Unbeknown to me, interesting that 2 major UK retailers are having issues with cashless payments today because of sinister hacking! CoOp and M&S

12 minutes ago, Delboy777 said:

Cashless society means only one thing ! Big brother...

In 'discussions' about this issue, I often quote what happened in Canada during Covid lockdown. The country's truckers staged protests against government policy in the way government handled Covid. Government responded by suspending their bank accounts - disgusting...

55 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

I often quote what happened in Canada during Covid lockdown. The country's truckers staged protests against government policy in the way government handled Covid. Government responded by suspending their bank accounts - disgusting...

I didn't know that Justin Trudeau is a right wing conspiracy nutjob 🤣🤣

I always thought of him more as a man who would drive a red mustang.

5 hours ago, unofix said:

They couldn't even use the contactless pay system to charge up their EV's 🤣

Or pay for fuel as the pumps didn't work without electricity. 

I was surprised by the taxi drivers and bars where card machines come out to pay your bill. Thats in Spain . Weren't to interested in cash. 

1 hour ago, iantt said:

I was surprised by the taxi drivers and bars where card machines come out to pay your bill. Thats in Spain . Weren't to interested in cash. 

Where we go in Spain, cash is definitely more preferred. A couple of places we go only accept cash. 

I use cash almost all the time even for large purchases and bills because I find budgeting easier with cash and I sometimes get some strange looks when handing over large sums.

My local council run sports centre is completely cashless, even the vending machines. It doesn't bother me because I have a monthly membership by Direct Debit but it really annoys the visiting Gypsies who pay as you go to use the Showers and Swimming Pool😅.

4 hours ago, Delboy777 said:

Cashless society means only one thing ! Big brother can keep tabs on you

I have heard that Apple Pay charge a small fee to retailers but Google Pay does not charge a fee but in return they get full details of exactly what you have bought down to size and colour etc if appropriate so they can sell the data to advertisers. 

Just learned that today, Harrods have joined the list this week alone of being hit by a cyber attack on electronic payment. I'm guessing the anti-cyber industry is a massive growth IT sector!

15 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

Harrods have joined the list this week alone of being hit by a cyber attack on electronic payment.

OMG, I shop there all the time, I hope my credit details are safe 🤣

5 minutes ago, unofix said:

OMG, I shop there all the time, I hope my credit details are safe 🤣

As long as you're a premium platinum customer, you should be just fine 😂

52 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

As long as you're a premium platinum customer, you should be just fine 😂

That counts me out then 😁

On 4/30/2025 at 12:53 PM, Turvey said:

mind you, petrol pumps wouldn't work either

I'm old enough to remember when, if there was a power failure, petrol pumps could be operated by a crank handle. This was obviously when we still had pump attendants (who would also clean your windscreen). The whole paper-based economy appeared to be much more resilient then and sometimes you have to wonder if we really have progressed. As mentioned above it could now be brought to a grinding halt if there were a massive cyber attack by the likes of Russia or North Korea. If I've learned anything in a career in electronics it's that you need good backup systems in place. Only yesterday there was an item on our local news about a 150-year-old transport firm that's gone into administration following a ransomeware attack from Russia with the loss of 750 jobs. This just exposes the fragility of a purely digital cashless economy.

15 minutes ago, mjt said:

I'm old enough to remember when, if there was a power failure,... The whole paper-based economy appeared to be much more resilient then and sometimes you have to wonder if we really have progressed....

My whole career has been retail based. In the olden days, during a power cut you could still accept credit cards by swiping though the mechanical 'machine' that issued 3 x carbon copies, simply 'cashing up' the appropriate slips when power resumed. I loved these machines as I was an expert in adjusting the leveling screws to allow a smooth swipe, and use to keep boxes of 100s spare slips 'just in case'. You could also 'write' any sales in a notepad, again tallying it all up when power resumed, and giving appropriate change from a petty cash box.

You should have seen the provisions we made for the 'millennium' bug which never actually happened 🤣

41 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

You should have seen the provisions we made for the 'millennium' bug which never actually happened 🤣

Yeah, likewise. A lot of people made money out of doom-mongering, though!

 

On a connected topic - anyone having problems with online debit/credit card payments using two-tier verification?

We've had several instances recently where you complete your transaction, then the verification process starts, then freezes - leaving a blank grey "screen of doom". 

