
So how is the pandemic affecting the use of cash on a daily basis and will we see an end to cash-only or cash-preferred businesses in your area or worldwide?
Interesting point. It may be a sign of my (de)generation but I find handling paper currency to be somehow satisfying. The ritual of pulling money out of a clip and sorting the change back in order. Folding and tucking back into a pocket. I realize currency is terribly unsanitary, but I’m still quite attached to it for small purchases. I’m annoyed by having to pay for a coffee using plastic.
No. Believe it or not, there are millions of Americans who don’t qualify for credit cards and who don’t have bank accounts (and who would be charged fees that they cannot afford in get one).
I’ve thought the whole cashless system would be good for something like this pandemic but I find I’m still being forced to touch surfaces that multiple people have touched.
Going to get gas seems easy, just slide your card, but then I get asked a dozen questions “do you want a car wash? Receipt? Credit or debit? Zip code?” that all require me to touch the same yes/no button that everyone else has.
I’ve taken to using a car key to push these buttons but some are touchscreens now that require a tactile touch. The self checkout at places like Target are even worse with how many screen and keyboard touches are required for a cashless transaction.
Notice I asked about ending “cash-only” policies. Would that constitute a war on the poor? I’d be interested in your take on ending cash-only systems rather than imposition of Mandatory cashless systems.
But addressing that point as an aside, cashless systems aren’t inherently anti-poor.
We could actually have a government agency give everyone an electronic account who can’t afford a commercial bank account. Welfare (WIC) is done with electronic accounts now.
And in India, for example, the postal service serves as a low-cost bank open to everyone who needs to have an account or send money.
Where are these cash only places? I live in the Seattle-Tacoma area and I can’t remember the last cash only place I saw besides kids selling candy. I still use cash at lots of places and have no problems, and I of course live near viral hot spots. To confirm what everyone else said, you touch screens so often using credit/debit cards you get no social distancing benefits.
The place I’ve gotten my haircuts for the last several years is cash only.
One thrift store I go to doesn’t do cards but it does take checks in addition to cash. Ditto a large “farmers market” i.e., just a really big produce, meat, and what not store. They do a tremendous amount of business. OTOH, another “farmers market” we go to takes cash and cards but not checks.
As a real world example, I just went to my local Thriftway. The cashier told me she couldn’t fill my bags due to safety reasons–but accepted my cash without problems.
In my nearest local grocery store, cash is handled only in certain aisles (or possibly none at all any more). There was an old man in front of me trying to pay in cash after his order was rung up, and someone escorted him and his groceries to the customer service counter to deal with the cash.
Cash has always been one of the most germ-laden commodities we have around. Right now, no pun intended, I’d avoid it like the plague.
Any chain retail or convenience store I can think of takes credit/debit cards - but small, independent, mostly take-out restaurants (pizza, Chinese etc) often don’t. Bodegas/delis/fruit stores sometimes accept EBT/SNAP cards but not credit or debit cards. It’s not so many places that you can’t survive without cash - but I can’t think of anywhere I could get a couple of slices of pizza without cash.
A nearby Chinese restaurant is cash only. A convenience store adjacent to my former workplace is cash only. The traditional hot dog vendors and Latino food trucks (as opposed to the hipster food trucks) are often cash only. It’s usually small, independently owned businesses.
And I understand that in Germany, you pretty much have to carry cash all the time for transactions that we routinely use cards for in America.
In Canada virtually every retail business takes credit cards and I would say 80-90% accept contactless. In the current Covid environment cash is being accepted less frequently.
Currency is a government provided system for keeping track of money. We could have an electronic government provided system for keeping track of money.
Cash is expensive to use and it’s ridiculous to insist that people be willing to; if you want to make sure the poor can participate in the economy, give them the tools to do so.
I really hope so, but those idiot bans on cashless businesses are trying to thwart it. I assume it’s mostly to keep Amazon out.
I’m well aware there’s a decent number of proud Luddites on the SDMB, but the only use I have for cash is during summer street festival season. The technology isn’t quite there for booths to be cash free yet, the square cards depend on cell phones and service still can get bogged down at a busy festival. I can also see how a really busy bar doesn’t want to run tabs except for the most loyal of regulars on a very busy night.
I don’t understand - I can sort of understand being opposed to cash-only businesses, and I can definitely understand being opposed to a ban on cashless businesses but you seem to be opposed to the idea of businesses accepting cash at all, even if they also accept cards. I mean, I hardly ever pay cash myself, but I don’t care what forms of payment a business will accept in addition to my preferred one.