Cash or Card? Countries where you still need cash.

[SYD]

I recently visited St Helena and there were only about 3 places on the whole island that accept credit cards (including Mantis Hotel). It’s very much cash-based (pounds sterling) but there are no ATMs on the island, so you need to come prepared.

Also, you need Bank of England banknotes - the Scottish ones I somehow got when withdrawing from an ATM in Scotland were not accepted.

Many businesses also accept payments via an app-based platform called St Helena Tourist Card. You can create an account and load money onto it before your trip, then unload any leftover funds back to your foreign bank account/card at the end of your trip, with no fees. To make a payment you just scan a QR code and then enter the PIN you created when setting up the virtual card.

No that’s one of the more esoteric situations!

I was about to post that the US is still dragging the chain in some situations. A number of bars are still cash only (PITA with high ATM fees) but even some that have switched to card payments still have those silly restaurant style chits where you have to manually sign and write the tip amount - worse, they seem to be applying a tax percentage that you wouldn’t pay with cash…

 

[kpc]

Timor Leste is mainly cash (US$) only. If a credit card is accepted, it isonly Visa card. Mastercard is not accepted. Leave the Amex at home!

 

[SYD]

Timor Leste is mainly cash (US$) only. If a credit card is accepted, it isonly Visa card. Mastercard is not accepted. Leave the Amex at home!

Do leave home without it!

 

[pagingjoan]

This evening, at a concert hall in Berlin, it was a surprise - to us - to find a Cash Only regime at the bar!
None of the locals shared our surprise.

 

[jamesatfish]

Tuvalu is still 100% cash across the entire country. Very strange experience using cash again, especially for things like hotels, restaurants and even the government telecom office.

They have their own currency but thankfully they’ve pegged it 1:1 with the AUD so the Aussie dollar is universally accepted as an alternative. Indeed I didn’t get any change that wasn’t Australian currency.

The national bank have just installed ATMs for the first time but they only work for local accounts, so you need to take enough cash to cover your entire trip. Given the unreliability of the flights you also need to have enough to cover an extra week of expenses just in case you get stuck in Tuvalu for longer than expected.

I believe the bank has a Western Union agency so at least you can transfer money that way if you run low on cash, but I doubt that’s a cheap option.

 

[Zero]

Cashless on the [Christchurch] buses now

Ended up buying a metro card when o was there

Could you elaborate on this as I can't find this publicised anywhere - in fact the official website still says cash is accepted. It says the airport bus 29 takes contactless card directly, with the rest of the buses supposed to get it by the end of this year.

I was there 1.5 years ago and I did get a metrocard because it worked out cheaper overall. The card itself costs $5 but you can't buy it at the airport. I had to pay cash for my first trip which was to a "metro mart" where they sold the metro card. The card itself cost $5 but the shop would only accept cash to purchase it! (Obviously they accepted card for other purchases.)

When I was there, the cash fare was $4 for boarding up to 2 buses within 2 hours, while metrocard fare was $2 for boarding unlimited buses within 2 hours. So for me it was cheaper even after having to pay for the card. However looking on the official website the cash fare is still $4 and the metrocard fare is now $3, so if I was doing the same travel today without already having a metrocard, I would be better off paying cash.


A few months ago I went to the North Island, and because a family member had given me $600 of NZ cash as a gift, I only used cash on that trip. Surprisingly I didn't have any trouble spending the cash; in fact in over half of the places I visited, I saw another patron spending cash first, so I didn't even need to ask if they accepted cash.

However, I found that it was better to tell the staff I wanted to pay in cash as soon as they finished inputting my purchases. Obviously the default expectation is card, so if I didn't say cash they would set up the transaction on the card reader. Weirdly, most shops were not able to cancel it from the till side so they had to tell me to press a button on the reader and then wait a while for their system to reset,

 

[SYD]

Could you elaborate on this as I can't find this publicised anywhere - in fact the official website still says cash is accepted. It says the airport bus 29 takes contactless card directly, with the rest of the buses supposed to get it by the end of this year.

I was there 1.5 years ago and I did get a metrocard because it worked out cheaper overall. The card itself costs $5 but you can't buy it at the airport. I had to pay cash for my first trip which was to a "metro mart" where they sold the metro card. The card itself cost $5 but the shop would only accept cash to purchase it! (Obviously they accepted card for other purchases.)

When I was there, the cash fare was $4 for boarding up to 2 buses within 2 hours, while metrocard fare was $2 for boarding unlimited buses within 2 hours. So for me it was cheaper even after having to pay for the card. However looking on the official website the cash fare is still $4 and the metrocard fare is now $3, so if I was doing the same travel today without already having a metrocard, I would be better off paying cash.


A few months ago I went to the North Island, and because a family member had given me $600 of NZ cash as a gift, I only used cash on that trip. Surprisingly I didn't have any trouble spending the cash; in fact in over half of the places I visited, I saw another patron spending cash first, so I didn't even need to ask if they accepted cash.

However, I found that it was better to tell the staff I wanted to pay in cash as soon as they finished inputting my purchases. Obviously the default expectation is card, so if I didn't say cash they would set up the transaction on the card reader. Weirdly, most shops were not able to cancel it from the till side so they had to tell me to press a button on the reader and then wait a while for their system to reset,

I wouldn’t be surprised if more Kiwi locals are going back to cash. A lot of places are charging upwards of 3% card surcharges now…