Editor's Blog

Cash-is-Cool is proud to support the Payment Choice Alliance, a not-for-profit organisation working to ensure EVERYONE in the UK has the right to spend their cash, when and where they want to do so. Too many businesses are now trying to restrict how we pay; which means they are trying to take away our Payment Choice and, indeed, are potentially undermining ALL of our freedoms, including Privacy, ....

Two points were very illuminating to read in the latest HM Treasury consultation on access to cash. Firstly, it was noted that the government was looking for a simple solution. Secondly, it was made clear that the government was not minded to make it compulsory for businesses to accept cash in payment for goods and services. Unfortunately, those two statements effectively eliminate the poten....

Within the last week, the UK Supreme Court has ruled that ATMs do not need to be assessed for Business Rates. Refunds of over £300 Million are now due to those who for many years were obliged to pay this ill-conceived levy. Nearly two decades ago, the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) came up with the "bright" idea of assessing Through-the-Wall ATMs for Business Rates. In the arcane....

Two news items yesterday focused on access to cash. One was the Access to Cash Report of the Scottish Affairs Committee of the UK Parliament. This comprehensive report came up with the following main recommendations: * The Government should seek a commitment from banks that they will not close the last bank in town and if banks refuse, the Government should consider all measures, including l....

The document released by the UK Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) earlier this month "Considering the incentives to deploy free-to-use ATMs in the LINK network" is full of statistics produced by UK Finance, whose name makes it sound like it is the organization which runs the UK economy, whereas it is actually a trade association for the UK financial services sector. For example, UK Finan....

One of the big issues today is the existence of a World Reserve Currency. The US $ is currently that currency. This gives the United States tremendous power, a power at this moment in the hands of one Donald Trump. Effectively, the United States can simple print dollars and use them to pay for anything, anywhere. There is no home country inflation impact, because dollars exported mostly never ....

Those vested-interests pushing for a "cashless society" in the UK are delighted with the move to contactless payments in the last 10 years. They believe contactless will end up destroying cash as a payment method. To help things along, they are encouraging retailers and restaurants to refuse cash payments, though we haven't yet seen this to quite the same extent as now exists in the Unit....

The idea that the worlds economic system as currently operating will defeat poverty is fundamentally flawed Inequality is something humans naturally seek as we aim for personal advantage.  The existence of Billionaires is an oft-quoted example of where individuals have taken the pursuit of personal advantage to extreme lengths but, in fact, Mr & Mrs Western Average, striving to do the best fo....

Yesterday this article appeared in the Daily Telegraph. [link] Starting with the words "People love contactless" was not promising - and it got much worse. Our Chairman responded to the editor of the Daily Telegraph as follows: Dear Sir,
The article by James Daley regarding “....

Here is a bold statement - Payment innovation is largely a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. There. We have said it. Glad that is out of the way. Lets go back to the Swinging 60's. How much fun were they? All that music. All that fashion, All that freedom. All that fun. The Beatles; Carnaby Street; Flower Power; Trampolines without safety nets. There were exciting headlines i....

A few years ago, staff at some Petrol Stations in the UK were found to have interfered with the card payment devices in their forecourt shops, so that mag stripe information and PIN numbers were recorded unencrypted. Thousands of card holders suffered fraud before the criminals were stopped. Of course, card payment devices in shops and similar environments are traceable back to the busines....

The Treasury, on behalf of the British Government, has launched a consultation entitled "cash and digital payments in the new economy". This consultation has already inspired a storm of protests, for casually suggesting the UK can do without 1p and 2p coins. NOT A GOOD START. The consultation document erroneously implies that only the poor or criminals "need" to use cash. This ignores the M....

So the gloves are off. The battle lines are drawn. The plan to remove ATMs and cash from the UK is underway. Those who value cash, as a Payment Choice, store of value and instrument of independence, now know what they are up against. Until this year, the UK Public had enjoyed an uninterrupted period of almost two decades of improvement in ATM services and, therefore, access to cash. 25,000 ATM....

The latest UK Budget informed us that there has been a 10 year decline in real UK wages and that this is set to continue for the next decade.  The blame for this unprecedented situation is almost universally attributed to the "Banking Crisis" of 2008. If only. The REAL explanation can be found elsewhere and goes back a whole lot further in time. In the 1970's, China had a small ....

Transparency is not something for which the UK is famed. Opacity seems to suit the British psyche better, perhaps because it often renders it impossible to make too strong a criticism. This in turn allows the average Brit to mutter "mustn't grumble", as they shuffle their way through lives largely undisturbed by major disruptions. In Financial Services, transparency has been particularly elusive....

