Would you like to pay with cash or with a credit card? Some retailers won’t accept your preference…but it might surprise you which one it is
Welcome to Plain English. A recipe for success, the best podcast for learning English through current events. I’m Jeff, JR is the producer, and you’re listening to Episode 152. You can find the free interactive transcripts online at PlainEnglish.com/152.
Coming up on today’s episode, the trend toward cashless stores—and even cashless societies. Retailers say it lowers their costs, improves speed at the counter, and even helps with employee safety. But others say it discriminates against those who don’t have access to credit. We’ll explore both sides of the question on today’s episode. We’ll also review the phrase, “to point to” when making an argument. Our quote of the week, since it’s Monday, will focus on personal meditation.
Before we start, though, I want to highlight our partner, Audible. With Audible, you can browse thousands of audio books in English, and even try one for free with a 30-day trial membership. Learn more at PlainEnglish.com/book .
Stores shifting away from cash
How many times have you been caught without any cash and you’ve tried to pay with a credit card, only to find that the merchant either doesn’t accept credit cards or has a minimum purchase? It’s happened to most of us, right? But did you know that the opposite is happening too—some customers want to pay with cash, but the retailers only accept credit cards? In fact, just last week I went out to lunch across the river from my office in downtown Chicago to a restaurant called Brown Bag Seafood, and I saw a sign on the door saying, “Credit cards only.”
It’s part of a growing trend, especially in larger cities. Shops and restaurants point to a number of advantages. The first is speed. Cash transactions slow down the line, as customers find the right bills and coins, and as the cashier counts and delivers the change. There’s also a lower risk of theft. If it’s generally known that you don’t have cash in the register, then your store won’t be a target for petty criminals. Businesses that handle cash also have to deposit it in the bank, and some employees might not feel safe leaving the store with a lot of cash to take to the bank.
There’s also the cost in terms of time. I’ve worked at several retail businesses in my lifetime, so I know how much time and effort goes into managing cash at a shop or restaurant. You have to count and re-count the cash. Each person has his or her own drawer or register to reconcile at the beginning and end of every shift. All that time—both for the people working the register and for the managers—is time not spent serving customers.
But before a store goes completely cashless, the owners should consider a few potential downsides. The first is, simply, that with cash you get the money right away. There’s no need to wait for funds to clear. But the biggest pitfall is the inconvenience to the customers who do prefer to pay in cash. A lot of people, as a matter of managing their personal budget, prefer to make day-to-day expenditures with paper and coins. There are even studies that show you spend less if you have to see the bills leave your hand, rather than just swipe a card. Others might have gotten into problems with credit cards in the past, so they prefer to spend only what they have in cash.
We have to recognize, too, that even in the most developed economies, there are people who simply don’t have access to credit. That could be a teenager who doesn’t have a bank account yet, people with little credit who can’t quality for a credit card, non-citizens who aren’t eligible for local bank accounts, or people of more modest means who just exist on cash alone. About six percent of American households don’t have a bank account. In the US, it’s also common for restaurant workers to make most of their money in cash tips, so they tend to spend a lot in cash rather than with credit or debit cards. The elderly and rural families are also less likely to want to pay with credit or debit cards.
There are people who think it’s just unfair to those who have dollar bills and can’t use them. A city councilman in Philadelphia said it’s unfair that he can buy a coffee with a credit card, but someone in line behind him with legal United States currency, would not be allowed to buy the same coffee. Philadelphia became the first city in the US to ban cashless stores. Starting July 1, any store that refuses to accept cash can be fined $2,000.
A study in December said that 29 percent of American adults don’t make any purchases in cash in a typical week. Higher-income people are much more likely to use credit and debit cards than lower-income people. So, let’s flip that around. That same statistic means that 70 percent of adults do make at least one purchase in cash in a typical week—I am among the 70 percent, even though I rarely insist on using cash. However, check out this fact: In Sweden, only 13 percent of adults reported having used cash for a recent purchase. Going cashless is rapidly becoming the norm in Sweden, where most transactions are with credit cards or payment apps, including one called Swish. Public restrooms often only accept credit cards, as do many shops and restaurants.
So I can understand restaurants, public transit, and retail shops accepting only credit cards. But you won’t believe what other kind of business in Sweden is going cashless: Banks. You heard that right. The majority of local bank branches in Sweden don’t let people deposit cash or take out cash. What is a bank, if not a place to deposit or take out money? The thing is, with so much economic activity taking place electronically, many bank branches decided, just like shops and restaurants, that they didn’t need to handle hard currency any longer, either.
China is also a leader in cashless transactions, but they skipped the whole wave of debit and credit cards and jumped straight to online payment wallets. The ubiquitous apps WeChat and AliPay let consumers book taxis, pay bills, buy produce in a market, and handle most routine transactions with businesses. It’s also popular to send money to friends in so-called “peer-to-peer” payments with online payment wallets. And that’s in the country that first introduced paper bills as currency to the world.
Today I have to say hello to Megumi from Japan. She was the first Japanese listener to send me a voice message on WhatsApp! I think a lot of Japanese listeners are pretty reserved, but Megumi sent me a great message. She said she thought the new era name in Japan, Reiwa, was a little too simple at first, but she’s coming around to it and she’s gotten used to the name, even if she can’t believe the Heisei era is ending. She also mentioned that the new emperor learned English and Megumi is optimistic that he will make Japan more global in the future. That’s great that he knows English—and if any of you have a personal connection to the emperor, please tell him about Plain English. Thanks for your message Megumi! And for all the rest of you out there, I’ll give the WhatsApp number at the end of the episode. I also want to say hi to Vanessa from Belo Horizonte in Brazil.
Have you tried an audiobook yet? I’m still working on “Where’d You Go, Bernadette?” in Spanish. I was at dinner with friends yesterday and two other people had actually read that book. It’ll be a movie soon, and JR and I both really like it. It’s available on Audible, a great way to listen to books, whether in your own language or in English. You can find out more at PlainEnglish.com/book . And once you get the free trial and the app, you can download a free audiobook to keep forever. And in the app, you can slow down the speech if you like. I would recommend 75% if you’re having trouble at full speed. These books are twenty, sometimes thirty or forty hours long, and at 75% speed, they’re even longer! We are really lucky to have so many language learning resources available in this day and age. PlainEnglish.com/book .
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