Happened to me several times, then the other day my wife had the same experience. In all cases, it happened to be a Visa card - fortunately we also have another card and were able to use that. Or resort to a cheque - remember those?😀

I've still got a cheque book. Was issued 2006. Probably only written 6 cheques since then. 

My parent are still of the cheque book era. 

They just at had some work done by a builder/ landscape gardener. When my dad came to pay the bill , the builder didn't want to accept a cheque. Wanted online transfer. So I had to transfer to builder and I had a cheque off dad. I payed it in via banking app. 

43 minutes ago, iantt said:

I've still got a cheque book. Was issued 2006. Probably only written 6 cheques since then.

I've still got one. Not sure what use it is though - last time I did write one, about 3 years ago, my bank bounced it, saying it wasn't my signature!😠

Not a problem receiving one though, I just pop them in the local Post Office - my bank has an arrangement with the PO.

1 hour ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Yeah, likewise. A lot of people made money out of doom-mongering, though!

 

Mostly by the IT industry.......who would have thought it !

Interestingly, cheques are much easier for me to deal with than cash.  I just pay them in using the phone app as Ian mentioned.  Even my archaic phone manages that no problem. 

Sadly I do still have one relative that sends me a note occasionally, despite knowing that I can't get out to use it.  But they can't get out either, so must be asking someone else to draw out notes for them, one of which to then send to me, which I can't use anyway!

I haven't had any issues with card verification lately, I either get a text or go into the app to verify if needed, but haven't had that happen for a few weeks.  I have noticed that almost every website goes through a 'human verification' before allowing access over the past week or so though.  That seems to be slowing things down when first opening any site.

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

I haven't had any issues with card verification lately...

The biggest issue I had was with PayPal. I often use my laptop for purchases (the web cam gave up years ago). Recently, it started asking me to take a photo of my face for verification which caused me all sorts of issue. (All alternatives just failed)  I ended up downloading the flipping PayPal app, so now my phone beeps at me asking if it's me making an online purchase. Once I confirm, my laptop spins into action!

11 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

The biggest issue I had was with PayPal. I often use my laptop for purchases (the web cam gave up years ago). Recently, it started asking me to take a photo of my face for verification which caused me all sorts of issue. (All alternatives just failed)  I ended up downloading the flipping PayPal app, so now my phone beeps at me asking if it's me making an online purchase. Once I confirm, my laptop spins into action!

That's a new one on me, never been asked for a webcam photo before!

I rarely use PayPal nowadays though.  There's around 3 days delay before payments show in the bank and that causes issues.  (I need to provide accurate bank account amounts to the government every month now...7.5 million of us have already lost our banking privacy, though I didn't want to start on this thread lol).

Regarding photos though, I did have to provide a scan of my face to access the govt gateway recently.  It needed to match my driving licence photo, taken more than half a decade ago.  I was sat in poor light with bright one side and shadow the other...and to my amazement it still worked and accepted the match!

(Having said that, whole I'm impressed by th technology, I can't help but feel there's an ulterior motive here, getting as many faces on govt databases as possible...)

I believe that someday we will wake up and find that the stinking government will have blocked ALL our financial business, and take our money because they need it.

I went to a local Chemist for advice, as I waited I listened to an old woman at the till who'd got her prescription and a small battery powered hand fan, also several packets of menthol sweets, the woman had the correct money piled up on the counter, woman behind the desk then says....''We no longer accept cash card payments only''

That was it the arguing ensued between the customer & assistant 😡 😡 Customer asking to see the manager, manager siding up with the assistant, the woman then said...''I'm leaving the money here and I'm taking my goods''🤜 as she grabbed her goods the manager replied..... ''we will call the police because you are stealing my goods''........The woman who was about 70+ years old calmly walked out the chemist, assistant said are you phoning the police'' Manager said ''no give me the money instead''

What a bad experience for that woman and others over not accepting real money, I also walked out in disgust.

I'll never revisit so they lost my custom.

59 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

I rarely use PayPal nowadays though.  There's around 3 days delay before payments show in the bank and that causes issues. 

Can I assume that is payment into your PayPal account? As a buyer, when I use PayPal, the money is sucked out of my bank account in seconds...

44 minutes ago, Ian Lanc said:

I went to a local Chemist for advice, as I waited I listened to an old woman at the till ...

That is appalling customer service, that poor woman but great she had the balls to walk out!

The government is currently thinking of ensuring it is stated in law that business should accept cash. However, they also said they wouldn't raise taxes, 'smash the gangs', and remove winter fuel allowance. So, I wouldn't hold my breath...