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How do you pay in shops, pubs, restaurants etc

Do you use Card Payments of Cash

  • Card Payment (contactless or pin)

    Votes: 75 81.5%
  • Cash

    Votes: 17 18.5%

  • Total voters
    92
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xc170

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9 Feb 2008
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815
Card - it's just quicker, easier and less chance of the spotty teenager behind the counter short changing you.

I probably withdraw £10 a week so I have some loose change for parking etc...
 

WelshBluebird

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Joined
14 Jan 2010
Messages
4,923
Pubs - usually cash
Restaurants - usually card
Shops - usually card
Trains - card if buying beforehand, usually cash if buying on board for a short journey (where there are no ticketing facilities prior).
Bus - used to be cash but now have a monthly pass that gets renewed by direct debit
 

Barn

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3 Sep 2008
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1,463
Card almost exclusively, and increasingly Google Pay. The near ubiquitous acceptance of cards causes problems on those few occasions where they're not accepted (such as if you're boarding a bus in some places outside London).
 

bussnapperwm

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18 May 2014
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1,506
55% of the time it's cash.

I used to pay everything I could by card but kept going into an unauthorised overdraft due to the addiction of spending. One of the biggest problems was sometimes buying tickets on board a train and it not going out my account for a few weeks (W&S were a pain for doing that!)
 

Mojo

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20,382
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If accepted; Card. Any other payment option is a waste of money due to rewards available with cards. Also means that for my day-to-day life I can carry a streamlined wallet that fits in my pocket nicer.
 

Essan

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22 Feb 2017
Messages
518
Location
Evesham / Lochailort
Always cash. Cards used only for online purchases.

However, I run a retail business and as such always have cash to hand.

Whereas most people go to the bank in order to draw cash out, I have to remember to go there to pay money in to pay my bills!
 

underbank

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Joined
26 Jan 2013
Messages
1,486
Location
North West England
For smaller amounts, say £20 or less, I pay cash whether or not cards are accepted - it just doesn't even cross my mind to use a card.
 

BanburyBlue

Member
Joined
18 May 2015
Messages
717
Depends on the amount.

If less that £5 then normally cash, if over £5 then normally card.

I normally avoid contactless, as a lot of shop assistants don't know how to print off a receipt.
 

Barn

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Joined
3 Sep 2008
Messages
1,463
For smaller amounts, say £20 or less, I pay cash whether or not cards are accepted - it just doesn't even cross my mind to use a card.

For the person behind you in the queue, contactless is so much faster than watching someone fumbling for change! I think any stigma around the use of cards for small payments has well and truly ended.
 

telstarbox

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23 Jul 2010
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5,928
Location
Wennington Crossovers
Contactless where it's accepted. It seems to have taken off a lot recently with lots of small and/or rural businesses using an iZettle or similar paired with a phone or tablet if they don't have a full size card machine.
 

xc170

Member
Joined
9 Feb 2008
Messages
815
Contactless where it's accepted. It seems to have taken off a lot recently with lots of small and/or rural businesses using an iZettle or similar paired with a phone or tablet if they don't have a full size card machine.

I noticed this earlier this year when I visited the Rhyl minature railway, I took some cash out expecting not to be able to pay by card and was quite surprised to see a little card reader attached to a smartphone.
 

Domh245

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6 Apr 2013
Messages
8,426
Location
nowhere
Since starting at my current place of work, my banking transaction history has clogged up with 55p payments for vending machine coffees!
 

westcoaster

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Joined
4 Dec 2006
Messages
4,223
Location
DTOS A or B
I hardly ever carry cash anymore, normally pay by card. But have just started paying via google pay on my phone, even for low transactions as low as 50p.
 

AlexNL

Established Member
Joined
19 Dec 2014
Messages
1,683
Card, everywhere. It's easy, fast, safe, and it gives me wonderful insight in where my money goes.

I have some coins in my wallet but they've been there for months now.
 

Senex

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1 Apr 2014
Messages
2,752
Location
York
Almost always GooglePay now. Cash still routinely for York Market, but not much else at all.
 

dgl

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5 Oct 2014
Messages
2,392
Primarily card, with cash for local takeaways and amusements(of which there are many of both locally).
 

thejuggler

Member
Joined
8 Jan 2016
Messages
1,186
If I can use card I always do. Now charges for using credit cards have been abolished using credit card even for small amount of spend earns me some cashback, whilst the money in my bank account earns interest until the credit card bill is paid.

I do have to use cash occasionally, usually a £10 or £20 from the cashpoint. Thana purely so I have smaller notes and change should I need cash. I used to save change for fares etc, but all trains and buses I use now take contactless so the change pot is almost empty.
 

route101

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16 May 2010
Messages
10,595
Card for supermarkets , trains . Though i dont use card machines in smallcorners shops ( dont trust it ) Try and not use card abroad unless its a big purhase . Try to have some cash on me .
 

PeterC

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29 Sep 2014
Messages
4,073
Anything paid to a machine - card
Anything under a tenner to a human - cash
Anything else card if accepted.
These days I draw out £40 or £50 in cash for the weekend, it used to be £100
 

londiscape

Member
Joined
1 Oct 2013
Messages
290
Location
SW London
Pubs - almost always cash, don't want my bank transaction history clogged up with beer purchases (secondary concerns about electronic profiling)
Supermarkets or reputable chain grocers - always card
Corner shops - always cash, due to security/trust concerns
Restaurants - usually card but will sometimes do cash if I get a feeling they might be a bit dodgy
Train tickets - always card, makes business expenses admin easier
Cafes or coffee shops - usually card but with same proviso as for restaurants
Takeaways - almost always cash unless a large chain establishment

I never use Samsung/Google Pay or equivalent as it doesn't offer me any more benefit than contactless.
 
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GusB

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9 Jul 2016
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6,546
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Elginshire
In pubs/cafes etc I usually pay cash, as there's no guarantee that smaller establishments will accept cards. Those that do often tend to have a minimum spend, which is fine if I'm buying a round, but not so handy if it's just an individual coffee/pint. It's usually supermarkets and shops I normally use card. Google pay is useful because my debit card isn't contactless, but often I need to get cashback, so on those occasions it's good old fashioned chip'n'pin.
 

Peter Mugridge

Veteran Member
Joined
8 Apr 2010
Messages
14,754
Location
Epsom
Half and half* - but never by contactless, and yes my debit card does live in a Faraday case.


*Shouldn't this be an option on the poll?
 

Condor7

Member
Joined
13 Jul 2012
Messages
1,025
Location
Penrith
Always credit card as I get 1.25% cash back on all my purchases and the card has no annual fee. I get a small amount of interest from my bank account while I wait for the money to be taken out, and anything you buy on a credit card comes with full protection if your scammed or if buying on line if the company goes bust. Why would you pay any other way?

Where possible from my phone using Android Pay, if not my physical card.
 
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