His FB feed is my insight in the online equivalent of the Victorian loony asylum – so I haven’t blocked him yet.

Is your friend my dad? Who I did block, and has now been forced to remove himself from Facebook by the family due to his increasingly horrendous views on things 🙂

From my FB friend who went from a very rational chap to a total paranoid, conspiracy theory nut job over the last two years

does he live alone? I have some sympathy for someone who took refuge in the dark corners of the internet when covid lockdowns removed real life social interaction.

does he live alone?

No married, grown up kids, grandchildren….

Trying to save them all from *them*.

It’s all a bit sad, he was a really decent bloke pre Covid.

Has everyone forgotten when the visa network went down the other year? Never put all your eggs in one basket.

ITS (quite a large epos firm) has been unable to use Google and apple pay across a few days/weeks over the last month – so millions of people were unable to use these services to pay for goods causing huge disruption (especially for those that only carry their phone). And Clover (who bank funds into from the epos machines into buisness accounts) had big banking issues and delays at the start of this week.

Things like this happens quite regularly

Like all good conspiracy theories, there’s someone that stands to gain from it.

The biggest to gain from going 100% cash free are the banks. That’s why chip and pin and now contactless were rolled out – they are new ways/products for banks to generate funds.

Do any of you no cash people buy thing off facebook market place, bootfairs etc?

1) some people don’t like change. I can’t imagine how they would have dealt with decimalisation if they were alive/adult at the time. “how we’ve always done it” is a powerful thing.

That just reminded me of a clip on the news when pound coins were introduced. Some mad bat in the street showed her disapproval by dropping a pound coin and telling the reporter that she couldn’t hear it fall. Ignoring the fact that a paper pound note makes no noise at all when it falls out of your threadbare purse..

Do any of you no cash people buy thing off facebook market place, bootfairs etc?

I occasionally sell the odd thing for cash on FB etc and then just use the cash to pay our cat sitter (neighbour’s daughter) next time we go away…

Some mad bat in the street showed her disapproval by dropping a pound coin and telling the reporter that she couldn’t hear it fall.

mad. how did she beleive pre-decimised currency differ in this regard? and why was it an issue?

Do any of you no cash people buy thing off facebook market place, bootfairs etc?

Use PayPal where possible for Facebook marketplace but don’t use it a whole lot. And you wouldn’t get me near a bootfair.

And you wouldn’t get me near a bootfair.

all the misery of trawling ebay/marketplace; with the added hassle of getting up early, and walking round a wet field, and no search function.

From my FB friend who went from a very rational chap to a total paranoid, conspiracy theory nut job over the last two years and now just posts crap like this:

The logic there is just brilliant. “In a cashless society, how will we draw out cash?!”

Do any of you no cash people buy thing off facebook market place, bootfairs etc?

Not if I can help it.

There is – today at least – still a need for cash for stuff like this. The old boy on my street sells off tat on trestle tables outside his house to raise money for charity, I can’t imagine him investing in an EPOS system in order to facilitate the sale of a second-hand washing-up bowl. In a cashless society the ‘spare some change, guv?’ elements of society are going to struggle. Street entertainers, they’re out of luck too.

But these are outliers, for regular day-to-day retail transactions it’s usually unnecessary. I can see the argument against card payments for small purchases if there’s a transaction fee, and some places do have a minimum payment limit of £5 (though it’d be easy to view this cynically as a retailer upselling, I only wanted a bottle of pop but I’ve no change so I’ll buy a few other bits).

At the other end, what’s a ‘large’ cash transaction? I paid my cat-sitter ~£100 in folding a little while ago but there’s little reason why I couldn’t have done a bank transfer other than it was her preference. The largest bills in wide circulation are £20, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a £50 note in the flesh and many retailers won’t accept them due to fraud concerns anyway. We could, arguably, introduce the £5 coin into general circulation and do away with banknotes completely.

Interesting question really. I rarely use cash – mostly only when I’ve sold something on FB marketplace or want to pay a tradesman for a quick job and it makes it 20% cheaper (wonder why?).

Having said that, I’m not keen on a totally cashless society. Given how close Germany came to negative interest rates during covid, having cash in circulation means that, in theory, if banks start charging you to keep your money in them, you can feasibly just go and withdraw it all and stuff it under the mattress. Thus creating run on banks/financial meltdown etc dissuading central banks from going negative.

Cash is a faff, and contactless is far easier. Having said that, if we could get rid of coins I’d be much more willing to use it. Back to pound notes please and ban the 99p rubbish. (Disclaimer – I’m 37 before anyone says pipe down grandad)

Do any of you no cash people buy thing off facebook market place, bootfairs etc?

Yeah, as said PayPal and bank transfer have been a thing for years. Decades even in the case of PayPal.

We could, arguably, introduce the £5 coin into general circulation and do away with banknotes completely.

So have money weigh more and be more difficult to count and more difficult to carry for the convenience of who exactly?

So have money weigh more and be more difficult to count and more difficult to carry for the convenience of who exactly?

Why have coins at all then? Should we get rid of the penny in favour of a 1p note?

Do any of you no cash people buy thing off facebook market place, bootfairs etc?

At best it’s circular, I sell something, and it takes a few weeks to spend it back again, and then there’s the faff of trying to get change sorted etc.

But I’ve never turned down or been refused a bank transfer.

