I make as many purchases as possible in person and when I do, I pay cash. Here are some reasons to do this.
- Avoid credit card fees and interest.
- Some businesses give a discount when you pay with cash (to reduce the fees they pay for credit card transactions).
- Reduce data security risks and identity theft.
- Keep advertisers from targeting you through credit card purchases.
- Generally reduce how much information the bank, shopping websites, food delivery apps, etc. have on you (every transaction through mobile money, credit card, or electronic transfer leaves a traceable digital footprint).
- When things happen like a Microsoft upgrade bringing down payment systems, cash becomes invaluable.
But these are the reasons I’M committed to cash.
- To support the cash economy which is critical to our country. Farmers’ markets, contractors, restaurant workers, domestic workers, day laborers, etc. often rely on cash. Cash is also critical for people who don’t have or can’t open a bank account.
- To avoid giving yet more money to banks and credit card companies. They collect a fee every time you pay with a credit or debit card.
- Budgeting is easier for me with cash. I take $140 out of the ATM once a week, and when that cash is gone, I’m done buying groceries or other household items, eating in restaurants, and buying cups of coffee for the week. And at the end of the week, I know exactly where my money went.
Disturbingly, more and more Chicago businesses no longer take cash (not all American cities have followed this trend). Shop owners usually say it’s to reduce robberies, but I once asked someone who worked in a new cafe why they don’t take cash. She said their business loan required them to only accept card payments. I wonder how many other businesses don’t take cash because a bank would only give them a loan if they exclusively took card transactions.
I’ve tried to discuss this with friends who tend to say, “I haven’t noticed businesses not taking cash.” But that’s because you don’t find out a business doesn’t take cash until you try to pay with cash.
Sometimes I feel like the last cash-paying Chicagoan.
Thank you for pointing out the cash dilemma. My local coffee shop does not want to take cash because on the West Side we’re in a high crime area and sometimes businesses get robbed.
That’s what they say– but like you point out, maybe it’s really the banks putting restrictions on loans. The banking system wants to go digital and track everything we spend. So yes, we should keep using cash whenever possible.
It’s legitimate to take steps to reduce crime, but I wonder how often there are other reasons for “cash-free” they don’t want to talk about. When I walk into a place that doesn’t take cash, I usually walk back out.
And apparently franchises decide on their own. I avoid the Stan’s Donuts and the Potbelly’s that don’t take cash and go to the ones that do.