End of the penny....

[CdnCarrie]

It's been happening all over the world for sometime now. I puzzles me how we can still think we are superior and a leader in technology when we get all upset about any type of change to our habits. I prefer to not call it elitist and use the word progressive in it's place. We are falling so far behind other industrial countries and will continue as long as we keep looking back instead of forward.

The good old days weren't always good nor should they be continued just because we always did it that way.

In banking the USA is way behind other countries. Take cheques for example - very rarely used in places like the UK and Canada. Still very common around the USA. And Canada got rid of the penny over a decade ago and the USA is just doing it now.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I prefer to not call it elitist and use the word progressive in it's place.

How is it "progressive" to downright exclude people who don't have plastic/electronic money? (the unhoused, people too young to have a credit card, etc.)

I think maybe it's just that we're talking about two different groups here - you about people who have the privilege of these options and are hesitant to use them, and me about people who don't have that privilege at all.

 

[kdonnel]

Not for nothing but it's often thought about how tech-oriented Japan is (you know the comments you see about how far in the future Japan is living) only to point out how reliant they are still on physical cash and coin.

Japan is very confusing in that in some respects they are in the 23rd century and in others they are in the 14th century.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Japan is very confusing in that in some respects they are in the 23rd century and in others they are in the 14th century.

Yeah it's a very interesting country to go to. If someone stayed exclusively in Tokyo they would probably experience the more tech-oriented part of the country in greater instances but branching out to elsewhere and it is a different (sure Kyoto and Osaka have more today's convenience but still not the same as Tokyo). Luckily when we went in October 2024 the Suica card was back into usage (iPhone users do get a leg up on public transit there since they can load onto their phone wallet). You're definitely better off keeping cash on you in Japan and a frequent thing I saw in shops (not speaking to tourist shops just shops) is coin organizers so someone can more easily pull out the exact coin currency they need.

 

[Threehearts]

In banking the USA is way behind other countries. Take cheques for example - very rarely used in places like the UK and Canada. Still very common around the USA. And Canada got rid of the penny over a decade ago and the USA is just doing it now.

This is so true. When I lived in Sweden and traveled through northern Europe over 20 years ago, credit cards were preferred in most places and cash was not accepted in many more. In my small business, it's credit only and in the quite large business I also work in, only credit cards are accepted. It takes costly employee time to go to the bank repeatedly, load and then empty the safe and cash out on tally sheets at day's end.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

This is so true. When I lived in Sweden and traveled through northern Europe over 20 years ago, credit cards were preferred in most places and cash was not accepted in many more. In my small business, it's credit only and in the quite large business I also work in, only credit cards are accepted. It takes costly employee time to go to the bank repeatedly, load and then empty the safe and cash out on tally sheets at day's end.

I find it just easier to research the country you'll be in to know whether cash or no cash is important. It's unlikely that in the U.S. you'll see many places where this is a necessity for tourists but the citizens themselves may use cash depending on where they live.

In Wales in September we ran into a parking lot where the card accepting one was broken and only the coin (not cash) was available. We didn't have coin (against my better judgement my husband didn't want to take out cash prior to our trip and we hadn't needed to stop by an ATM up until that point) but we were not the only ones. A UK couple also found themselves in the same boat as us. They couldn't get the number to work to report a broken machine and ended up walking off. When we got to the castle that we were visiting we told the ticket counter about the broken parking meter and she said you're in luck they never check this particular parking lot for violations.

In Glasgow and Edinburgh you really need coin to operate the parking meters, their RingGo app doesn't work most especially for international visitors, it just doesn't. Only a select parking meters take cards and they are often very pricey (we paid 9 pounds for an hour of parking compared to a coin operated one we could have done if we had the coin for about 2 pounds per hour). In Germany in 2024 there were several luggage storage lockers at train stations that only took exact coin (I know Trier had that), same with bathroom access. There was one public bathroom we ran into in Gothenburg, Sweden that was coin only we did not have the local currency and so we went to a different one that took card. In Japan as I mentioned in another comment coins and cash were used a good amount. In 2023 in Kotor, Montenegro the bathroom inside the Old Towne was cash only and the ability to get change very limited. A person from our group only had 20 euros and that was a too large of a denomination for the 2 euros (I believe it was that) cost but luckily our tour guide had the ability to exchange for them to get lower denomination amounts. In this case it was just a person collecting money. I am blanking on which location but in the spring of this year we ran into paid public bathrooms that were coins only (physical cash needed to be small enough if you wanted change back) but I don't remember the exact location maybe Rhonda, Spain??.

In my traveling experience I have found that more places use coins especially and then physical cash as well that are in higher prevalence rate than in the U.S. by that I mean the places we've run into only accept cash and often coin only (usually exact coin) when in the U.S. only accepting cash is less common. Certainly CC payments are becoming much more common but you won't run into needing cash to do things n the U.S. that we've needed to do in other international locations. Cash can be a choice in the U.S. for many businesses but the only option in the places we've traveled.

 

[tvguy]

In Glasgow and Edinburgh you really need coin to operate the parking meters,

Forget the parking meters, you need a coin for the pay toilets in Edinburg.!! My daughter arrived there yesterday for a two week visit from Germany and she made sure she had coins for the toilets.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Forget the parking meters, you need a coin for the pay toilets in Edinburg.!! My daughter arrived there yesterday for a two week visit from Germany and she made sure she had coins for the toilets.

Agreed and luckily we didn't have that issue this time in Glasgow or Edinburg because we were able to use the bathrooms at the places we were visiting but in Europe by far the most common thing we've needed coin for is public bathroom access. Sometimes it's a stand alone pod basically other times it in a train station and other times a large building but meant for mostly public bathrooms. There are ones that take card but you better make sure you have coin on you if you ahem need to go and you're out and about.

I don't carry cash with me in the U.S. but in our travels internationally that's when we've suddenly needed to ensure we have coin and cash. Maybe you don't need it for merchants as much (except Japan) but bathroom access you might, luggage storage, etc. Oh that reminds me in Cochem, Germany the train station didn't have luggage storage but a tavern/bar did and it was the only place in the city to do so...cash only no card.

 

[tvguy]

Agreed and luckily we didn't have that issue this time in Glasgow or Edinburg because we were able to use the bathrooms at the places we were visiting but in Europe by far the most common thing we've needed coin for is public bathroom access. Sometimes it's a stand alone pod basically other times it in a train station and other times a large building but meant for mostly public bathrooms. There are ones that take card but you better make sure you have coin on you if you ahem need to go and you're out and about.

I don't carry cash with me in the U.S. but in our travels internationally that's when we've suddenly needed to ensure we have coin and cash. Maybe you don't need it for merchants as much (except Japan) but bathroom access you might, luggage storage, etc. Oh that reminds me in Cochem, Germany the train station didn't have luggage storage but a tavern/bar did and it was the only place in the city to do so...cash only no card.

My daughter is working on her Masters at a University in Germany and did a paper and presentation on why pay toilets should be outlawed.