Re:Britain being forced to go cashless 'against its will'
by BenjiWiebe on Thursday March 31, 2022 @09:59AM
(#30867273)
There's also such a thing as offline transactions, for when the internet is down. As I understand it, most POS terminals do support that.
Power outages are indeed an issue, especially when the business is in a small town or rural community with a flakier power grid.
Where I work, when the power is out, we rely on cash or writing down the customer's name and amount they owe, and add that to their account when the power's back.
Imprint machines still exist, and maybe half of my cards still have raised numbers. If all else fails, the merchant may be willing to write down name, phone number, and amount and either ask the customer to come by later to make it right (and call if not) or write the card number down to run the charge later and call to confirm, etc. There's ways to get network redundancy and power redundancy, if it's of value to the merchant.
Sometimes the merchant doesn't have the right change for cash (or would prefer not to take a large bill), or may not be able to open the register if power is unavailable (usually there's a key, but it might not be onsite).
You don't need to review charges on a daily basis, monthly is sufficent to keep your rights (at least in the US)