Methods of payment

[mjr]

Co-op stamps too, mind they used to pay for the Christmas food at ours.

That was rather different in that the stamps used to show your spend, whereas I think how many Green Shield stamps you got varied by shop. Some co-ops like Anglia (now part of Central England co-op) went stampless early and gave you a card for your dividend share accounts, so long ago it was actual cardboard, but that has since been basically taken up by most of the retail co-ops in some form, with the largest one (the light blue co-op) currently offering a higher rate of return but only on your spend on co-op-brand products IIRC.

Paying for the Christmas food - was that because many co-ops offered a better return if you took the dividend payback as store vouchers instead of cash? I don't remember which currently do but I have seen it within the last 10 years.

Anyone bought anything fun with their co-op divi recently?

And while I'm thinking about co-ops, I think some of the local currencies (things like Totnes Pound and its children) are formed as co-ops - anyone used them much?

 

[raleighnut]

That was rather different in that the stamps used to show your spend, whereas I think how many Green Shield stamps you got varied by shop. Some co-ops like Anglia (now part of Central England co-op) went stampless early and gave you a card for your dividend share accounts, so long ago it was actual cardboard, but that has since been basically taken up by most of the retail co-ops in some form, with the largest one (the light blue co-op) currently offering a higher rate of return but only on your spend on co-op-brand products IIRC.

Paying for the Christmas food - was that because many co-ops offered a better return if you took the dividend payback as store vouchers instead of cash? I don't remember which currently do but I have seen it within the last 10 years.

Anyone bought anything fun with their co-op divi recently?

And while I'm thinking about co-ops, I think some of the local currencies (things like Totnes Pound and its children) are formed as co-ops - anyone used them much?

There's a funny situation in Enderby nowadays, there were 2 supermarkets about 100yds apart one was a Co-op in what was once a full Department Store building built and owned by the Cooperative Society and the other a Somerfields (which is now a Co-op but part of the national chain) now neither building will be sold/leased cos a competitor (Lidl-Aldi) would probably take it over so you can stand outside one Co-op and look across the road at another one.

 

[mjr]

There's a funny situation in Enderby nowadays, there were 2 supermarkets about 100yds apart one was a Co-op in what was once a full Department Store building built and owned by the Cooperative Society and the other a Somerfields (which is now a Co-op but part of the national chain) now neither building will be sold/leased cos a competitor (Lidl-Aldi) would probably take it over so you can stand outside one Co-op and look across the road at another one.

Not that unusual - at least two co-ops are a bit more competitors than some, even if they buy their own-brand products from the same place. Tesco have bought and sold tons of small chains so while reviewing planning applications, I have encountered places with a Tesco hypermarket (not the correct term but I forget what it was and it's not the current one) on the same street in easy sight of a Tesco Express with another at the far end of the street. While the planning policies usually have some protection against letting a dominant provider saturate an area with branches, the big chains' retail property consultants will always find a way of defining the local retail market so that they don't look like a monopoly risk and few council planning departments are willing to have that expensive argument through the appeals system.

Cafes and snack bars are far worse because they're smaller and there are so many there's pretty much no chance of proving a monopoly: I'm sure I stood on a street corner in Leeds a few years back and saw three Subways from one spot, while it's currently possible to sit in a Costa in King's Lynn and look out the window at another Costa across the road.

You can probably pay with contactless at all of these big chains, but I doubt you can use local currencies in many.

 

[Vapin' Joe]

My dad used to come home with sheets and sheets of Green Shield Stamps and it was my job to stick them into the books. I used to use a sponge as licking that acreage of stamp would have left me completely dehydrated. One painstakingly filled damp book of stamps would buy you a quarter share in a plastic pepper shaker or something. For worthwhile purchases an entire bookshelf of the things was required.

Back in the late eighties when Green Shield Stamps made a revival I was a driving instructor. I used to call at the same petrol station near where I lived twice a week and knew the staff fairly well. As most people didn't bother collecting the stamps at all I used to get reams of the bloody things every time I called in. Like you say, foul things and you'd exchange them for next to bugger all in goods.

 

[lazyfatgit]

How can they deduct it from the suppliers price?
Two seperate prices, one for cards the other for cash.

