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ArishMell · 70-79, M
@ninalanyon If a shop insists cash-only for no clear business reason then I would suspect tax-avoidance.
Otherwise shops should offer the choice, and in the last few years many people have stayed with or returned to using cash to help them control their own spending.
There is another point, which Meggie may have missed in her "those who still use cash" headline; and seems completely unknown to the "cash-only" proponents - and the banks.
This is British society's huge range of activities, charities, clubs, small sales, public events etc., run by volunteers, for which cash is the only sensible and practical way to pay. The total annual turnover of the nation in myriad small-value cash transactions and donations is probably incalculable but enormous.
Remove cash, and swathes of these would suffer or even cease to exist.
Incidentally this thread is in the WRONG section of SW.
Otherwise shops should offer the choice, and in the last few years many people have stayed with or returned to using cash to help them control their own spending.
There is another point, which Meggie may have missed in her "those who still use cash" headline; and seems completely unknown to the "cash-only" proponents - and the banks.
This is British society's huge range of activities, charities, clubs, small sales, public events etc., run by volunteers, for which cash is the only sensible and practical way to pay. The total annual turnover of the nation in myriad small-value cash transactions and donations is probably incalculable but enormous.
Remove cash, and swathes of these would suffer or even cease to exist.
Incidentally this thread is in the WRONG section of SW.
ninalanyon · 70-79, TVIP
@ArishMell
I Scandinavia we have a payment system called Vipps. See (in English):
With that all you need is someones mobile phone number to pay them instantly from a smartphone. I use it all the time for the clothes I get rid of online back home. Charity jumble sales can use it too, but it is much more expensive than taking payments by debit card. Vipps takes 1.99% + 1 NOK whereas a debit card takes only 0.15% in Norway with BankAxept.
It's not expensive to get a portable payment terminal either here or in the UK (you can buy them in T. G. Jones). You can also set up a mobile phone as a payment terminal, that's how I pay my attendance fee at Nottingham Chameleons for instance, I just tap my mobile on Lynn's and it's done.
So charities and other volunteer events would suffer slightly because of transaction fees but not much.
The bigger danger with going cashless is resilience. This was addressed by the Norwegian parliament a couple of years ago with a law banning permanent business locations from refusing cash and a readiness campaign by The Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection that included the rule tat you should keep a decent amount of cash available in case electron payments become impossible.
See:
Remove cash, and swathes of these would suffer or even cease to exist.
I Scandinavia we have a payment system called Vipps. See (in English):
https://help.vippsmobilepay.com/en-DK
With that all you need is someones mobile phone number to pay them instantly from a smartphone. I use it all the time for the clothes I get rid of online back home. Charity jumble sales can use it too, but it is much more expensive than taking payments by debit card. Vipps takes 1.99% + 1 NOK whereas a debit card takes only 0.15% in Norway with BankAxept.
It's not expensive to get a portable payment terminal either here or in the UK (you can buy them in T. G. Jones). You can also set up a mobile phone as a payment terminal, that's how I pay my attendance fee at Nottingham Chameleons for instance, I just tap my mobile on Lynn's and it's done.
So charities and other volunteer events would suffer slightly because of transaction fees but not much.
The bigger danger with going cashless is resilience. This was addressed by the Norwegian parliament a couple of years ago with a law banning permanent business locations from refusing cash and a readiness campaign by The Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection that included the rule tat you should keep a decent amount of cash available in case electron payments become impossible.
See:
https://www.dsb.no/en/
ArishMell · 70-79, M
@ninalanyon Well, one source of income for charities that would disappear is the collection-tin.
I imagine with paying via a portable 'phone, the 'phone company takes a middle-man fee on top of that charged by the bank for the work the shop does for it. It also means if that became the only choice, we'd be forced to buy an expensive phone and its contract even just for day-to-day life.
Paying digitally for a professional arts or sports event ticket is one thing, as they are not cheap; but expecting everyone to pay digitally at a garden-gate produce sale or for a tea-&-cake at a village fete or in a hobby club premises, would be unworkable, unwelcome and ridiculous
I admire the Norwegian Government for passing that law, and can understand the point about resilience. The Internet is just not safe and secure, and is becoming more, not less, fragile.
I imagine with paying via a portable 'phone, the 'phone company takes a middle-man fee on top of that charged by the bank for the work the shop does for it. It also means if that became the only choice, we'd be forced to buy an expensive phone and its contract even just for day-to-day life.
Paying digitally for a professional arts or sports event ticket is one thing, as they are not cheap; but expecting everyone to pay digitally at a garden-gate produce sale or for a tea-&-cake at a village fete or in a hobby club premises, would be unworkable, unwelcome and ridiculous
I admire the Norwegian Government for passing that law, and can understand the point about resilience. The Internet is just not safe and secure, and is becoming more, not less, fragile.
ninalanyon · 70-79, TVIP
@ArishMell I recommend a glance at the DSB web site. Norway is preparing not just for accidental disruptions of the Internet but deliberate hostile action. 2026 has been designated a year of Totalforsvarsåret, Total Defence.
P.s. The site is in English as well as Norwegian.
P.s. The site is in English as well as Norwegian.
ArishMell · 70-79, M
@ninalanyon We should be adopting similar in the UK. Maybe we are but covertly and only for essential services.
After all, Britain and Norway are only two of many countries under continual attack from Russia predominently, China and North Korea; both digitally and by physical sabotage.
After all, Britain and Norway are only two of many countries under continual attack from Russia predominently, China and North Korea; both digitally and by physical sabotage.