The full catalogue of disasters visited on the UK by the Cameron/Clegg Coalition is now crystal clear. This awful partnership lead immediately to the imposition of a destructive, unnecessary and ultimately pointless austerity program. It also immediately saw the Liberal Democrats credibility permanently destroyed by their backtracking on manifesto pledges in relation to University tuition f....

An absolutely disgraceful story of the role of Transport for London ( recently renamed "Tyranny for London" (TfL)) in forcing unwanted payment innovation. Recently, TfL ruled that all London Black Cabs MUST accept card payments. Around 50% of drivers had previously elected to take cash payments, mainly to avoid the high commissions -between 3.5 and 5% - levied by card schemes. TfL are, of cou....

Australia is fast becoming the country being held up as an example of how cash is falling in popularity as a payment method. Some claim it is rushing headlong towards becoming a cashless society. Forward thinking Australians; exercising the supremacy of consumers; thinking for themselves and switching to "modern" payment methods; enjoying Payments Choice? Perhaps. Then again, lets look at....

Today sees the launch of UK Finance, a body created to save £30 Million a year by combining The British Bankers Association, the Council of Mortgage Lenders Association, the Asset-Based Finance Association, Financial Fraud Action UK, Payments UK and the UK Cards Association. Make no mistake, this is mainly a money-saving exercise. The timing is perhaps a little ironic, since the UK austerity p....

British Airways have just banned the use of cash for even the purchase of a cup of tea on their flights. This is an absolute disgrace. The vast majority of people flying with British Airways are regular users of cash. Unsurprisingly, most of the worlds population fall into this category, since 85% of all our planets payments are made with cash. Lets make no bones about it. The Directors of Br....

Bill Clinton memorably said, when asked what was the single most important factor determining election  results, "It is the economy, stupid!". However, when it comes to the success -or otherwise -of the world economy, the comment might be "It is the currency,stupid!". Why? Because confidence is the crucial - perhaps only - vital factor in economic matters. And, as far as currency is c....

The European Commission has issued a document called "Inception Impact Assessment". Such a document is issued to announce a potential European Commission initiative, with a view to clarifying during a consultation process whether there is an appetite amongst European Union members for the proposed course of action. In this case, the proposed course of action is an European Union initiative on re....

Whatever one thinks about Donald Trump, from his inclination to build a rival to the Great Wall to toying with the idea of putting electoral rivals onto a diet of Porridge, the man is no fool. Mr Trump has promised to "make America great again". For great, read " hugely powerful in manufacturing".  The United States used to be a manufacturing powerhouse, enjoying domination across....

The UK has been left in a very strange position by the vote to leave the EU. It now emerges that the two year negotiation period will not even start until March 2017, meaning that the exit will not happen until 2019, around 3 years after the original vote. Some commentators have remarked upon the fact that by 2019 the UK electorate will be very different to the one offered a referendum in 201....

There are worrying signs of dictatorial government returning to Europe.
Individuals have less and less say on almost anything you are allowed to think of.
Governments seek control of every facet of our lives. Those who refuse to bow risk the full weight of the states apparatus being mobilized to corral and subdue them.
Take Greece. A lovely country blighted by a series of incompe....

There are an insane number of guns in the United States - more than there are people. In 2014, 44 human beings died as a result of criminal activity involving guns in the UK. More have been killed in the United States in one recent evening - and there were over 6000 gun-related deaths in 2014. Lets not concern ourselves with arcane discussions on the " right to bear arms" in the United States. T....

It has just been announced by Transport for London (TfL) that London Black Cabs will soon be forced to accept cards for payment of fares. Last year, TfL banned the use of cash for the payment of bus fares. Also, last  year, TfL signed a deal which allows contactless credit and debit cards to be used to pay at London Underground ticket barriers. Do you see a pattern here? Londoners are be....

David Attenborough may soon make a programme about UK bank branches. After all, he is always interested in species threatened with extinction. As the number of bank branches continues to fall, the search is on for new venues for community banking services. Towards the end of 2015, Post Offices seemed to be rising to the top of the list of suitable alternatives. The suggestion that Post ....

Cash is under attack EVERYWHERE. The attack is two-pronged.  Leading the way are the vested interests, who benefit directly from alternative payment methods. Largely funded by the public - retailers and service providers pay commissions on sales and/or fees - card schemes and the likes of ApplePay have almost unlimited budgets to push their payment methods. Their advertising largely focuses ....

