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Sentsuizan t1_j5y9mfw wrote

Reply to comment by YoThatsFed in The transition to digital currency is terrible for homeless people. by YoThatsFed

You don't need a card reader since you can just transfer with Cash app Granted, I don't know about the UK's homeless situation but in the US this has definitely been common since I was homeless about 8 years ago

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YoThatsFed OP t1_j5y9zw7 wrote

Card readers or a smart phone then I should add. Definitely more common that they will have a phone/smartphone but then there is the issue of actually having access to a bank account and card without an address to link it to, plus then keeping the phone charged to spend it. I’ve personally never met a homeless person who’s accepted anything besides cash.

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Sentsuizan t1_j5yaqli wrote

The whole benefit of Cash app and similar apps is that they do not require a bank account or an address. Whenever we needed a charge we would either head to the library or one of the public outlets at the park, if not in a shelter somewhere.

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YoThatsFed OP t1_j5yd5g4 wrote

Sorry then maybe I’m confused, how do you spend money from Cash App if you don’t have a card or account? Sure you have the money sat in Cash App but how can you then actually use it?

Cash App isn’t really used at all in the UK so I’m not massively familiar with it.

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Sentsuizan t1_j5yeizp wrote

You get a virtual card number, and they also send you a physical card if you request it nowadays. Typically a shelter will take mail for the homeless, or the post office can hold it for you. NFC payments are in just about every cheap phone now so even that isn't needed anymore.

If you wanted cash you would find someone who had cash on hand and/or a bank account of their own, and simply trade some of the balance for their cash minus a small cut off the top for the trouble. Could also buy something and then sell that for cash. I used to do that with cigarettes. Buy a pack for six bucks sell all 20 for a dollar each since I don't smoke anyway.

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YoThatsFed OP t1_j5yi8zn wrote

Are you saying you can do contactless payments from a Cash App balance on your phone?

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Sentsuizan t1_j5yirzw wrote

That's exactly right

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YoThatsFed OP t1_j5yq5wy wrote

Wow that’s actually very useful, I didn’t know that. I’m not sure if shops in the UK accept Cash App Pay as I’ve never seen it and can’t find anything about it online, but definitely very useful to the homeless population in the USA and hopefully something that gets adopted more here.

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Sentsuizan t1_j5yymhi wrote

Well, I'm pretty sure cash app recently expanded to the UK and besides it's not the only online payment out there if they take an American Visa card then they will likely take cash app

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YoThatsFed OP t1_j5z1dgn wrote

We primarily use PayPal but I’m not aware of a way to use that to pay in stores either.

Stores tend to accept any major debit/credit cards, and Apple and Google pay.

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Sentsuizan t1_j5z2x3u wrote

Here you can simply add your PayPal account to your Google Pay or Apple pay wallet and it just works. It's what I use pretty much every time I'd tap to pay these days

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YoThatsFed OP t1_j5z6ngt wrote

That’s super cool, Googling about that shows only results for PayPal and Google Pay in the US making me think it’s another USA only thing. Just goes to shows there is ways that it can be used to help homeless people they’re just not widespread enough yet I suppose.

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