It's common here to be stung for an extra charge, typically 50c when paying by EFTPOS. Especially in smaller cash driven businesses like bakers & coffee shops. Others set a minimum floor limit, usually $10 to use card.
The banks here have been wringing us dry for years.

 

[Drago]

Was it BP giving away free glasses (drinks glasses, not eye ones) in the eighties? The staff were flummoxed when I went in, clearly not trained to handle a customer who didnt want their free tat.

 

[classic33]

It's common here to be stung for an extra charge, typically 50c when paying by EFTPOS. Especially in smaller cash driven businesses like bakers & coffee shops. Others set a minimum floor limit, usually $10 to use card.
The banks here have been wringing us dry for years.

Which goes against the terms and conditions of most card issuers(Visa, Mastercard, but not American Express).

 

[nickyboy]

UK is relatively unsophisticated when it comes to how payments are made. This is largely due to the massive legacy systems of Debit and Credit cards

When you go to countries like China that don't have a long history of these systems of payment, the take up of mobile phone payments is astonishing

In these countries you don't need cash any more. Everything is payable via mobile phone systems which link to your e wallet which, in turn, links to your bank account

It is amazing to see and helps one to understand how advanced their payment systems are compared to ours

 

[ianrauk]

UK is relatively unsophisticated when it comes to how payments are made. This is largely due to the massive legacy systems of Debit and Credit cards

When you go to countries like China that don't have a long history of these systems of payment, the take up of mobile phone payments is astonishing

In these countries you don't need cash any more. Everything is payable via mobile phone systems which link to your e wallet which, in turn, links to your bank account

It is amazing to see and helps one to understand how advanced their payment systems are compared to ours

Yet Germany is the absolute worst when it comes to any form of card or electronic payment. Cash is king there.

 

[Jenkins]

Anyone bought anything fun with their co-op divi recently?

Always use mine to buy the Christmas booze as, when they send out the divi vouchers, there's always extra discount coupons (£3 off a £30 spend or similar)

 

[Milkfloat]

Was it BP giving away free glasses (drinks glasses, not eye ones) in the eighties? The staff were flummoxed when I went in, clearly not trained to handle a customer who didnt want their free tat.

Esso if I remember correctly, you collected Tiger Tokens.

 

[Tim Hall]

Yet Germany is the absolute worst when it comes to any form of card or electronic payment. Cash is king there.

They're really bad when it comes to buying sausages. They are the worst for wurst.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

UK is relatively unsophisticated when it comes to how payments are made. This is largely due to the massive legacy systems of Debit and Credit cards

When you go to countries like China that don't have a long history of these systems of payment, the take up of mobile phone payments is astonishing

In these countries you don't need cash any more. Everything is payable via mobile phone systems which link to your e wallet which, in turn, links to your bank account

It is amazing to see and helps one to understand how advanced their payment systems are compared to ours

I believe there are lots of new entrants lining up to offer new forms of payment services to the UK and Europe once Europe's Payment Services Directive 2 takes effect in January. Opens up the market to so called 'Fin Techs', offering snazzy payment services without the overheads of looking after current accounts.

 

[nickyboy]

I believe there are lots of new entrants lining up to offer new forms of payment services to the UK and Europe once Europe's Payment Services Directive 2 takes effect in January. Opens up the market to so called 'Fin Techs', offering snazzy payment services without the overheads of looking after current accounts.

One suspects adoption of these snazzy services will be slow in UK (but not as glacial as Germany and USA). Too much legacy infrastructure.

Kids in developing countries don't have parents setting up conventional bank accounts for them and then showing them how debit cards and credit cards work. Kids have to figure it out themselves so they naturally gravitate to stuff they are familiar with like smartphone apps

 

[mjr]

I always use the keypad and pin out of habit.

Why? Do you like sticking your fingers in the mucus of others? At least ATM keypads tend to be metal, get wiped down with cleaning products sometimes (especially as people vomit on them sometimes...) and can be pushed with a stick if you really need to use that one (last one in sight with cash left in or something), but has anyone ever seen a shop clean a pin pad, even 24 hour ones visited at strange times?