Recent figures here in the UK show that debit card payments have overtaken cash

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44496513

One of the main factors was "contactless payments"

This made me realise that I hardly ever use cash now. I have no notes in my wallet and £6 in coins which has remain unchanged for around 2 weeks

So I wondered, do you still use cash?

Also as I will be visiting the USA in September, will I find "contactless payments" available in most shops and restaurants?

It depends. I will be going out for lunch shortly in a small family-run cafe that provides good home-cooked food in a friendly atmosphere: I will pay with a note, and leave the loose change as a tip (because I'm confident that it goes direct to the servers - I'm not usually a tipper). But if I'm eating in a corporate chain, I'll go contactless and no tip.

Most of the time i pay cash.
Of course you can pay almost everywhere with card but i don`t like the idea that my payments are visible to anyone.
We have some small shops here in my city which don`t accept cards.
I only pay gas with my master card and shopping on amazon.
Also i just feel better with some notes in my wallet.

Once i was shopping in the city with no money in my wallet and when i wanted to pay with my card the computer of my bank was offline all saturday.
No payment possible.
This will never happen again.

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With each crime and every kindness we birth our future.

My credit cards and debit cards have a "chip" embedded in them that will allow them to be a "contactless" source of payment, but I've never been offered that experience. I insert the card into a machine, and it gets approved.

I carry cash for tipping and little purchases like a coffee at a shop, and I carry coins for parking meters. Some parking meters on the street accept cards, but many still have coin slots.

I actually never use my debit card except to withdraw cash at an ATM. I have always been leery of giving access to my bank account, so I use a credit card instead. There are many benefits to my usage of a credit card:

Credit cards are much safer than debit cards in the sense that if their is a fraudulent transaction posted, it does not tie up your actual money, just your credit, temporarily.

Using a credit credit card enables me to accumulate "points" which end up as bonus money paid directly to me, usually amounting to about $25 every 3 months.

I get points toward a discount on gasoline, which usually amounts to about 40 cents off per gallon.

Something else very important to note is I pay my credit cards off in full every month, and do not incur any interest fees. There are no membership fees to my credit cards, either.

Using credit cards wisely boosts my scores on credit bureau reports, and this lowers my car and home insurance rates.

And I just discovered that Yelp, the online restaurant review site, offers cash back(usually around 5%, depending on the establishment) when a credit card is used at a participating restaurant.

When it comes to tipping, I cross through that blank on the receipt at a restaurant, and write "cash", and then give the server the bills from my wallet.

One more thing - I do still write a personal check occasionally. While I have my credit card balances and utility bills paid by automatic direct debit, I write checks for payment of services to individuals like my tax accountant, or a membership to a local club.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

Seem like we are in a transition time here. I typically carry a little cash but rely on plastic for most purchases. ($5 to $100) I hardly even use checks anymore. I had gone over a year without even having any checks but a club I am a member of only accepts checks. So I had to order some and wrote one last month. Plastic is accepted almost everywhere. So is iPay. As for points I have never figured those out. I got a free ashtray years ago with my points but for me they tend to be worthless. (I said years ago, I have not smoked in more than two decades). Too often they expire before I had sufficient points for anything worth while.
I have traveled in some remote places here in the US. The only place you will have problem with plastic is flea markets and Taos Indian jewelers selling silver in the street. Oh and tips are expected at most restaurants. I use cash for that. I also drive into the San Francisco area from time to time. You can get a monthly pass for the bridge tolls or pay cash. I pay cash. Parking I usually pay with a parking app.

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Sweden will probably be the first country in the world without cash!
When? Some studies says already in March 24, 2023 .
https://www.compricer.se/nyheter/artikel/24-mars-2023--da-ar-det-stopp-for-kontanter
Sweden is winning the race towards becoming the world's first completely cashless society, but there are growing concerns it's causing problems for the elderly and other vulnerable groups.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-43645676

To answer directly, not much of the USA offers contact-less. Chip cards at many places. There are still a lot of places using magnetic stripe. Then there are the smallish places that are cash only.
We are at least a decade behind.

not much of the USA offers contact-less. Chip cards at many places.

Maybe my chipped cards are not contactless. I don't know - I've never been offered the opportunity. I guess a contactless capable card would have a wavy ((( symbol printed on it somewhere, right?

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

It is rare for me to use cash anymore. I use my debit card as cash for nearly all local purchases. Almost all stores have chip readers now. Just a few I still have to swipe the mag stripe.
I do keep a bit of cash in my pocket for small contingencies, but it is getting rather ratty looking.

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"Time is simply the mechanism that keeps everything from happening all at once."

not much of the USA offers contact-less. Chip cards at many places.

Maybe my chipped cards are not contactless. I don't know - I've never been offered the opportunity. I guess a contactless capable card would have a wavy ((( symbol printed on it somewhere, right?

You card should have the symbol if it is enabled, only one of mine does. But the merchant has to have a reader for that. Most don't.

I guess a contactless capable card would have a wavy ((( symbol printed on it somewhere, right?

Actually more like



Now to the next question, do any of you use your phone as a contactless payment device. (Apple Pay or G-pay)

I do often also one big store here, Tesco has an app where you pay and get your loyalty points in one go.

There is one problem as I no longer have a car, I do my shopping in smaller amounts more often so always use contactless then yesterday when I spent over £30, I couldn't at first remember my PIN!!

I don't have a smart phone. I'm kind of an old curmudgeon about that.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

Cash only for day to day purchases, credit card for gas and monthly bills and my few online purchases. I like the cash back feature.

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I couldn't af first remember my PIN!!

I have a bank card, Mastercard with that sign.
No phones needed. No need to remember the PIN code.
Luckily there are limits to how many payments you could do:)

No phones needed. No need to remember the PIN code.

No, unless you spend over £30, which I said in my post, then you do need the pin, however if you don't use the pin for weeks and weeks there is the problem that you might forget it.

I typed the above slowly so you might get it this time ;-)

No phones needed. No need to remember the PIN code.

No, unless you spend over £30, which I said in my post, then you do need the pin, however if you don't use the pin for weeks and weeks there is the problem that you might forget it.
I typed the above slowly so you might get it this time ;-)

No. You didn't explained how it works in the post that I answered!

I'm like Mark. Use the chipped card or magnetic stripe for almost everything. Now if the business has a problem with the card reader then cash is the rule. Then there is the rare "I don't want to leave a electronic trail." Meaning I DO NOT want this on the bank statement. Cash is a must in the wallet.

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The other problem with plastic payments - any sort of card, chip, stripe, or contactless - is that the whole processing chain has to be working at the critical moment. In the UK recently, there have been outages of internet connectivity, platform backbone (Visa etc.), and individual banks. Unless you can guarantee that none of these will strike, or that you can survive any of them until service is restored, ensure that you can meet your needs in a plowed field in the middle of nowhere with nothing more sophisticated than a biro. That means cash or cheques (checks).

Something else very important to note is I pay my credit cards off in full every month, and do not incur any interest fees. There are no membership fees to my credit cards, either.

Using credit cards wisely boosts my scores on credit bureau reports, and this lowers my car and home insurance rates.

But paying your CC balance in full every month doesn't really boost your credit score. They're happier if you maintain a balance and pay more than the minimum due every month. At least, that's how I understand it.

And what CC gives you 40 cents per gallon off the price of gas?!!!!!!! :-O

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~Sue~

To answer directly, not much of the USA offers contact-less. Chip cards at many places. There are still a lot of places using magnetic stripe. Then there are the smallish places that are cash only.
We are at least a decade behind.

I've had the same experience.

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~Sue~