This article is really for those who already understand LINK Interchange. However, if you don't and want to, here you go. LINK is the organisation that provides networking for virtually all the ATMs in the UK.  Almost all banks, other financial institutions and independent ATM operators are members of LINK, using their membership to interconnect their ATMs. The LINK Interchange is the paym....

The new Payment Systems Regulator has set up a Strategy Forum, aimed at suggesting payment system innovation in the non-competitive arena. An obvious innovation which has been consistently blocked is the creation of a bank account numbering system which allows customers to keep the same account number, as and when they choose to move their account from one bank to another. The term " ....

Last week saw yet more hype from those trying to tell us - the British Public - that Contactless Cards were soon going to replace cash as the preferred means of payment for small retail purchases. This is, of course,total nonsense. In July 2015, 3% more cash was dispensed from UK ATMs than in July 2014. This year-on-year growth has been achieved against a backdrop of over £180 Billion in cas....

Greece is in a mess. With a population of around 11 Million and a national debt of roughly 320 Billion Euros, every Greek (man, woman & child) would have to give their exchequer 30,000 Euros to pay back the country's creditors. Now the UK's national debt per person is broadly similar to that of Greece. The difference is that the UK's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per person is about twice that....

So often, those who are seemingly well on the road to winning, throw it all away by over-stretching in an attempt to cross the line early. Mostly, the result is that they seize defeat from the jaws of victory and NEVER end up breaking the tape. Take Iceland's anti-cash lobby. For a long time, the noises emanating from Iceland were telling the world " Clever Iceland doesn't need cash. Hardly a....

Kevin Jenkins runs the Visa Card Scheme in the UK.  Kevin is a very honest man. He honestly wants Visa to become bigger and bigger each year. For Visa to grow, use of cash must decline. Therefore Kevin has predicted that cards will account for 95% of all transactions in the UK within 10 years, up from a current more healthy 50%. Since over 90% of all cards in the UK carry the Visa brand....

More disturbing news yesterday that charities trying to provide international aid to the needy are finding it difficult to transfer funds abroad or, in some cases, even to accept donations. Banks are apparently concerned they might face fines for assisting money laundering or acting as a conduit of funds to terrorists. The same issue is putting many legitimate money transfer organizations out of ....

There was a surprise news item on Christmas Day to the effect that " charging ATMs at corner stores and petrol stations are to be phased out". The same news report indicated that  retailers would be offered Business Rate incentives to persuade them to switch ATMs from Pay-To-Use to Free-To-Use. Giving gifts at this time of year is, of course, traditional. However, unwrapping this particu....

The world has been held to ransom by OPEC since the 1970's. 50 years of having to be nice to countries which often have despicable human rights records. NO MORE. The power of the oil producers has been broken forever ( by which I mean, at least 50 years). From now on, the oil price will be low. If OPEC ( or any other vested interest) attempts to increase the price, the "taps" will simply be tur....

George Osborne is clearly very bright. You don't get to where he is today without having a good sized brain, along with a massive amount of political astuteness. In his time at Number 11, Mr Osborne has persuaded UK workers to accept a 10% decline in real wages. Employment is up ( there are more people working in our country today than ever before); inflation is low; interest rates are low. Most ....

The fuss about the 2 Billion Euro extra payment to the EU is all about political positioning. Does anyone really believe that the UK Government was surprised by the bill? The same formula has been used to calculate such payments for years. George Osborne claims to have a good grasp of our countries finances - and who are we to disbelieve him? - so it seems highly unlikely he would have failed to....

Politicians of all parties in the UK refer constantly ( unless they forget when making speeches) to "reducing the budget deficit". The budget deficit is the difference between the governments expenditure and revenue. The UK government currently spend around £730 to £750 Billion each year. Meantime, it has revenue of around £610 to £630 Billion annually. So there is a budget defici....

Amidst all the angst about the over-stated profits at Tesco, at least it can be said that Whistleblowing finally worked. A middle manager in the Tesco Finance Department  reported concerns to the company General Counsel. He appreciated the gravity of the issues raised and immediately brought the matter to the attention of the new CEO, Dave Lewis. Lewis, in turn, made public announcements as so....

Emirates NBD Bank has just upgraded the software on their ATMs to allow customers to purchase shares. In Spain, Portugal and Italy, ATM users can carry out up to 70 transactions, including buying tickets for football matches and paying taxes.( The latter facility is apparently used in some countries more than others). La Caixa Bank, despite already having some of the most sophisticated ATMs o....

