Cash for Scrap metal banned

[Gary Compton]

I've spent years here, learning how to gan on when it comes to writing me book proppa!

I can now just aboot spell, I put the right number of commas and semi colons into my chapters but not necessarily in the right order.

So what's my point. Can a moderator sort oot the title of this thread. Everytime my dodgy peepers see it, I wonder should that be scrap?

[Dave]

Originally Posted by Fried Egg

Does anybody know if there are other commodities that cash transaction have been banned for or is this the first?

Not banned but the ability to go Cashless and simply waft your card at a card reader for an order up to £15 is quite an incentive. And no loose copper change to get rid of.

Originally Posted by Ursa major

Given the widespread anger at the recent attempts to abolish the cheque**, I don't think any government would want to face the furore (and possible loss of votes) that trying to ban cash would bring.

What isolated government ministers living in London don't understand is the role of cheques in the rural economy. Farmers and villagers pay for everything by cheque and by cash. They can't get to a bank branch so easily as a townie and internet connections are so bad that card readers don't work, even if they could each afford to buy one.

The other big losers in this is the charities. Not only do they receive most of their money by cheques, but just think of all that loose change they won't be getting any more.

But the end of cash is coming. You can't stop it any more than the tide coming in.

[Gary Compton]

Thank you so much, whoever the moderator was who changed this. I suspect it might've been Dave. I can now sleep, knowing this spelling mistake has been done - attention to detail is everything

[Dave]

It wasn't me, I prefer being strapped for cash!

[Ursa major]

It was I, LeClerc....


And to steer us back towards the thread topic: "'Allo 'Allo 'Allo! What's all this stolen cable doin' 'ere...?"

[Gary Compton]

Ursa, it was you

Thanks.

When I was about 12, me and my mates stripped lead out of a derelict building. It was dark and I was papping myself. I've never done anything like it since.

It's a good move to stop buying it for cash.

[Ursa major]

I hope that was an example of you being... er... led astray, Gary, rather than you taking the initiative (amongst other things).


When I was seven, I was stopped by a policeman because I was on the scaffolding (or, rather, the planks on the scaffolding) of a less-than-half-built house. I thought he was worried for my safety (which he may have been). It never crossed my mind that he might have thought I was up for stealing something from the site.

If I had been stealing, I wouldn't have been any good at it: the house, one of a row of semis under construction, was twenty yards from where I lived and there were no fences in the area (that I knew of).

[Gary Compton]

Hoho Ursa

[Ursa major]

Are you stuck up a chimney Sant... er... Gary?



* Wonders why Gary would be up a chimney at this time of year.... *

[Gary Compton]

I've been stuck here since Xmas you dipstick. Now get me out!!

[Fried Egg]

For anyone who's still interested, here is another article talking about a technological threat posed to cash: Does PayTag mean the end of cash in your pocket?

[RJM Corbet]

Of course cash is just a medium of exchange, in itself it has no value anyway, which is why when economic times get tough, the gold price rises. Precious metals, jewels etc, will never lose their value.

[Vertigo]

As Dave says, for better or worse, the days of cash are numbered. Whether it's in 10, 50 or 100 years cash will inevitably disappear. If you try and stem the tide you're just going to get your feet wet.

The question for me is how much is that going to cost to people taking payments. I believe some sort of regulation of cashless charges is required. By this I mean that at present if a shop takes cash they get all the money, if they take a cheque there is a chance they will have to pay for it (some may have free banking but there is usually a limit on how many free cheques they can take in a month) and if they take a debit or credit card they will certainly have to pay for it.

The key thing here is that currently it is the shop owner's choice whether or not to take cheques or cards and pay the premium for doing so. In the future with cash gone they will no longer have that choice and will have to pay the premium. To make matters worse, the bigger your business the lower you can get that premium to be. Is this fair to small businesses? Of course not, but that is the way it is. I believe that the commission taken by the banks should be regulated and fixed so everyone is paying the same.

Cash gave a relatively level playing field, other types payments are far from level. And this needs to be fixed.

[Bowler1]

The charges for non-cash handling are now an accepted business expense. This has only occured in the last 10 to 15 years.

But don't be fooled that handling cash is free. Cash has to be counted, stored safely and then transported to a bank before it was finally safe. So the costs for handling cash are usually more than the bank charges for cashless processing. This is why business is happy to take your visa, if real cash were cheaper then businesses would ask for cash. So cash operates in a level a playing field as is possible, yet business does not like cash anymore!

As for the scrap (check spelling) merchants cash enables them to handle stolen property but cash is not at fault here. The changes being introduced include a digitial photo of the seller with every scrap metal transaction, NI numbers and other proof of idenity checks. Stopping cash and paying direct into a bank account is just another means of knowing who is selling what.

RJM Corbet - what is the value of anything, as the $ says - In god we trust.

[Dave]

I agree with Bowler1 about the expenses of handling cash vs electronic. However, maybe those electronic expenses will rise in the future. Once it becomes unprofitable to rob a security van because it holds nothing, criminals will turn to intercepting electronic transactions. There are already quite complicated scams with card readers and ATMs.

The retailers do like not having to deal with cash storage. Not only armed robberies, it is harder for the staff to steal too.

The government also likes it because all VAT has to be paid, whereas cash-in-hand payments can be put aside.

What no one has mentioned yet is that it is another form of surveillance. Just as they can track all VAT, they can just as easily track what you bought, where you go... more Big Brother.