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The Almighty Buck United Kingdom

UK Cash Usage Halves Within Days as Shops Close Due To Coronavirus (theguardian.com) 40

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
Cash usage in Britain has halved in the past few days, according to Link, which operates the UK's biggest network of ATMs. From a report: The closure of shops, a shift to contactless payments, plus concerns that notes may harbour the virus has contributed to the dramatic decline. Link said the ATM system was operating at its normal standard and that it was working closely with banks and regulators to ensure cash continued to be available. "Consumers' ATM and cash use has fallen significantly, by around 50%, over the past few days and this is likely to continue as people move to follow the prime minister's instructions to stay at home," it said. Some shops are refusing to accept cash during the crisis, demanding that customers pay by card only. Gareth Shaw, head of money at Which?, said: "We are concerned this will leave many vulnerable people unable to pay for the basics they need. Both the government and retailers need to find a way to ensure that the millions of people who rely on cash, and may not have a bank card, can still pay for essentials during this difficult time."
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UK Cash Usage Halves Within Days as Shops Close Due To Coronavirus More

UK Cash Usage Halves Within Days as Shops Close Due To Coronavirus

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  • A business where you could go in and deposit your money with them, in your own account, and then they give you a little plastic card that you can use in place of cash! It would be a wonderful thing...

    • Unfortunately, we don't live in your fancy science-fictionny world of the future of tomorrow, we live in the reality of today, where people still exchange goods and services for vegetables and eggs.

      • Vegetables and eggs? That's my problem! I'm still trying to find a barter partner for my dirt clods and pointy rocks!

        • Vegetables and eggs? That's my problem! I'm still trying to find a barter partner for my dirt clods and pointy rocks!

          You should probably start with a red paperclip instead.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dwywit ( 1109409 )

        My neighbours have many chickens and 2 cows.

        I have kitchen scraps and kilos of baking's flour.

        They get fresh bread and scraps for the chickens, I get fresh eggs and fresh milk.

      • So your point here is that woke businesses should accept goods and services as payment for their goods and services???? Someone needs eggs and they offer to mop the floors at the store and the store must accept it???? Or if someone has eggs, they should be able to pay for their haircut using those eggs???? WTF? Societies has evolved to using money long time ago, this is not science fiction world of the future.

    • A business where you could go in and deposit your money with them, in your own account, and then they give you a little plastic card that you can use in place of cash! It would be a wonderful thing...

      Even better would be a business where people with no money (possibly even no fixed address) could open an account where others could place money for them, then they could use that card in place of cash. It would be a wonderful thing.

      Here in Canada, the feds have already announced that relief payments will either be direct deposit, or for people with no bank account, prepaid debit cards.

  • This has been tested on US currency, and seems to work.

    1) clean your sink.
    2) lay your currency flat on the bottom of the sink and sprinkle with water.
    3) place a drop of dish detergent on the currency.
    4) hold the currency on one side with your thumb and with a soft brush gently scrub the other end from center to edge.
    5) sing happy birthday if you wish.
    6) rotate the currency and lather up the other end where your thumb was.
    7) invert the currency and repeat steps (4) thru (6) on the other side of the bill.
    8) g

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by xwin ( 848234 )
      Why would one do this? You can just use a hot iron and iron bills from both sides. Much faster than singing happy birthday. Coins you can just drop in to alcohol or vinegar and then rinse off.

    • Let me add, that this method does not scale well, and that if I were a shop-keeper and had a large stack of various denominations of currency at the end of the day, it would be an onerous task to launder every one of them. In such a case, an alternate method of laying out the bills on a bed and bathing them in the light of a sterilizing UV lamp (easily found online - perhaps not so easily acquired these days) might prove effective. Do also acquire UV eye protection if attempting this.

      But for those of us w

      • UV lights are useful for checking for counterfeits, so a lot of places already have such lighting... just need too turn up the brightness. :-)
      • For a cut, there are people who are willing to launder currency. How do you think phone scammers get funds out of N. America?

    • And what should we tell all the queuing customers to do while all that happens?

      No paywave, no service.
      Done.

    • Money laundering, eh?!

      We'll be dropping by shortly.

      Signed: the FBI

    • *insert money laundering is illegal joke here* I know a guy who is so germophobic that he puts his cash in a delicate item bag and washes it with his clothes. Then he irons it flat afterward.

  • "We are concerned this will leave many vulnerable people unable to pay for the basics they need. Both the government and retailers need to find a way to ensure that the millions of people who rely on cash, and may not have a bank card, can still pay for essentials during this difficult time."

    What vulnerable people?
    Anyone in the UK can get a standard bank account with a card, if someone doesn't have one it's because they chose not to.
    What's more, pretty much all legitimate sources of income require a bank account to be paid into - most employers demand this, as does the government welfare system including unemployment benefits and pensions.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by AHuxley ( 892839 )
      Its a term for people who cannot set up a UK bank account.
      Depending on the citizen or person allowed to be in the UK:
      Create an account with ID as needed:
      Bank and gov approve the use of that new account.
      Wage is paid in.
      Gov pays a support payment in.
      A pension is paid in.
      Bank gives a card on a low cost account.

      What could be the block to that? Who might not be able to do that?
      People who need support of a gov, social worker, charity to help them use a bank?
      Citizens would have the ability to ask for
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Bert64 ( 520050 )

        That doesn't make sense...
        Proof of previous addresses is meaningless unless you're applying for credit, you have valid ID i assume since you left the UK you must have had a passport?
        People open bank accounts all the time without proof of current or previous addresses, think students and other people still living with their parents.

        They might ask for your previous addresses, but i've not seen them require proof, nor will they reject foreign addresses if thats where you happened to be at the time. The only ca

    • Many people cannot get a bank account

      Pensions can be accessed without a bank account, so can benefits

      Retailers cannot by law refuse payment in cash

  • The vast majority of younger people in the UK rarely use cash these days, but what quantifies 'younger'?
    That's hard to say, the demographics could also suggest 'digitally savvy'?

    Either way, cash usage in the UK, like much of the rest of the world, is already extremely low.
    From an entirely anecdotal perspective, I very rarely have cash in my wallet these days. My car has a stash of coins for parking charges, as the electronic payment options on payment meters vary - for some, you can pay by phone, for others

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by rklrkl ( 554527 )

      Assuming the UK elderly have bank accounts (if for no other reason than to get their pension paid into and being able to get cash out from an ATM), they should also have a contactless payment card to go with the account.

      In the simplest case, this means just swiping the card over a terminal or slotting it in and typing a PIN where contactless isn't available or they are over the contactless limit. I'd even argue a contactless card is easier than an equivalent mobile app + NFC - no phone needed, no app needed

  • Being old enough that I still like to have some cash, and I feel odd using debit to pay for a $2 item, About 3 weeks ago I had $6 in coins in my pocket, and no bills. So I stopped at the ATM, and grabbed $100. It has been 3 weeks and I still have $106 on me. Normally $100 lasts me 2-3 weeks for misc purchases. Very strange times we are living in.

    A couple of suggestions from an old guy.
    Keep your gas tank full.
    Don't wait to run out if things to buy more.
    Stay inside and play video games.
    Wash your hands.

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