The completely manipulative and cynical advertising by Visa in connection with the launch of "contactless" on all Transport for London services almost takes one's breath away. Four pages of hype in the London Evening Standard, though costing tens of thousands of £'s, is small beer to the mighty Visa. This is, of course, a total sell out by those responsible for London's transport ....

Some people feel the Scottish Independence Referendum has been a wonderful example of democracy in action. However, a legitimate question to ask is " independent to do what?" Are any countries truly independent today? I would venture to suggest that the answer is a resounding "NO".  Most significant countries are enmeshed in multiple alliances. EC, Nato, UN, WHO, G10 and IMF are jus....

John Carney ( no relation, it seems, to Mark Carney, the very wise Governor of the Bank of England), writing in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, produced a very ill-informed article in which he trumpeted that ATMs are soon to become "museum pieces" and that cash is a dying payment method. Now the WSJ often gets things wrong - more of that soon, perhaps - BUT this piece of idle specu....

I was listening to Farming Today this morning on BBC Radio 4. I usually do. It is the next best thing to waking up on a farm, with the bonus that there is no milking to be done. Part of this mornings coverage featured 150 farmers demonstrating outside a supermarket, protesting at the fact that the market price of an average lamb has gone down by £25 in the last few months. I must be a real....

So much rubbish is being talked about the EC authorities forcing Google  to implement a "right to forget". It seems still not to be widely appreciated how much of the so-called "news" we are exposed to has actually been put out by  vested interests seeking to further their own ends. Of course, we all know that the likes of Hello Magazine pay people to allow gain access to their house....

In the United States, cheque deposit at ATMs was made simple years ago with the passing of Check 21 in 2003. This law removed the need for millions of paper cheques to be freighted around the country. Instead,an electronic image of the cheque can be processed at ATMs. When Bank of America introduced ATM cheque imaging, their customers voted it the most important customer service improvement t....

The UK Payments Council clearly dislikes choice. For years, they tried to end Cheque Clearing in the UK, spending a small fortune striving to take the choice of using cheques away from the UK Public. Luckily, the Treasury Select Committee noticed what the PC was up to. Richard North, the lumbering Chair of the Council, got his bottom smacked and was told to stop being a silly boy. Cheques were....

In the final quarter of 2014, the editorial team of Cash Is Cool will be investigating the manipulation of the Media by vested interests in Financial Services. Too often, stories are printed in support of vested interests, not the Public Interest. We will be examining why this happens and, especially, whose hands are on the purse strings. Readers who have stories to tell of their own experien....

The  media, lead by the Daily Telegraph, have decided that Maria Miller, the Culture Secretary, must be removed from her post. Is this about honesty, integrity, decency, any of those good things? NO, IT IS ABOUT WINNING. There is a war on between the media and politicians concerning press regulation. Elements of the press, fearful that they cannot win the debate fairly, are prepared to do an....

The UK Payments Council has rushed out an announcement about "Paym" to create a monument to the departing Chair Richard North. Of course,with the role of the Payments Council about to be rendered redundant by the advent of the Payment Systems Regulator,the monument has been constructed in a graveyard - but ,never mind, don't let the facts get in the way of a good press release. Paym allows peo....

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is following in the footsteps of the Crown Prosecution Service. Instead of seeking results which are genuinely in the public interest, it is chasing headlines. On BBC Radio 4 this morning some expert for KPMG said the FCA is showing courage in trying to deal with issues.I beg to differ. The FCA is in reality mostly training its guns on easy targets. Take....

Politicians of all colours are offering their support to decriminalising the non-payment of  TV Licence Fees. This is completely wrong-headed. Not paying for a TV Licence is theft. Those who fail to pay are criminals and must be treated as such.It really is as simple as that. Many of those suggesting that decriminalising is appropriate appear to have a hidden agenda. Their real motive is ....

There has been extensive media coverage of George Osborne "cleverly" saving £1 Billion from public sector pension contributions to fund infrastructure development aimed at pleasing his political supporters. However clever Mr Osborne might be, the saddest part of the story is that all pension & National Insurance receipts in the UK simply drain into the same septic tank that houses taxation ....

Good to see Royal Bank of Scotland partnering more closely with the Post Office. Of course, it was already possible for most bank customers to withdraw cash at a Post Office counter, using a LINK card. Now,Royal Bank customers will also be able to deposit cash and cheques at their local Post Office. This is a very significant service improvement for customers of the bank.There are over 11,00....

