Cashless society

[Value Collector]

Shock, horror, the publican could have become quite distraught if the opening bell was rung and no one could pay for the drinks. Of course if cash was in the pocket, then no problem.

Can he run the pub with no power?

If he has a generator he can run an eftpos machine.

 

[JohnDe]

I’m at a large country pub with family, I purchased a round of drinks, all card payments is 1.5% surcharge, cash surcharge is 0%

 

[JohnDe]

Card surcharges are starting to hurt.

Are you somebody that always carries cash? Or have you started using cash lately? ​

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The Reserve Bank has released details saying that the number of notes on issue has jumped $300million for the week ending October 16 2024. ​

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“I just wanted to warn people to be careful before using their cards. I had work done on a caravan and the first time it was $846.23 and the surcharge on that was $17.18 and I had to take the vehicle back for work that hadn’t been done and the bill was $488.69 and the surcharge was $9.92, so I paid the best part of $30 on top of the original price,” Margaret told ABC Radio Adelaide’s Nikolai Beilharz.​

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“I will look and see if there’s fee for using a card and if there is I’ll pay cash, but they don’t like it,” Adrian from Crafers said. ​

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Hear more on the ABC listen app or here: ab.co/Adelaide​

Choose your news on the ABC NEWS app and stay in the know: ab.co/abcnewsapp​

 

[TimeISmoney]

Cafe owner's desperate cash plea over hidden $300 a month cost: 'It's extraordinary'​

"An Aussie cafe owner is desperately asking people across the country to use cash more. Belinda Ellis runs the Little Gnome coffee shop and bookstore in Brisbane and she's dealing with a $300 per month issue that's plaguing millions.

She told Yahoo Finance that she's losing that amount of money every month because of card surcharges. While digital payments are the overwhelming favourite for Aussies across the country, Ellis said it has a huge impact on small businesses like hers.

"It's an extraordinary amount of money," she said.
But as Australia approaches the Christmas holiday season, Ellis said that $300 can easily skyrocket to $900 in a month.


While she knows that those fees mean loads of sales, she's frustrated that a small-time cafe has to pay so much just for the privilege of offering digital payments.

The Reserve Bank of Australia revealed earlier this month that small retailers are in a David vs Goliath fight compared to their juggernaut competitors when it comes to surcharges.

"The average per-transaction fee (‘cost of acceptance’ for card payments) paid by small merchants is around three times that paid by large merchants," the central bank stated."

 

[moXJO]

People are beginning to realise they are getting stiffed left, right and centre.
I'm like a futurist for whinging a decade ahead before the masses realise.

Subscription based services for everything needs more of my attention.

 

[Value Collector]

Cafe owner's desperate cash plea over hidden $300 a month cost: 'It's extraordinary'​

"An Aussie cafe owner is desperately asking people across the country to use cash more. Belinda Ellis runs the Little Gnome coffee shop and bookstore in Brisbane and she's dealing with a $300 per month issue that's plaguing millions.

She told Yahoo Finance that she's losing that amount of money every month because of card surcharges. While digital payments are the overwhelming favourite for Aussies across the country, Ellis said it has a huge impact on small businesses like hers.

"It's an extraordinary amount of money," she said.
But as Australia approaches the Christmas holiday season, Ellis said that $300 can easily skyrocket to $900 in a month.


While she knows that those fees mean loads of sales, she's frustrated that a small-time cafe has to pay so much just for the privilege of offering digital payments.

The Reserve Bank of Australia revealed earlier this month that small retailers are in a David vs Goliath fight compared to their juggernaut competitors when it comes to surcharges.

"The average per-transaction fee (‘cost of acceptance’ for card payments) paid by small merchants is around three times that paid by large merchants," the central bank stated."

I don’t get that, it’s just a cost of business, build it into your price, I mean she is complaining that at Christmas it’s 3 x higher but obviously she is doing 3 times the sales.

Does she complain her milk bill is 3 times higher because she sold 3 times more coffee? Obviously if more sales out you in more financial stress your pricing is off.

Or just get one of those free eftpos machines that at the fee as a surcharge.

Again I think she just wants to put more tax free cash in her pocket, because her argument doesn’t make sense other wise.

 

[JohnDe]

Cafe owner's desperate cash plea over hidden $300 a month cost: 'It's extraordinary'​

"An Aussie cafe owner is desperately asking people across the country to use cash more. Belinda Ellis runs the Little Gnome coffee shop and bookstore in Brisbane and she's dealing with a $300 per month issue that's plaguing millions.

She told Yahoo Finance that she's losing that amount of money every month because of card surcharges. While digital payments are the overwhelming favourite for Aussies across the country, Ellis said it has a huge impact on small businesses like hers.

