Pubs that don't take cash !

[standardpostage]

Went to a pub yesterday. In a small East Lancashire town called Rawtenstall.
Pub did not accept cash  It's a first for me.
Whats the world coming to ? A pub with no cash, unbelievable 

[JontyR]

Went to a restaurant last week that said the same.

I do wonder about what happens regarding tips.

[ulstersubbie]

Went to a pub yesterday. In a small East Lancashire town called Rawtenstall.
Pub did not accept cash  It's a first for me.
Whats the world coming to ? A pub with no cash, unbelievable 

A lot of pubs are doing this now, there's a craft beer place up the road from me that's card only, I don't mind as I have got so used to paying by card since COVID.

[DastardlyDick]

Went to a pub yesterday. In a small East Lancashire town called Rawtenstall.
Pub did not accept cash  It's a first for me.
Whats the world coming to ? A pub with no cash, unbelievable 

For the owner/manager it's a big plus to go card only, they don't have to empty tills, bag it all up etc etc.
Apparently, Covid accelerated the move to a cashless society by about 10 years. I suspect punting will be the last bastion of cash transactions for various reasons.

[mr.bluesky]

Went to a restaurant last week that said the same.

I do wonder about what happens regarding tips.

At most card paying restaurants I've been to , when you present your card they will give you the option of paying a tip and add it to the bill , usually 5% or 10%. They hand you the card reader and you can choose which option that comes up on the screen. I recently went to a Chinese restaurant and it was the exact opposite.  They only took cash not cards , luckily I just about had enough cash on me to cover the bill.

[Bertiebeenthere]

Went to a pub yesterday. In a small East Lancashire town called Rawtenstall.
Pub did not accept cash  It's a first for me.
Whats the world coming to ? A pub with no cash, unbelievable 

Looking from the pov of the management, it makes sense.
Stops the staff from dipping in the till, no need to cash up and trips to the bank, no arguments with customers about being short changed and not getting robbed.
Just saying.

[B4bcock]

Went to a pub yesterday. In a small East Lancashire town called Rawtenstall.

Do they still hold the Rawtenstall Annual Fair, subject of the amusing song?

[Blackpool Rock]

I never used to take any cards with me on a night out but luckily for some reason I did a few month ago, ordered a couple of beers then saw the notice "Card only"
I can understand the benefits of card only for the business but it will catch some people out, especially older people.
I've also been in a few pubs / other businesses over the last few years who only take cash, I believe it may be down to the charges that the card companies make on the business but all of these places have looked quiet / run down / a bit shaky and one pub in particular I commented to my mate that i bet half the money isn't going through the books 

Tips were mentioned above and there was talk of new legislation to stop some of these pubs and restaurants simply pocketing some or all of the tip money
Many years ago I worked in a really busy bar environment and we basically never saw any of the tip money, if a till was short for whatever reason the management took it from the tips jar, if a till was over then nobody knew what happened to the extra 
Most of us in the end simply told customers offering to tip "Thanks but no thanks" then told them what happened to the money, the tips dried up so much there wasn't enough to top the tills up and management complained about it   

Edit - Looks like the tipping law came in around 2021, of course HMRC also insist on their cut as it's taxable and traceable now with card payments 
External Link/Members Only

Love the tipping scene in Reservoir Dogs 
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[standardpostage]

Don't know if annual fair still held 

Houghton Weavers song. Rawtenstall Annual Fair 

Reply to B4bcock.

Old song from the 1930s.

[alabama1]

My local ONLY takes cash. This can be just as annoying ! lol

[Jumping Jack Flash]

I much prefer paying by card in the pub, you don’t end up with loads of change in your pocket at the end of a long session!

[Mr Garmin]

Somebody pointed out on another forum;

Pay £100 by cash and after 50 transactions the chap at the end of the line gets £100

Pay by card and after ~50 transaction the bank gets the lot

[petermisc]

Somebody pointed out on another forum;
Pay £100 by cash and after 50 transactions the chap at the end of the line gets £100

Only if all the transactions are with businesses with equal cash inflow and outflow.  If a business needs to pay its cash into the bank, then the bank will charge. 

[PilotMan]

Somebody pointed out on another forum;

Pay £100 by cash and after 50 transactions the chap at the end of the line gets £100

Pay by card and after ~50 transaction the bank gets the lot

A business has to pay a charge % of the amount of cash paid in to its account, the fees are similar to card transaction charges.

As @petermisc said above.

With cash there's also the added complications and risks of handling it.

A retail business is way better off financially to take card payments, there's no contest with cash.

The only reason I can see why a business would prefer cash is because some of it isn't being declared for whatever reason.

[Blackpool Rock]

A business has to pay a charge % of the amount of cash paid in to its account, the fees are similar to card transaction charges.

As @petermisc said above.

With cash there's also the added complications and risks of handling it.

A retail business is way better off financially to take card payments, there's no contest with cash.

The only reason I can see why a business would prefer cash is because some of it isn't being declared for whatever reason.

Yes I believe any business handling / holding large amounts of cash also get screwed on insurance these days so that's another cost

[PilotMan]

Yes I believe any business handling / holding large amounts of cash also get screwed on insurance these days so that's another cost

I don't know how insurance companies treat it now, but in the past you could only get insured for a percentage of the cash you held I.e. lost.

So if you did get robbed or had a theft, you wouldn't get the full amount paid out.

Depending on the type of business you're in, there's also a huge risk for staff theft, and also the potential for false accusations if money does go missing.  A pub in my estimation would be one of those businesses highly at risk.

[berksboy]

For the owner/manager it's a big plus to go card only, they don't have to empty tills, bag it all up etc etc.
Apparently, Covid accelerated the move to a cashless society by about 10 years. I suspect punting will be the last bastion of cash transactions for various reasons.