Last year, Transport for London (TfL),who mess up virtually all Public Transport in London,announced that they were going to conduct a consultation process regarding their idea to stop Londoners using cash on the buses. Of course,the so-called consultation was a farce. TfL received many objections to their daft proposal BUT these have all been ignored. The ban on cash payments for bus fares wi....

It is quite astonishing how much publicity Bitcoin has been getting recently. Just in case you don't know what Bitcoin is,I will recite the Wikipedia definition."Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer payment system and digital currency.It is a cryptocurrency,so-called because it uses cryptography to control the creation and transfer of money". So now you know! Since Bitcoin was created in 2009,the va....

The Times Newspaper gave over almost a whole page on 23rd December to promoting a device which attaches to a mobile phone and allows traders to accept cards. The main example quoted of a company benefiting from this thrilling innovation sells Christmas trees.The owner imports them from Denmark (hard to find trees in the UK,no doubt?) and says they are too expensive to buy using cash! Well,....

There was another conference yesterday,this time under the auspices of the World Economic Forum, at which cards and electronic transactions were given center stage. Supporters of cash as a payment method find this focus on other payment methods bemusing. Of course,there is a big difference between smart "Cloud Nine" conferences and the real World. At such conferences, whole sessions are given ov....

Their are a number of commentators calling for an increase in interest rates. The argument goes that those with investments but little or no income from employment need higher interest rates to fund their living expenses. Whilst it is true that some are in a poor financial position because of low interest rates, the majority of those living in the UK are well-suited to a low interest environment....

The UK National Audit Office has questioned whether anybody in the UK has a clear understanding of the investment requirements of the water, gas and electricity industries between now and 2030. The UK Government has forecast that energy prices will need to increase by 18% in real terms up to 2030.When one considers that those on low incomes in the UK have seen their real incomes decline by 11% in....

Royal Mail has been dramatically undervalued by the UK Government. They have sold off a valuable National Asset cheaply. Vince Cable and others have spoken about "waiting to see when the share price settles down".This is rubbish.With the ever-growing boom in internet shopping,plus the fact that Royal Mail PLC will soon be a takeover target, up is the only way for the share price. The mess mad....

The Financial Conduct Authority has failed its first big test. Mis-selling of interest rate swops was a disgrace and the problem has been compounded by the dilatory approach of the FCA,led by CEO Graham Wheatley. It is estimated that 100,000 swops were pushed on to bank customers who did not fully understand what they were buying.As a result,businesses have been bankrupted and individuals ruined....

On average, the UK public-you & me-are much poorer than we were 10 years ago.Real wages ie discounted for inflation,have fallen in that hard,depressing decade. Of course,we do need to get poorer in the UK.The World economy only has the capacity to fund a small number of wealthy people.There are now many more wealthy Chinese and Indians than ever before.More there means less here.It really is a....

The UK Treasury has published the results of its consulation on the future of the regulation of the UK payments system. Highlights are: A new Payment System Regulator with wide-ranging powers is to be created, under the auspices of the Financial Conduct Authority.The regulator will be required to foster innovation,competition and the interests of end users.It will have its own Managing Dir....

Transport for London (TfL) are consulting with the public on whether cash should continue to be accepted for fares on London Buses. TfL are of course huge promoters of card use,especially their own Oyster card. In the face of the Publics continued preference for cash, TfL long ago resorted to massively discounting fares paid for with an Oyster.It costs £4 to travel one stop on London Undergrou....

I was reading yesterday the excellent Director magazine ( published by the Institute of Directors),when I came across a commentary by Simon Walker, the IOD Director General. With the exception of his views on Heathrow-get on and develop it-there is not much on which Simon and I would agree. A good example is the "Walkers Guide To Migration",where the DG trots out the usual line "all economic ....

The FCA is properly getting involved in policing the Pay Day Loan industry. It would be wrong to assume that all participants are sharks BUT there is no doubt that a number have shown no regard for the welfare of their customers. Setting a maximum of two for roll-overs of loans is a good start but will only work if 1) customers are honest and 2) loan providers are not referring their borrowe....

The Government is completely wrong in its policy of trying to solve the problems of the housing market by guaranteeing mortgages. The problem we have in the UK is that there are not enough homes available. The only realistic solution is to build more-and quickly. How can this be achieved?  High Street Bank sponsored Shared Ownership deals that the way forward. The banks can work with major b....

