Millions Would Suffer In A Cashless Society, RSA: BBC News

[appalachiablue]

- BBC News (MSN), March 29, 2022.

Ten million people would struggle to cope in a cashless society even though only 17% of payments are now made with notes and coins, a report has found. Going cashless would make budgeting difficult and would be a "major inconvenience" to another 15 million, the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) found. Thousands of bank branches have closed in recent years, and access to cash withdrawals is under threat.

The RSA said the "dash to digital" held huge risks as finances were stretched. "For millions of people, their relationship with cash is critical to the way they manage their weekly budget," said Mark Hall, author of the report called The Cash Census. "Despite online banking and shopping becoming more common, our research shows the percentage of the population wholly reliant on cash is unchanged." The report said that although millions of people benefitted from the convenience of things like smartphone payments, others felt forced into a world they were not equipped for.

An estimated 15 million people used cash to budget, the report said, which was all the more important when the cost of living was rising. The constituencies of Liverpool Walton and Bradford South had the smallest decline in cash withdrawals, and were among the most deprived in the UK, it said. Among those keen to keep cash going is Joanne Batty, from Leeds, who said it was still the "easy and simple" way to pay and manage finances. "It is stress and hassle-free," she said, explaining that she liked the control you had as a consumer with notes and coins. The 51-year-old said that a "traumatic" episode in which she was the victim of fraud meant she was now far more sceptical about online and digital payments.

The RSA - or its full name - The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce - used surveys and interviews during its research. It also suggested that, in contrast to those dependant on cash, there were another 11 million people who were cashless converts. They strongly preferred digital payments and saw no benefit in using cash. They included Craig Purr, a 32-year-old commercial insurance broker, who said that cash was more inconvenient because you usually had to go to an ATM to get hold of it. Mr Purr, from Cambridge, said he carried cards in his wallet instead, or used his smartphone to pay.

"My personal, and selfish, point of view is that we do not need cash. It is out of date because technology is evolving so fast," he said...
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/personalfinance/millions-would-struggle-in-cashless-society-rsa/ar-AAVDUGj

[gab13by13]

1. Went to a 3 day college wrestling tournament,

2 weeks ago, at Little Caesar's Arena in Detroit. A 19,000 seat arena. Does not accept cash for anything. can't buy a beer, or coke with cash. Had a blast, my alma mater kicked butt.

[appalachiablue]

2. Good to know, glad you had fun.

[cbabe]

3. Bake sales, yard sales, subway buskers: all cash expenses.

Also, privacy concerns. Security concerns.

Cards with added charges are not ‘free’ unlike cash.

Whole thing smells like a corporate driven profit gig.

And not everyone has access to plastic:

https://www.pymnts.com/news/banking/2020/us-bankless-rate-set-to-rise/

BANKING FDIC: US Bankless Rate Set To Rise If Pandemic Continues
ByPYMNTSListen to Article Posted on October 19, 2020
FDIC: US Bankless Rate Set To Rise

The number of Americans without bank accounts is expected to spike again in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic after hitting a low last year, according to a new report by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC).

U.S. households without checking accounts fell to 5.4 percent in 2019, the lowest since the FDIC began tracking this stat in 2009.

But a surge in unemployment triggered by the coronavirus-driven recession is likely to push those numbers back up again, the FDIC notes in its new report, How America Banks.

While the “full effects of the pandemic are far from known,” the “early evidence has shown a rapid and dramatic increase in the unemployment rate,” the report notes. “One effect of these conditions is likely to be an increase in the unbanked rate from its level just before the pandemic.”

The report does not offer any predictions on how many Americans are likely to wind up in the ranks of the unbanked.

However, the report does highlight numbers from the aftermath of the Great Recession that point to the possibility of a significant increase.

The unbanked rate jumped to 8.6 percent in 2011, up from 7.6 percent in 2009, according to the FDIC, which notes that the rate then fell 2.8 percent over the next eight years through 2019.

Past research, in turn, has shown a direct correlation to either the loss of a job or income and a household losing its ties to the banking system, the report noted. (More)

[appalachiablue]

7. Good points I tend to agree with.

[cbabe]

8. Plus tooth fairy.

[llashram]

4. cash is king

[Chainfire]

5. Yep, I can't hoard bits under my mattress.

If someone is going to steal my money, they will need to bring a gun rather than a smart phone.

Politicians will never do away with cash for the simple reason that is is hard to track those suitcases full of Benjamins.

[llashram]

6. exactly

I wonder how many suitcases Ivanka need for her 640 million take from being in the WH as 'advisor'-first daughter?