Drug dealers.

[DastardlyDick]

I saw a shop today with a "cash only" sign! Underneath was a notice saying that the reason was that they didn't want to pay the Big 4 Banks to process their transactions, which seems fair enough.

[DastardlyDick]

Drug dealers.

Oh yes - forgot about them - make that 2nd Last!

[RogerHealey]

There's a Bangladeshi restaurant that discounts their menu one day every week that I sometimes visit. Strangely this is the one night that it's cash only. Can't for the life of me work out why   

[Nickp]

Although I agree with many of the positives it also has a detrimental effect on the communities. With cash disappearing it also takes away the student/gig/cash work as business have no option but declare everything. This forces up minimum wages which is no longer affordable so they just end up closing down.

I'm not advocating tax dodging but in the old days students used to rely on these kind of jobs. Even someone doing 10 hours the company not only has to put them through the boo in S but then the accounts, payslips etc just make it too expensive.

[daviemac]

I'm not advocating tax dodging but in the old days students used to rely on these kind of jobs. Even someone doing 10 hours the company not only has to put them through the boo in S but then the accounts, payslips etc just make it too expensive.

Of course you are, the company paying the cash has to get it from somewhere and unless there's some kind of tax fiddle they would be paying tax on the money they pay students with.

Tax evasion on both sides.

[puntingking]

we are shooting ourselves in the foot if we support or endorse card only venues.
If wgs did the same most of us would give up on punting. 

[Stevelondon]

we are shooting ourselves in the foot if we support or endorse card only venues.
If wgs did the same most of us would give up on punting. 

I wouldn’t

But then again. Might be a good thing. Could buy another ferarri.
Then again Khan would come along and start putting a tax on red cars  😂

[NelsonH]

Love the comment about older folks don't have credit-cards.   I've had a credit card, well two actually, for over 50 years.

[Blackpool Rock]

Love the comment about older folks don't have credit-cards.   I've had a credit card, well two actually, for over 50 years.

Who said that 

[PilotMan]

I saw a shop today with a "cash only" sign! Underneath was a notice saying that the reason was that they didn't want to pay the Big 4 Banks to process their transactions, which seems fair enough.

The stupid thing about that is, banks charge a similar % to process cash deposits.

Unless they're paying their staff, suppliers, council tax, Corp tax and everything in cash, that would be a ballache. Imagine rocking up at your local council office every month to pay your rates, driving to your supplier to pay them cash, popping in to your local tax office to pay your N.I. Bill every month.

Sounds like someone in denial of the bigger picture.

[Bonker]

we are shooting ourselves in the foot if we support or endorse card only venues.
If wgs did the same most of us would give up on punting. 

I wouldn't like to go contactless.
I get that at home.

[Blackpool Rock]

The stupid thing about that is, banks charge a similar % to process cash deposits.

Unless they're paying their staff, suppliers, council tax, Corp tax and everything in cash, that would be a ballache. Imagine rocking up at your local council office every month to pay your rates, driving to your supplier to pay them cash, popping in to your local tax office to pay your N.I. Bill every month.

Sounds like someone in denial of the bigger picture.

Yes sometimes someone seems to get a bee in their bonnet and then won't let go of it then things change and the world moves on without them but they are still frozen in time regarding their stance on something

[standardpostage]

I wouldn't like to go contactless.
I get that at home.

[standardpostage]

I pay my window cleaner cash. £10 every 4 weeks.

I don't know if he accepts bank transfers or other forms of payments 

As an after thought, I have never seen a female window cleaner, has any one else ? ? ?

[PilotMan]

I pay my window cleaner cash. £10 every 4 weeks.

I don't know if he accepts bank transfers or other forms of payments 

As an after thought, I have never seen a female window cleaner, has any one else ? ? ?

My window cleaner takes payment by Direct Debit

[catweazle]

Had a weekend in London last Autumn.  Pub near the hotel ( Hotel wasn't alcohol licensed) was pretty good, and did  take cash but  were very reluctant  to do so.

Maybe it's an age thing, but somehow  it feels wrong to buy something  for a fiver and pay for it by debit card.

[mikecee]

I only found out yesterday that the Mersey tunnels no longer take cash. If you don't have the correct amount it's card only.

[Blackpool Rock]

I only found out yesterday that the Mersey tunnels no longer take cash. If you don't have the correct amount it's card only.

I've just gone online and found out that both Severn bridges are now toll free, when the fuck did that happen 

I was only checking because as of about 10 years ago they were cash only and wouldn't take cards, a Welsh bloke I worked with had said it was in the agreement when they opened and something to do with protecting Welsh jobs etc

[daviemac]

I only found out yesterday that the Mersey tunnels no longer take cash. If you don't have the correct amount it's card only.

For years when the Tyne tunnels took cash it was the correct amount only, now you have to pay online after you've used it and there's a penalty charge if you don't.

[mikecee]

For years when the Tyne tunnels took cash it was the correct amount only, now you have to pay online after you've used it and there's a penalty charge if you don't.

The two mersey tunnels are card only if you don't have the correct amount whereas the two Bridge crossings at Runcorn are pay on line unless you live in the Halton region,  Runcorn/Widnes,  where you pay a one-off fee of £10.

[mikecee]

Forgot to mention it's £10 per year.

[mikecee]

I've just gone online and found out that both Severn bridges are now toll free, when the fuck did that happen 

I was only checking because as of about 10 years ago they were cash only and wouldn't take cards, a Welsh bloke I worked with had said it was in the agreement when they opened and something to do with protecting Welsh jobs etc

When the mersey gateway bridge was opened in 2017 we were told that they would be toll free within 5 years.  We're still waiting.