Phil Hill: Why I avoid cash-only businesses and pay card

Long gone are the nights I would venture out as a student with a fiver in my pocket.

A couple of hours down the pub with my friends followed by a Chinese takeaway on the way back to my digs.

Then waking up the following morning with a load of coins falling out of my jeans as I picked them up off the floor.

I used to collect all the ‘brown coins’ in a jar until I had enough to pay for a haircut in 1p and 2p coins.

Of course times have changed, while prices have rocketed over the intervening years.

But these days, instead of checking your pockets for leftover money, you simply fire up your phone and work out the damage via your banking app.

I now get a bit concerned when I walk past a shop, barbers or takeaway with the warning notice, ‘Cash only - no cards accepted’.

It immediately rings alarm bells.

We all know that the odd business does it to minimise its tax return or, in the worst-case scenario, to launder money.

Now, I am not suggesting every single outlet is operating in an illegal way.

Of course not, but we all know that the odd business is operating in an unscrupulous manner.

Not only are they defrauding the taxman, but they are also competing on an uneven playing field with other legitimate businesses.

So, for that reason, I avoid anywhere with a ‘cash only’ notice in the window.

I was quite sympathetic towards one takeaway displaying some time ago a sign on the counter informing hungry passers-by, ‘Sorry, card machine temporarily out of order’.

I raided the nearest ATM to order my number 35 from the menu, feeling sorry for the owner’s misfortune.

A couple of years down the line, the sign is still there, somewhat browned by exposure to sunlight and greasy from fumes emanating from the kitchen.

Maybe there’s a story there for the County Gazette – ‘Takeaway losing customers after company fails to repair card machine’.

In the meantime, I will continue to use my local barber who expects me to pay by card.