New five pound note

The only reason we are moving towards cashless is because banks charge for the systems, and that gets passed onto all customers as extra cost. Mastercard are currently facing class actions in both the UK and US over this. Making it easier (such as contactless or NFC phones) means they get more people paying over their systems, so they get to cream more money out of the economy for providing these cashless services. Governments are in favour because being able to track transactions like this means more visibility of funds to be taxed and less black market. Everyone also gets to save money on having people/highstreet banks to deal with little bits of paper and metal, and everything is done electronically, so bigger profit margins.

Cashless isn't about being convenient for the individual, it's about making more money for the banks and the tax system.
 
Steampunk said:
The only reason we are moving towards cashless is because banks charge for the systems, and that gets passed onto all customers as extra cost. Mastercard are currently facing class actions in both the UK and US over this. Making it easier (such as contactless or NFC phones) means they get more people paying over their systems, so they get to cream more money out of the economy for providing these cashless services. Governments are in favour because being able to track transactions like this means more visibility of funds to be taxed and less black market. Everyone also gets to save money on having people/highstreet banks to deal with little bits of paper and metal, and everything is done electronically, so bigger profit margins.

Cashless isn't about being convenient for the individual, it's about making more money for the banks and the tax system.
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you say that but cash use is forecast to increase year on year for the next decade at least, and i know for a fact that the people at the BoE are a big fan of cash and want it to continue - with the security features they have on them now it is far safer than electronic money.
 
You write that like counting, storing and transporting cash is free. Of course companies providing a service are going to charge for it, but nobody operates those cash vans free of charge either.
 
Caged said:
You write that like counting, storing and transporting cash is free. Of course companies providing a service are going to charge for it, but nobody operates those cash vans free of charge either.
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It's not, but the point of cashless is not just because it's cheaper to run as opposed to cash, but because it gets access to cash transactions that banks don't currently have any access to.

I pay for something in cash, and shop still has to deal with bank to handle it's takings. I pay in contactless, and the shop additionally has to raise prices (which impacts the customer) to pay for the extra charges for using the banks' systems.

It's not just about making more money from the current slice of the pie, it's about getting some of money from the slice belonging to the cash-users pie that they don't see, and additionally adding the bank tax into the transaction.

If banks made more money from cash use, that is what they would encourage instead.
 
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If a shop has to raise prices to cover the small transaction fees associated with accepting card payments then they were likely accounting for the cost of dealing with cash incorrectly.
 
Are we forgetting that shops tend to be relatively large conglomerates at this point, whom can simply absorb the cost?

Who the **** cares about small indies?
 
Steampunk said:
I pay for something in cash, and shop still has to deal with bank to handle it's takings.
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And the cost to the shop of dealing with this cash is what?

I pay in contactless, and the shop additionally has to raise prices (which impacts the customer) to pay for the extra charges for using the banks' systems.
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But it makes a saving in cash handling costs..

it's about getting some of money from the slice belonging to the cash-users pie that they don't see, and additionally adding the bank tax into the transaction.
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Of course they currently see that pie - where does the money go when you pay cash and who pays for that? Oh, the shop pays for it and it goes to the bank!
 
 
glen8 said:
as someone who is a futurist, and tends to be a good 5 years ahead of the curve I am not a fan of physical money. That said, I have reluctantly mellowed in my old age and understand that the majority still require coins and paper currency to function. Based on that, I quite like it for what it is.
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:p
 
Mikeyboy said:
Must be using different ink/polymer to every other country who uses plastic notes. They've been around for over 20 odd years!
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the notes from the other countries have many problems, they just weren't considered that important because the actual volume of notes was small compared to the volume of sterling notes.
also the plastic used for our notes is better than in other notes so there are always teething problems.
 
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