Ever since the Netflix series ‘The Crown’ made its debut back in 2016, it’s captured our imagination and reignited our fascination with all things royal. And it got us thinking: if Her Majesty can get away without carrying cash, why can’t we? Here are our top reasons why you should make like the Queen and ditch the cash.
It’s safer
When Barclays became the first bank to issue a credit card in the 1960s there were concerns over its security. To reduce the risk of fraud, signing for purchases was replaced by the chip and pin method in the early noughties, followed more recently by contactless payments and online banking.
As paying by card, banking via apps, and shopping online have become the mainstay, businesses have increased their digital security, making it harder for cyber criminals to hack online accounts. Whereas carrying cash can make you a more vulnerable target for thieves.
Businesses prefer to be cashless
As cash transactions continue to decrease and debit and credit card use continues to soar, businesses are turning cashless too. Keeping large amounts of money on a premise makes a business vulnerable, as well as increasing insurance premiums. Similarly, cash transactions can often lead to accounting errors as well as extra time spent by staff cashing up at the end of the day – not to mention travelling to the bank to deposit the takings.
As a customer you may notice that card payments, especially contactless, tend to be quicker than cash transactions too. If you need to return an item, but you’ve lost the receipt, you’ll have a paper trail with a card transaction as well.
Helps you budget
When you pay by card you have a physical record of all your transactions, and this can help you budget as you’re able to see exactly what and where you’re spending and how you can cut back.
You can even set up multiple accounts to help you stick to your budget with an account for your wage to go in and an account for your non-essential spending. Your essential transactions such as household bills, insurance, and living costs should leave the account your wage goes in to, whilst your non-essential spending account for things like nights out and clothes should be assigned 30% of your income. Following the 50/30/20 rule, you should be able to save 20% of your income every month too.
Build a credit score
As we move further into a cashless society, it’s becoming more and more important to have a strong credit score, and paying for things more often on your card can help you build a strong credit profile. The whole premise of credit scores is based on how well you use credit. Good credit is necessary if you need to borrow money to buy a house or car, rent a flat, or even get competitive insurance rates.
Whilst we may still have a few more years of paying with notes, carrying cash will soon be a thing of the past, and with so many benefits, perhaps the Queen has been on to something for some time.