MasterCard have joined the " Better Than Cash Alliance". Of course, "joined" doesn't really cover their involvement. The Plastic Peddlers have given this odd-ball alliance a grant of $1.5 Million to fund marketing aimed at persuading poor people on our planet to get even poorer by resorting to using expensive cards. It is understandable that MasterCard (and their close relations, Visa) are....

Both the US and the UK have reported falling unemployment in the last couple of years. Some have regarded this as a miracle, given the low GDP growth in both countries and the rising unemployment experienced in the likes of Spain and Portugal. There has been no need for miraculous intervention, however. The improving performance has been largely down to Government intervention. Both Admini....

A group of students and professors from Yale University have found a fungi in the Amazon rainforest that eats plastic !! This could be the answer environmentally friendly way reduce credit card debt :)

There is now a confusing proliferation of mobile payment methods. PingIt; Zinc; Droplet; Zapp; etc, etc are all names to conjure with - but what exactly do they do, and how is one different from the other? The answer to both the above questions is "I don't know" - and neither do you! Of course, it should have been a much simpler situation. The UK Payments Council, bless them, announced a....

  Some great job figures recently.
The UK has seen employment grow by 1.6 Million in the last 3 years.
Of course, there are still issues:
• average wages are still falling, taking into account inflation.
• average productivity has gone down by about 10%
• there are still nearly 3 million unemployed in the UK.
I think we ha....

The Times newspaper the other day commented that Stephen Hester, the CEO of Royal Bank of Scotland Group, had made sterling efforts to shrink the bank which "have pleased the bank's shareholders".

The Times made this comment in a speculative article which also mused that Mr Hester might be thinking of leaving the bank to go to an unspecified place where his "talents will be more a....

The popular view is that "Free Trade" i.e the elimination of barriers created by import quotas, taxes and duties, leads to "wealth creation".

The question arises, however : wealth for whom?

In Columbia earlier this week, coffee producers were demonstrating against the fact that the prices they are receiving for their produce in local markets are below the cost of pr....

China has just passed the US to become the World's largest trading nation.

This was not unexpected and the gap will grow.

Whilst the US and Europe have been attempting to act as the World's policemen, sending troops to almost every corner of the planet, China has concentrated on economic growth. 

The West, whilst waging "war on terror" has weakly s....

The French Labour Minister caused a stir the other day by pronouncing his homeland as "bankrupt".
Strictly speaking of course France is not bankrupt. It can happily continue to trade due to the support of its parent "company" i.e. the G8 nations.
None of the G8 (Canada, USA, UK, Italy, Germany, Russia, Japan and France) would dare to let another member go bankrupt. Such an occurren....

Happy New Year! Many people make New Year Resolutions.
I don't.
Many believe the World can be a better, fairer place.
I don't.
Realistically, the World will lurch from crisis to crisis in 2013. Just as it does every year.
Realistically, most of the World's population will live in poverty in 2013. That has never changed.
Realistically, there will be lit....

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has said that the austerity "programme" will continue until 2018 at the earliest. Five years is rather a long time and especially in politics. The next General Election will be held in 2015. In the event that our current Chancellor loses his position at that election, all talk of bringing austerity to an end by 2018 will quickly be forgotten. Particularly by t....

There was a brilliant article in the Sunday Times yesterday, exposing those companies which are highly profitable but pay virtually no corporation tax in the UK. The article identifies the culprits and also alternatives one can use to reward those companies that make a contribution to the UK exchequer. Being a married lady on PAYE, I can't avoid any tax. So I am particularly keen not to use ....

The saddest part of the US Presidential election is that both sets of voters believe their man can restore the US economy.

In fact, neither can.

The US is bankrupt. The country has an annual budget deficit of $ Trillions.
Most of the dollars that the US overspends end up in Chinese bank vaults.
The Chinese now have so many dollars that they do not know....

Much publicity has been given - rightly- to the Pussy Riots trial in Russia.
Political interference in the judicial process is a huge issue in Russia. Basically, if President Putin decides you should be in jail, that is where you end up living. In the case of Pussy Riots, for two years.
Of course, you might consider yourself lucky to go to jail in Russia. Those who offend the Autho....

You will have gathered from previous postings on this site that it is the editorial team's belief that it is inevitable that around 80 per cent of the World's population will remain poor. The good news is that if you are reading this in the UK, you will most likely be in the other 20 per cent.  Of course , even though there is an economic structural issue that makes poverty inevitable, it....

