4 ms·

Handling cash ain't free. At a minimum, a certain amount must be kept on hand to make change. Then theres insurance on that cash. Then theres the safe (and regi

by trentmb 10y ago

Handling cash ain't free. At a minimum, a certain amount must be kept on hand to make change. Then theres insurance on that cash. Then theres the safe (and registers) you have to buy to store the cash. Then theres the transport of the cash to the bank. Also, better hope your cashiers never make a mistake or accept a forged bill.

thatcat 10y ago
These aspects also have some advantage - being handled on site means having employees that spend that money locally. All the credit card fees are effectively removed from the local economy.
- Godel_unicode 10y ago
  So you think that companies who only take cash will pay higher wages thus keeping that money locally? I would assume that lower cost would lead to lower prices rather than higher wages.
  - thatcat 10y ago
    No, I think they would pay a net higher local labor cost and lower remote processing fees.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
- gohrt 10y ago
  Or it just means wasted work on deadweight loss activities, instead of doing something useful to increase the value of the shopping experience.
CalChris 10y ago
So that's the basis of a comparison. Cost of cash vs cost of credit cards over the economy. I can't resist an aside. A buddy of mine was in a well known cash business. You can imagine. Anyways, hanging out with him, we'd be driving around and he'd need gas. He'd pull out 2 or 3 $20s, hand them to the attendant pump gas and go. Some gas stations gave a cash discount. It seemed to me that credit cards were supposed to be fast and convenient, but if you're choreographed for cash, it ain't so.
- christianmann 10y ago
  > It seemed to me that credit cards were supposed to be fast and convenient, but if you're choreographed for cash, it ain't so. This is very apparent in (many parts of) Europe. Cash is so much faster there than in America, for a few reasons. The primary cause, I think, is the fact that the prices are generally round numbers, with tax included. This means that you can, in most cases, pay with a small number of coins or bills. In the USA you'd be wrestling with pennies.
  - lorenzhs 10y ago
    Euro notes also have different colours and sizes, making it much easier to get the correct ones right away. I find Euro coins more useful, too (highest commonly used denomination is 2€ vs 25¢). I'm annoyed by the 1 and 2 cent coins, though, and am in favour of abolishing them. They only clog wallets.
- tedunangst 10y ago
  I can dip my credit card in the pump faster than I can walk into the station and hand over cash. Never mind what happens when I'm topping off before a trip and don't need $20 in gas, requiring change. That's not the best example of how cash is supposed to be fast.
pbhjpbhj 10y ago
In the UK the bank charges us to pay in cash (weirdly cheques were free, haven't had any for a while, may have changed) such that payment by card costs about the same when you factor in our micro-businesses staff having take the money to the bank. How the banks get away with charging to be given money I'm not sure. Re your last point: it's probably a similar risk for us as charge-backs. Customers offer to pay cash thinking it saves us money, they're wrong.
kuschku 10y ago
> Handling cash ain't free. But it's so much cheaper than handling credit cards that many small stores in Germany won't accept any cards at all.
- Symbiote 10y ago
  Don't German stores accept debit cards? The cost is much lower on a debit card transaction.
  - detaro 10y ago
    Yes, debit cards are more widely accepted than credit cards, but many places take neither. Not just stores, bars and restaurants as well.
    - lorenzhs 10y ago
      It's quite uncommon for stores not to accept debit cards in my experience, but next to nobody pays by card in bars and restaurants.
  - kuschku 10y ago
    Thwy accept German EC cards, which is an entirely seperate network from MasterCard and Visa (and it's the E in EMV). Mostly because their fees are even 10 times lower than MasterCard's debit card fees.
    - germanier 10y ago
      The "E" in EMV is for Eurocard which is something different (and now merged with MasterCard). The fees for the German Girocard system (which is what colloquially is still called EC) are lower than MasterCard's fees but not by that much anymore nowadays. MasterCard debit should not be 50% more expensive than Girocard considering all fees (which of course still is more) if you shop around a bit. Even Aldi takes them now and they try to save money wherever they can.

by trentmb 10y ago

thatcat 10y ago

These aspects also have some advantage - being handled on site means having employees that spend that money locally. All the credit card fees are effectively removed from the local economy.

Godel_unicode 10y ago
So you think that companies who only take cash will pay higher wages thus keeping that money locally? I would assume that lower cost would lead to lower prices rather than higher wages.
- thatcat 10y ago
  No, I think they would pay a net higher local labor cost and lower remote processing fees.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
gohrt 10y ago
Or it just means wasted work on deadweight loss activities, instead of doing something useful to increase the value of the shopping experience.

CalChris 10y ago

So that's the basis of a comparison. Cost of cash vs cost of credit cards over the economy. I can't resist an aside. A buddy of mine was in a well known cash business. You can imagine. Anyways, hanging out with him, we'd be driving around and he'd need gas. He'd pull out 2 or 3 $20s, hand them to the attendant pump gas and go. Some gas stations gave a cash discount. It seemed to me that credit cards were supposed to be fast and convenient, but if you're choreographed for cash, it ain't so.

christianmann 10y ago
> It seemed to me that credit cards were supposed to be fast and convenient, but if you're choreographed for cash, it ain't so. This is very apparent in (many parts of) Europe. Cash is so much faster there than in America, for a few reasons. The primary cause, I think, is the fact that the prices are generally round numbers, with tax included. This means that you can, in most cases, pay with a small number of coins or bills. In the USA you'd be wrestling with pennies.
- lorenzhs 10y ago
  Euro notes also have different colours and sizes, making it much easier to get the correct ones right away. I find Euro coins more useful, too (highest commonly used denomination is 2€ vs 25¢). I'm annoyed by the 1 and 2 cent coins, though, and am in favour of abolishing them. They only clog wallets.
tedunangst 10y ago
I can dip my credit card in the pump faster than I can walk into the station and hand over cash. Never mind what happens when I'm topping off before a trip and don't need $20 in gas, requiring change. That's not the best example of how cash is supposed to be fast.

pbhjpbhj 10y ago

In the UK the bank charges us to pay in cash (weirdly cheques were free, haven't had any for a while, may have changed) such that payment by card costs about the same when you factor in our micro-businesses staff having take the money to the bank. How the banks get away with charging to be given money I'm not sure. Re your last point: it's probably a similar risk for us as charge-backs. Customers offer to pay cash thinking it saves us money, they're wrong.

kuschku 10y ago

> Handling cash ain't free. But it's so much cheaper than handling credit cards that many small stores in Germany won't accept any cards at all.

Symbiote 10y ago
Don't German stores accept debit cards? The cost is much lower on a debit card transaction.
- detaro 10y ago
  Yes, debit cards are more widely accepted than credit cards, but many places take neither. Not just stores, bars and restaurants as well.
  - lorenzhs 10y ago
    It's quite uncommon for stores not to accept debit cards in my experience, but next to nobody pays by card in bars and restaurants.
- kuschku 10y ago
  Thwy accept German EC cards, which is an entirely seperate network from MasterCard and Visa (and it's the E in EMV). Mostly because their fees are even 10 times lower than MasterCard's debit card fees.
  - germanier 10y ago
    The "E" in EMV is for Eurocard which is something different (and now merged with MasterCard). The fees for the German Girocard system (which is what colloquially is still called EC) are lower than MasterCard's fees but not by that much anymore nowadays. MasterCard debit should not be 50% more expensive than Girocard considering all fees (which of course still is more) if you shop around a bit. Even Aldi takes them now and they try to save money wherever they can.