Do any of you no cash people buy thing off facebook market place, bootfairs etc?

And farmers markets, and blokes selling firewood from a barn in a forest and second hand shops and people selling street food and giving money to beggars and car parking and at the fun fair…

It’s easy.
Either Google Pay or Swish or bank transfer.

Do any of you no cash people buy thing off facebook market place, bootfairs etc?

Don’t use Facebook but Mrs F does and uses PayPal. Car boot sales, nope, never been to one and don’t intend starting. If I can’t pay in a way that’s convenient to me I’ll just buy from somewhere else.

This stuff is rife on our local FB groups. This and self service checkouts are supposedly the beginning of the end of the world.

Yeah, as said PayPal and bank transfer have been a thing for years. Decades even in the case of PayPal.

I find PayPal and bank transfer far more of a pain for small amounts.

I mainly use card but sure as hell do not want to see cash go. Far to useful for buying and selling little bit and bobs, presents, quick transactions, out of service areas, emergencys.

I am getting the impression of quite a narrow section of society from the no need for cash crew.

Another question for you no cash people.

Are you of the opinion if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear?

Also what are your thoughts on government backed crypto?

Are you of the opinion if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear?

I’m not sure I understand the question. What would we be afraid of?

I am getting the impression of quite a narrow section of society from the no need for cash crew.

Nah. On the civilized side of the North Sea, cashless is ~90% of all transactions.

Are you of the opinion if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear?

AHH bollocks, the government will be onto my criminal empire now. The purchase of that porcelain dog at the car boot was the last piece of the puzzle they needed to build their case.

I find PayPal and bank transfer far more of a pain for small amounts.

Because plugging an email address in and hitting send is so difficult?

Another question for you no cash people.

Are you of the opinion if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear?

What exactly am I hiding? Regardless of of how I pay for something “they” still know I’ve gone to the trouble of finding out where to buy “it” by my internet history. Since I’m not in the business of gun running or kiddy porn I’m not exactly sure what I should be worried about.

Also what are your thoughts on government backed crypto?

Right, that’s twice, gonna explain what the actual point is here or is it all guesswork and innuendo?

If it doesn’t involve lizards I’m going to be so disappointed.

Another question for you no cash people.

Are you of the opinion if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear?

No-one has nothing to hide.

Another question for you no cash people.

Are you of the opinion if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear?

I have absolutely no idea at all just what it is you’re getting at. You’ll have to explain it to me, preferably in words with as few syllables as possible.

I hardly ever carry cash, I even buy an ice lolly using contactless when I walk across the park on my way home from town.

Although oddly enough I was given two pund coins this evening when I took the re-usable plastic beer ‘glasses’ back to the bar after a gig at The Exchange in Bristol this evening. Greenman and EOTR festivals do this, you pay a pound deposit on your first pint, then you just take the glass back and get a fresh one, or keep it and just get refills. First time I’ve seen it at a venue, but it makes sense – no problems with breakages, easy to clean and re-use, and if someone wanders off and takes their glass with them, they’ve paid for it anyway. I took my two back and got my deposit back. I’ve got a few festival ones, ‘cos people just drop them on the ground, so I pick them up, then take it back, get a clean one with a pint, then do the same again. They’re handy to put a cold drink in when out in the garden, ‘cos they’re pretty sturdy, and won’t break – certainly worth a quid.

Another question for you no cash people.

Are you of the opinion if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear?

Another vote for ‘what does this even mean?’

Not used cash for years and can’t think of anything I’m hiding or truly fearful of. Hang on though I guess there are that stack of dead bodies, my drugs empire and Anatidaephobia to take in to account.

Buying bike bits off eBay and sandwiches from the place next to work will surely uncover my illicit deeds!

Can someone please explain what the issue is with CBDC?

If you tell us what it is first.

All fine and dandy till there’s a power cut.

fair point but not a fair point, I’ve seen that happen and the tills don’t work either so even cash is useless

Mobile phone for everything for me ie Apple Pay or my bank app and direct transfer.

most annoying thing for me is parking in the local town that still requires cash. I never have cash so don’t pay and risk getting a fine

Also what are your thoughts on government backed crypto

Will admit I don’t understand it, never had any. I thought the point of crypto was that it was unlinked to our or any governments currency. So I don’t see what the point of BofEcoin is.

But using some future concept (that just happens to contain the words electronic and money) as a way of justifying an objection to making small purchases with a credit card rather than coins today, is so much of a non sequitur I am at a loss with where to begin.

The purchase of that porcelain dog at the car boot was the last piece of the puzzle they needed to build their case.

The thing is, they will never know about your porcelain dog fetish as I assume you used cash at the car boot?

Also what are your thoughts on government backed crypto

Totally pointless.

Totally pointless.

I was thinking the same. Isn’t the whole point of Crypto that it doesn’t have an owner or a gouvernence structure?

The thing is, they will never know about your porcelain dog fetish as I assume you used cash at the car boot?

Not if it was cashless.

And it was stuffed with Columbian marching powder.

Then they’d be interested.

Makes you think.

A Haiku is supposed to have a set number of syllables and only three lines.

Can someone please explain what the issue is with CBDC?

We did the “people fear change” joke already, didn’t we.

Cash works for the people but not the powers that be.

That’s why they’re getting rid of it – control.

Cash doesn’t work for this person. It’s a PITA. Also, who are they?