You can however get a prepaid card.Because some people don't have the credit rating to obtain any type of credit card except those from places like Provident or vanquis which have a huge apr.
You can however get a prepaid card.Because some people don't have the credit rating to obtain any type of credit card except those from places like Provident or vanquis which have a huge apr.
In theory. In practice, banks make it as difficult as possible - and in at least one case won't even tell you what they would accept.
Because some people don't have the credit rating to obtain any type of credit card except those from places like Provident or Vanquis which have a huge APR.
If you are using a credit card as a replacement for carrying cash then just pay off the balance each month and incurr no charge so the APR is irrelevant.
If you are using a credit card as a replacement for carrying cash then just pay off the balance each month and incurr no charge so the APR is irrelevant.
Personally I hate carrying cash esp' coins and the Govt shd make it a requirement of retailers that cards are always an acceptable form of payment. All ticket machines shd accept cards - esp' car parks! Why have a machine full of coins which have to be collected, counted and banked (with the associated risk of vandalism and attack of the collector) when you can have a card machine which wld surely lessen the likelihood of attack and reduce maintenance/ collection costs?
I used to work for an insurance company - out of abt 15k pensioners there were abt 300 'flat eathists' who insisted they didnt have a bank acct which cld receive a BACS payment and they therefore had to be paid via a cheque. We wrote to them and stated we wld be ceasing payment via cheque and suspending their payments until bank details were provided - guess what happened? Suddenly they all had bank accounts and they sent in the details. In my experience people who claim they cant get a bank account and require payment in cash are benefits cheats who dont want the DWP to see how much income they actually have.
Anyone offering goods or services shd be made to provide cashless means of pament at all times - in the instance of TOC's this wld mean a car accepting ticket machine on all stations or the option to purchase a ticket on board the train.
In theory. In practice, banks make it as difficult as possible - and in at least one case won't even tell you what they would accept.
If employers pay their staff cash in hand then there's a likelyhood that the employees are either illegal immigrants or they are benefits cheats signing on claiming benefits and working getting paid cash in hand or the employers are doing a tax dodge and not putting it through their books.
Anyone offering goods or services shd be made to provide cashless means of pament at all times - in the instance of TOC's this wld mean a car accepting ticket machine on all stations or the option to purchase a ticket on board the train.
Because cash is legal tender?
Legal tender has to be in the exact amount in England and Wales, i.e. no change.
Scots law is different (which is good, because the only legal tender in Scotland is £1 and £2 coins), and says any reasonable payment method must be accepted. Which I believe is why Aldi and Lidl accept credit cards in Scotland but not England/Wales.
True. I completely failed to open an account at one back simply because the staff insisted on a utility bill with my name on it (impossible at the time as I lived with my parents). So I had to go to a different bank instead.
Policy is one thing, staff training is another.
There's no advantage of carrying cash round these days apart from the obvious things like getting mugged.
Some small businesses simply can't afford to bring in the facility for card payments because of the fees involved. The burden might also be too much for not for profit enterprises and charities. one of my local pubs will not introduce card payments because of this, and the other has a minimum spend of £10.
Lidl accepts cards down here in Cornwall, cant speak for Aldi.
I agree many small business probably think like that, but it's a mistake. Accepting card payments is good for nearly all businesses for several reasons - 1) Handling cash is not free, it takes time for a paid member of staff to count, sort, and take to the bank 2) It increases custom from people who for whatever reason don't have any cash on them 3) Encourages people to spend more and on higher value items, as they aren't worried about running out (eg in a pub) and 4) You're less likely to run out of money using a card (credit or debit) than you are to run out of cash. Even if a cash point was close by, most people will leave when they run out of money.
Sometimes I don't have enough money to give a cash tip (much as I'd always try to), so being able to add 10% (or whatever) when paying by card might be the only way to give something decent. Not everywhere even gives the option, which is frustrating, as you want to give a tip and then end up leaving as many large coins as you can, followed by shrapnel to make up the difference.
I know it's still money, but I hate leaving 20p coins or smaller as it looks to me like an insult. Mind you, the ultimate insult for bad service is to leave 1p. No tip might make you look like an a**e, but 1p makes it quite clear you didn't like the service!
Those are valid points, yet they do not apply to all businesses.
In my business, for example, ittakes a minimal amount of time to process the cash payments, and as I do not employ anyone else, the costs are not an issue. To take cards, would cost me at least 10% of each tranaction - either I lose money or put the price up! I have one price and one price only for my services - I can't encourage people to spend more on high value items!
I'm not disputing what you say. All I am saying is that each business is different really. For most, there are clear advantage sin acceptiong card payments. But there are a lot of small businesses for which the advantages are not so clear, and who may actually lose out.
Those are valid points, yet they do not apply to all businesses.
In my business, for example, ittakes a minimal amount of time to process the cash payments, and as I do not employ anyone else, the costs are not an issue. To take cards, would cost me at least 10% of each tranaction - either I lose money or put the price up! I have one price and one price only for my services - I can't encourage people to spend more on high value items!
I'm not disputing what you say. All I am saying is that each business is different really. For most, there are clear advantage sin acceptiong card payments. But there are a lot of small businesses for which the advantages are not so clear, and who may actually lose out.
Banking charges are high for businesses for cash also, hence why Asda and other such companys try desperately to get you to have cashback when paying by card. The cash banking cost is higher than the card payment costs. I think i read that the cash banking cost can be around 8% compared to around 2% for card payments. The 8% includes the cash collection by Loomis or whoever they use, the staff cost to count the money, and fill out relevant paper work. Card payments it is a simple bit of paper work that gets printed out at the press of a button each day/ week or month, showing total amounts etc for the accountant!
I'm alarmed if you have been quoted 10% for credit card processing. Even the smallest business can usually get a 5% processing fee. If not, PayPal is another option, please somebody correct me, but isn't the fees for PayPal around 3-4% for the occasional user? Obviously only suitable for online!
Most "typical" small businesses are charged 3%. I've had that figure quoted to me from two places, one a car sales garage and the other a car repairer. Of course Tesco et al are probably paying <1%. Debit cards are different though with having a fixed fee of about 30p I think. So fair enough, if you're typical transaction is less than £10, you can't encourage people to spend more and you count the money yourself, it's probably not worth it. But I think that's only a tiny amount of businesses. The benefits outweigh the percieved increase in costs for the vast majority of companies.
Tax must be paid on tips whether it is card or cash and including tips as part of the minimum wage is now illegal. However, it is correct that generally more of a cash tip goes to a server than credit card tips as legally credit card tips are the property of the restaurant who can decide how it is distributed and make charges for administration, whereas cash tips belong to the staff.The waiter/ress would probably rather you leave £2 in cash than £3 on a card, due to the fact that they rarely see card tips, have to pay tax, some SOME bad companies use tips that "go through the system" to go towards there 'minimum wage' ... therefore you actually do more harm than good by tipping on card... I always tip by cash.
I'm alarmed if you have been quoted 10% for credit card processing. Even the smallest business can usually get a 5% processing fee. If not, PayPal is another option, please somebody correct me, but isn't the fees for PayPal around 3-4% for the occasional user? Obviously only suitable for online!
Used my Mastercard in the Aldi round the corner from me the other day...Visa debit and Maestro only, I'd wager?
Visa debit and Maestro only, I'd wager?