The "wealth creation" concept really emerged during the Industrial Revolution. This was the era in which for the first time it became possible to convert raw materials into manufactured goods on a large-scale. The progression of raw cotton from farm produce to finished garment is often cited as a classic example of wealth creation. Here is a simple flow of supposed wealth creation events: ....

There are really irritating people who use their debit cards for small purchases. You know the ones, they can be seen farting around at counters and check-outs throughout the UK, using cards when cash would be quicker and easier. They are easily recognised because they usually have long queues forming behind them.  Now these Card Clones will have pause for thought. The Chip & Pin technology....

I am sitting in a cab as I write this. Travelling through London in a cab can be a horrific experience. Just watching the meter turn quickly is enough to give anyone on a low budget a nervous twitch. So the fares are bad enough anyway. However, our "friends" the card schemes are now piling on the agony. In my current cab, there is a shiny new card reader, placed by Verifone, inviting me....

This site is about the freedom to use cash Make no mistake, freedom and cash are very closely interwoven. Put simply, without cash you are free to do almost nothing, except of course to be poor. Those who are pushing for a cashless "society" wish to destroy our freedom - and, ultimately, our society. The most obvious culprits are the international card schemes. These schemes are of cours....

There were signs at every venue where you could buy anything at the Olympics proclaiming "Proud To Accept Only Visa". Mind you, it was often difficult to pay using your Visa card, as 70,000 hungry and thirsty people at Wembley will tell you.  Their cards didn't work during the first Olympic football match and since the London Olympic Organising Committee had "helped" Visa by switching off t....

Cash-is-Cool are very pleased to highly recommend this guide. It is a truly essential jargon-free book on student finance and money management. Save the Student Operations Director, Jake Butler, alerted us to the severe lack of financial education for young people in this country. Anything that can be done to help circulate this guide will help to correct that and make student life more ....

"Cash is one of the most successful human technologies of all time," states Mike Lee, CEO of ATMIA. "And today it represents 84% of all global transactions. This video conveys cash's important role."  [link]

David Cameron seems very determined to get mild-mannered Andrew Tyrie, Chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, to lead the investigations into the "LIBOR" fixing crisis. Andrew Tyrie seems to be a decent man but, frankly, there is no evidence he has either the dynamism or change-making ability to provide the leadership required. Is it possible Tyrie has been selected so that the banking boa....

Those who argue for a continuing role for cash in the World often speak of the "freedom" cash gives ordinary people. In case you balk at the use of the word "ordinary", I mean 95% plus of the World's population. In short, nearly all of us. When one looks around the World today, there is little genuine freedom. Many people are shackled by poverty - 3 Billion live on less than £1.75 per d....

We've all heard of those lucky people who have a mass clear-out of all their household "junk" only to find that they were sitting on a veritable treasure trove of priceless artifacts that can then be sold at auction for a small fotune.  While we can all dream that our 25-year-old dinner platter is really a gold-plated antique once used by kings and queens of old, the reality is often far le....

Spring 2012 seems to be full of Bank Holiday bliss; after the recent Easter weekend we still have the impending May Day holiday and the Diamond Jubilee to look forward to and we're all busy planning how to make the most of their three- or four-day weekends of freedom from the office. Holidays, days out, lunches with friends, the enjoyment options are limitless. However, so is the temptation to....

There are many out there who - when it comes to finances - think that an array of credit cards, debit cards and overdrafts are the only way to keep good day-to-day budget control.

With numerous offers, deals and rates available from banks hoping to tempt new customers, adding another credit or debit card to the collection can often seem like a truly simple solution to your financi....

The Daily Mail this week reported that there has been a significant rise in the number of “professional shoppers” targeting supermarket bargains with “military-like precision” in a bid to save money. Many of these shoppers use social media networks and internet forums in order to share news of the latest and greatest frugal finds – with some going as far as to po....

With the current economic situation showing no signs of improving, it seems like we could all use some top tips on how to better manage our personal finances. One lesson that we should surely have learnt by now however is that – for most – life after education (be it school, college or sixth form) can be a bit of a reality shock. For the majority of students who fly the nest of....

Barclays last week released a new smartphone app which allows their customers to transfer money (with a daily limit of £300) using just the account holder’s mobile phone number. While many have hailed the latest advance in mobile banking as a brilliant indication of a soon-to-come contactless UK economy, we at Cash-is-Cool think otherwise. Certainly the app facilitates person-to-pe....

This week has seen Valentine's day come and go and with it, a storm of news and ideas about how to have the most romantic of celebrations with loved ones. We have trawled through a number in order to boost our own brownie points and thought we would share some of the best ideas from Money-saving blogger Miss Thrifty, who has shared her top tips for wining, dining and romancing on a budget. (Re....

