Even Debit cards have a limit on what you can spend in a day, so very large payments like for a car or your home, can sometimes only be paid for by cheque. I think the debit card limit has recently gone up from £10,000 to £20,000, so might be able to buy a small car here in the UK, but not able to pay for a house if buying a new one .

Rent, power, internet,insurance sky tv, all prefer you to pay by automatic payment or direct debit.
Anything bought online is card.
Most grocery shopping I do or department store, Dr ,dentist, optometrist all by card.
Even the opp shops or small coffee vendors on the street have card facility.
Only the buskers thieves and beggers have not upgraded to card machines ... yet
So I guess 90% of my financial flow is by card.
Cash payment is still available almost every where though.

Sandgrounder wrote: Even Debit cards have a limit on what you can spend in a day, so very large payments like for a car or your home, can sometimes only be paid for by cheque. I think the debit card limit has recently gone up from £10,000 to £20,000, so might be able to buy a small car here in the UK, but not able to pay for a house if buying a new one .

Anyone using online banking can pay for most things using direct transfer, straight from your account to the suppliers account. I paid for my car this way also for garage bills and even my window cleaner (£10). This arrangement has to be agreed beforehand as you need their bank details (account name, sort code, account number).

For those who don't bank online, they should still be able to arrange to do this in branch.

Sometimes banks charge for this though, whether online or in branch as i've discovered, and depending how much they charge, and the size of the bill your paying to your tradesman, it's cheaper to pop a cheque a in the post with a first class stamp -i still have a cheque book although rarely used, but it does come in handy.

I wouldn't recommend it for buying a house!

I know several people my age, some are friends, who do not use credit cards and only use their debit card for certain transactions. For everything else they wait for the bill to come in and then go to their bank or the post office to then make a payment. They have always done it that way for a number of years and wish to continue that way for the foreseeable future .

I am one of those few - who prefer personal banking - My bank is one that has not been closed.
Some items - like Bills for utilities get paid by card - I use the contactless card now - very useful.
I still have a number of coin bags - to take to the bank - useful for dipping into for change.

We are being forced into a cashless society by the lack of banks and their closure of the branches We don't have a bank open at all now and nearest branch is 5 miles away so I have to rely on the ATM or shop with a card One shop will not accept a card for less than £5 prohibiting a purchase or forcing the customer to buy more than they need
. Finally there are people who do not have bank accounts and rely on cash what is to happen to them

but then, how do they receive their pensions/other benefits if they don't have a bank account? I don't understand that, shrubby.

First Direct banking services are available at all 11,500 Post Office branches.
You can pay cash and cheques into your account over Post Office® counters.
We do online banking, but we withdraw cash from the post office if we need it.

Then there is the The Payment Exception Service, this is a way for people who do not have a bank account to collect benefit or pension payments, only available in very limited circumstances.

but Pats - when you say "your account" isn't that a bank account? Sorry, being a bit thick here.....


We've used the Post Office occasionally but only in dealings with our bank account.


(edit to add, just seen your edit!)