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> Since when have utility companies ever accepted cash? Did you actually check? Mine do accept cash.

crazygringo 4y ago
How? I've never lived anywhere where any utility company had a branch you could just drop by and pay your bill in cash. And mailing cash through the USPS is obviously insecure and high-risk. The USPS goes expressly out of their way to not recommend it.
- MichaelCollins 4y ago
  Call them and ask, my power company has several offices in the area that accept cash. My ISP doesn't, but will direct you to a Western Union office where you can pay with cash, all you need is your account number. Other utility companies let you pay with cash at various contracted 'payment agencies', which they can direct you to if you ask. As far as I'm aware, utility bills are all debts (money owed for a service already given), so they're required by law to accept cash one way or the other. It's not the same as going to a shop and putting items in your cart; there is no debt in that case so they aren't required to accept cash. (Also, in practice, mailing cash is a lot more reliable than most people make it out to be.)
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- midoridensha 4y ago
  I pay my utility bills (water, gas) with cash: I just go to the convenience store at the corner of my street, hand them the bill I got in the mail, give them cash, they then stamp the card and give it back to me. This is in Japan though.
  - crazygringo 4y ago
    Yeah, different countries have drastically different practices for paying bills. In Brazil, for example, you don't post them by mail or at convenience stores -- you pay them at the bank! But in the US, the normal way was always by check in the mail, until online bill pay took over.
    - midoridensha 4y ago
      Checks... how quaint. It's utterly amazing that a "first world" country still uses slips of paper with a signature as a way of transferring funds, as if it's still 1700 or something.

How? I've never lived anywhere where any utility company had a branch you could just drop by and pay your bill in cash. And mailing cash through the USPS is obviously insecure and high-risk. The USPS goes expressly out of their way to not recommend it.

MichaelCollins 4y ago
Call them and ask, my power company has several offices in the area that accept cash. My ISP doesn't, but will direct you to a Western Union office where you can pay with cash, all you need is your account number. Other utility companies let you pay with cash at various contracted 'payment agencies', which they can direct you to if you ask. As far as I'm aware, utility bills are all debts (money owed for a service already given), so they're required by law to accept cash one way or the other. It's not the same as going to a shop and putting items in your cart; there is no debt in that case so they aren't required to accept cash. (Also, in practice, mailing cash is a lot more reliable than most people make it out to be.)
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
midoridensha 4y ago
I pay my utility bills (water, gas) with cash: I just go to the convenience store at the corner of my street, hand them the bill I got in the mail, give them cash, they then stamp the card and give it back to me. This is in Japan though.
- crazygringo 4y ago
  Yeah, different countries have drastically different practices for paying bills. In Brazil, for example, you don't post them by mail or at convenience stores -- you pay them at the bank! But in the US, the normal way was always by check in the mail, until online bill pay took over.
  - midoridensha 4y ago
    Checks... how quaint. It's utterly amazing that a "first world" country still uses slips of paper with a signature as a way of transferring funds, as if it's still 1700 or something.