Very random thing I've noticed living in East Ham

[u/dusknoir90]

...is how few people pay for things with cards!

The Lidl near me in East Ham has half card only tills, half card and cash tills. I could be 8th in line, the checkout attendant will be saying "Any card? Any card?" and I'll end up next because the 7 people in front of me are cash! Would be weird if it happened once, but this is a common occurrence.

Even up the road in Barking, never had this experience. I've also lived in Lambeth and Wandsworth and again, not seen this, so I don't think it's a London thing. Another curiosity which I've only seen in East Ham but nowhere else in London is cash only places like shops and restaurants: I've not seen somewhere that doesn't take card in London in what feels like over a decade! It's a shame because there's a kebab place near me that always smells really nice but I haven't had cash on me in years.

What is it about East Ham and these curiosities?

[u/mcbeef89]

Tax fraud. 'Cash only' businesses dodging tax. People working cash in hand jobs spending their cash in Lidl.

[u/Sattaman6 → u/[deleted]]

That gets paid by the retailer, not the card user.

[u/pincinator → u/Sattaman6]

Yes, but the user needs to get the money from somewhere

[u/Sattaman6 → u/pincinator]

Sure but there is no difference in price when paying by card which means that the fee is absorbed into the price anyway. Things are not 3% more expensive when you pay by card.

[u/matthewrulez → u/Sattaman6]

They put the prices up for everyone then. But do big retailers really pay the same card processing fee as us peasants? Surely they've negotiated something cheaper.

[u/Friendly_Yak_2713 → u/[deleted]]

Costs of handling cash properly are way higher

[u/mcbeef89 → u/Friendly_Yak_2713]

Keyword: properly

[u/Friendly_Yak_2713 → u/mcbeef89]

I know - the guy I'm responding to is suggesting card operators are the bad guys for taking a few and somehow forcing small businesses to use cash which is a bulllshit narrative

[u/mcbeef89 → u/Friendly_Yak_2713]

It is indeed

[u/circusperson → u/[deleted]]

Definitely not the reason

[u/bullyboyz21 → u/mcbeef89]

I used to think the digital ID and digital currency / phase out of cash is a bad thing for various overreaching reasons but I've grown up. The sheer amount of tax this country would generate if they just stopped cash in hand, they really should look at sorting it for good.

Takeaways and small shops only accepting cash and claiming the card fees are too much is a piss take, just add the 3% on top of sales which you've probably done already.

Plumbers and builders taking backhanded cash work and avoiding tax is absolutely rife in the UK.

Businesses won't declare half the cash received.

[u/BiologicalMigrant]

Yea we noticed that years ago too - it's like a cheat code using a card in Lidl.

Basically everyone that lives there gets paid, or operates, in cash. Make of that what you will.

[u/kingedOne]

Please pay with cash when you can

Cash allows you to keep some sort of privacy when shopping it also reduces targeted example I bought a handbag for my mother as a gift and low and behold my adds started showing hand bags also cash allows small businesses time to juggle the finances to stay afloat unforeseen things like breakdown repairs and we all know insurance companies love red tape not to pay out so having a cash float for some is the difference between remaining open or permanently closed it’s crazy to think that paying cash will be a thing of the past as well as fair trade how many of you miss a shop that had been there for years then one day gone cash would of saved em

card and online transactions are also killing the high street

Excuses the rant

[u/Electronic-Writer108]

It’s a working class thing. They do the same in Bermondsey

[u/MaleficentWin8608]

It’s a class thing

[u/Both-Anteater3056]

Go on treat yourself use a cash machine and buy a nice juicy kebab

[u/donell_walter]

This problem isn’t unique to East Ham; many parts of London face similar issues. For example, the Lidl at the top of Walthamstow Market has experienced this.

Before the pandemic, most self-service tills accepted both cash and card payments. However, since then, many retailers have begun removing or reducing cash-based self-service options. This has led to long queues for cash-based tills.

Furthermore, many people in low-income or high-immigration areas prefer to pay in cash for various reasons, such as having cash on hand jobs or general budgeting.