We’re Still a Cash Society

Despite years of promises, hard cash still trumps electronic payments.

I had a somewhat comical evening yesterday that shows how we’re still a cash-based society.

My wife and I went to see Spamalot and were running a bit late. I was out of cash, but didn’t have time to stop at an ATM. I asked my wife how much cash she had and she counted only eight dollars.

“That ought to be enough to park, and then we can go to the ATM inside the theater,” I told her.

When we arrived at the parking garage we were surprised to see parking was $10. We pulled up to the cashier and asked if she took credit cards.

Nope.

So we dug around the car and pulled together 8 quarters to add to the eight dollars. The line to get into the parking garage built up behind us as the cashier carefully counted eight singles and eight quarters. It seemed like she was trying to show everyone behind us that we were paying in coins.

We walked into the theater and asked the ticket taker where the ATM was.

“Sorry,” she stated. “The nearest ATM is 2 blocks away.”

This wouldn’t have been a big deal had there not been a huge sign behind her that read:

“All drinks and concessions tonight are CASH ONLY.”

I ran to the nearest ATM and inserted my card. The ATM stated it was rejected. I called the bank, which informed me it was transitioning ATM networks and I would need to find a STAR ATM, not a Pulse. I ran to another ATM but it, too, was Pulse.

As I slogged back to the theater, I realized just how notable carrying hard cash is. Weren’t we supposed to be able to use our mobile phones to pay by now? Or have an RFID chip in our wallet we could just wave by the cashier to pay for our drinks?

Like many promises of fresh technology, we’re still waiting.