From later this year it will no longer be possible buy a ticket on a London bus. Transport for London reckons that under one percent of travellers now use cash. The other ninety-nine use Oyster cards, contactless payment or pre-paid tickets from machines at bus stops. From personal observation (I am an incorrigible bus addict) this is probably a good assessment. The person who fumbles with cash to buy a ticket while the rest of the queue is outside in the rain had better have a thick skin. It’s all a sign of the times and I can now believe pundits who say that cash will be extinct in a few years’ time.
Time was when I would fume in line at Starbucks when the customer in front tried to pay for a skinny latte with a credit card. Now, with increasing use of no-PIN-needed cards for small purchases, we are beginning to realise that it is actually quicker to pay by card than by cash. Roll on the day when I can pay for everything by waving my iPhone in the air.