For many, the new year has called for a new take on finances and budgets and - for some - a drastic shake up of personal savings and expenditure.

Rather than looking on this as a wearisome task (what with tax returns due soon we know financial organisation might not seem like the most exciting of tasks!), we at Cash-is-Cool urge you to take the opportunity to make positive financi....

Looking regal and relaxed prior to the inaugural Cash-is-Cool handicap at Lingfield Park last Friday, Prince Blue - ridden by jockey Sam Hitchcott - was the clear winner of the best turned out prize, which he claimed alongside his third place finish at the end of the 3.30 race. The Prince was pipped to the finishing post by favourtie Daniel Thomas, ridden by RC Guest, who claimed first place, ....

While Friday 13th may be unlucky for some, we at Cash-is-Cool are hoping it will be our lucky day as we head to the racecourse at Lingfield Park for the debut of the 'Use cash not Visa at "London 2012" Handicap', our first Cash-is-Cool sponsored horse racing event, kicking off at Lingfield Park racecourse at 3.30 tomorrow afternoon. We all know that cash is king at the races and we want to sho....

We all enjoy starting the year with a clean slate, forgetting any troubles which might have plagued us during 2011 and moving on to something bigger and brighter. Unfortunately banks don't tend to be so forgiving and there are many of us who will begin 2012 not - as much as we might wish - both worry - and debt-free, but rather struggling to keep a handle on our finances following some over indu....

Consumers throughout the UK are in danger of falling victim to sharp increases in credit card interest post-Christmas, a savings and loan body warned today. Glasgow Credit Union said that many Britons have admitted to taking out credit cards simply for the short-term interest-free offers which they believe will ease the financial pressure over the holidays. Hayley Street, from Glasgow Credit....

The future of Britain's high streets has been the subject of national debate this week after consumer guru Mary Portas (of Channel 4's Queen of Shops series) published her 28-point plan to revitalise the once busy and bustling streets.

Ms Portas - who's report was commissioned by David Cameron in May, after town centre vacancy rates were shown to have doubled since 2009 - believes....

New figures have been released this week which show a big increase in the number of cash withdrawals across the UK this month, suggesting that more Britons are relying on cash over credit for their Christmas shopping. Cash machine provider LINK said there was an 11 per cent increase in the number of cash withdrawals in the week ending December 4, 2011 when compared with the same period last ye....

There has been much speculation in the press recently about the likelihood of cash becoming obsolete at the hands of advancing contactless payment technology. From mobile phones to over-priced watches, new, flashy methods of transferring money seem to be popping up all over the place, causing many cash critics to question whether cash will continue to have a place in our lives in the next few ye....

The UK Card Association this week issued a warning about a potential rise in online credit card fraud during the holiday season.

Women in particular are believed to be at a greater risk of falling prey to fraudsters as they tend to do more of their shopping online.

At this time of year, when many of us are feeling under severe financial pressure, it is essential to ....

The Payments Council faced immense pressure from the Treasury Select Committee (a group of MPs from across all parties) this week to reinstate the much-missed cheque guarantee card, which was abolished in June of this year. Earlier this year, theTCS published a report on the future of cheques which stated that, without a concrete guarantee system, cheques would begin to be seen as unreliable f....

The Metro published an article earlier this week about the potential "death" of the much-loved cash carrying accessory at the hands of contactless payment technology.

Gone, they insisted, will be the days of common cash once people start using their mobile phones for contactless payments.

It's true that a number of banks have linked up with mobile networks in order ....

This week saw the introduction of a new £50 banknote in the UK.

The note, which maintains a similar colour and design to its predecessor, has been revamped and redesigned to incorporate more modern technology, giving the iconic pink paper note an updated feel while still staying true to its original style.

As well as a new 'moving' holographic strip, the new Bank....

Consumer confidence is at its lowest since the 2009 recession, a new survey showed today, raising fears that we are on our way to yet another economic slump.

The GfK NOP consumer confidence index - which measures consumer confidence in the UK - dipped to -32 this month, the lowest level since the country was in the midst of the recession in February 2009.

What this ....

Santander recently announced that it was reducing the overdraft facilities on thousands of its accounts before Christmas, leaving many customers worrying that they will be left unable to pay for the festive season.

With increasing costs crippling many families - particularly as the colder months set in and gas bills start to rise - debts are piling up to an unbelievable level.