"It's an extraordinary amount of money," she said.
But as Australia approaches the Christmas holiday season, Ellis said that $300 can easily skyrocket to $900 in a month.


While she knows that those fees mean loads of sales, she's frustrated that a small-time cafe has to pay so much just for the privilege of offering digital payments.

The Reserve Bank of Australia revealed earlier this month that small retailers are in a David vs Goliath fight compared to their juggernaut competitors when it comes to surcharges.

"The average per-transaction fee (‘cost of acceptance’ for card payments) paid by small merchants is around three times that paid by large merchants," the central bank stated."

In good times, business can pass on the bank fees.

Depending on the location, it is tough for some businesses. Consumers are counting every cent, cost of living keeps going up, electricity, gas, fuel, rent, mortgage, Council rates, insurance, education, and on it goes.

Business is experiencing the same cost increase as consumers; they have to pass on the extra costs to make a profit to pay wages and bills. But it is a fine line, increase the prices of your goods and services too much and people stop coming in.

A coffee shop in a suburb with consumers struggling economically is going to have difficulty passing on the extra expense of bank fees. What is their answer to the problem? Promote cash sales and add the bank surcharge to all bank's cards.

Not many socialists or people on high wages understand this concept.

 

[JohnDe]

Visiting my mate who owns an automotive workshop, had a bit of fun at his with the Melbourne Cup and got onto the subject of losing money when he mentioned the cost that he has been forced to absorb for looking after customer vehicles that use fleet maintenance services which pay directly.

The fleet service paid him and deducted the merchant fee plus GST

Got to love this cashless society stuff

 

[Craton]

Will keep this post brief.
I've not chimed in on this thread re. our recent power outage issues in the Far West of NSW.

Suffice to say, even with the power outages and telecommunications down, our small retail store still opened up for business trading the old school way i.e., via pen and paper for sales journal and receipts all done using the king in times like these, cash.

 

[Craton]

Well this is a new one and as it's a cashless transaction, thought I'd post this here as an ALERT to double check your banking statements.

Our business banking statement shows a Direct Debit paid to one of Australia's biggest telco's.
Thing is, we don't have nor ever had any service, business, residential or any otherwise with this provider.
After all if we had any service contract with said provider, we'd know about it plus, have records, invoices and such on file including the Direct Debit instructions.

First things first, contacted our bank thus stopped all payments from any of our accounts to this provider.
Contacted the provider, needed to email details of the issue providing evidence etc... so this is WIP (work in progress).

So why was this payment deducted?
No doubt a typo somewhere that's taken a piddly $69.99 out of our account. Yes, a trifling amount but incorrectly taken for a non-existent service.

Must mention that we've also had two deductions from another big telco for; Name of Telco Services, whatever that means.
Even the telco couldn't tell us what these "service" charges were for.
Thankfully, this has been sorted and we've been reimbursed.

Across the boarder populace, I wonder just how many other "errors" have occured and actually slipped through unnoticed.
So watch out for your pennies people!

 

[farmerge]

Well this is a new one and as it's a cashless transaction, thought I'd post this here as an ALERT to double check your banking statements.

Our business banking statement shows a Direct Debit paid to one of Australia's biggest telco's.
Thing is, we don't have nor ever had any service, business, residential or any otherwise with this provider.
After all if we had any service contract with said provider, we'd know about it plus, have records, invoices and such on file including the Direct Debit instructions.

First things first, contacted our bank thus stopped all payments from any of our accounts to this provider.
Contacted the provider, needed to email details of the issue providing evidence etc... so this is WIP (work in progress).

So why was this payment deducted?
No doubt a typo somewhere that's taken a piddly $69.99 out of our account. Yes, a trifling amount but incorrectly taken for a non-existent service.

Must mention that we've also had two deductions from another big telco for; Name of Telco Services, whatever that means.
Even the telco couldn't tell us what these "service" charges were for.
Thankfully, this has been sorted and we've been reimbursed.

Across the boarder populace, I wonder just how many other "errors" have occured and actually slipped through unnoticed.
So watch out for your pennies people!

Small amounts deducted and nobody generally notices.
Then it becomes a constant every month, quarter or whatever, and it starts to add up.
We had a $10 odd one which was weekly some time ago and wasn't really noticed for a couple of months, But the Bank retrieved it all for us.

 

[Craton]

Yep, and that's the thing isn't it @farmerge, those small deductions all add up not just on the individual but across the board. The cynic in me reckons this is a scam that even if 10% of account holders don't notice, that's quite a tidy sum accumulating interest.