It's becoming increasingly popular for businesses to only accept payments by card. Yes. London's bus network has been cashless since 2014.越来越多的商家只接受刷卡支付。是的，伦敦的公交系统从 2014 年起就已经全面取消现金支付了。 And now there are many food and drink outlets in the UK that only accept payment by card. We're looking at the benefits of a cashless company.现在英国有许多餐饮店也仅接受刷卡支付。我们现在要讨论无现金公司的好处。 Yes, specifically in the hospitality trade. If you think about in the past, Richard, restaurants. Imagine the scenario. Saturday night, they've done very well, OK.是的，尤其是在餐饮与服务行业。想想过去吧，Richard，比如餐馆。想象一个场景：星期六晚上，他们生意很好。 They've had a lot of customers, well, a lot of orders. They've taken a lot of money. What happens at the end of the evening?有很多顾客、很多订单，收入也很多。那么在晚上打烊后会发生什么？ Well, obviously the first thing is, after they close, they've got to count the cash, haven't they? They've got to count the takings for the night and record it.首先显而易见的是，打烊后他们必须清点现金，对吧？必须数清这晚的收入并记录下来。 And it needs to be checked with the receipts. Exactly. So that takes up a lot of time and resources.而且还需要与收据核对。没错。所以这会占用大量时间和人力资源。 And then, of course, if it's night time, they've got to hang on to that money, probably keep it in a safe. If it's a Saturday night, they've got to keep all that cash safe and then probably not be able to take it to the bank, what, until Monday morning?而且，如果是晚上，他们必须妥善保管这些现金，可能要放在保险箱里。如果是星期六晚上，他们需要整晚保管所有现金，并可能直到周一早上才能存入银行。 And the bank is the other problem as well, of course, Jackie, because banks will charge customers if they deposit large amounts of cash.银行也是一个问题，Jackie，因为银行在客户存入大量现金时会收取费用。 What kind of bank charges do restaurants have a year then, about?那餐馆一年大概要付多少银行手续费呢？ Well, it can be as much as from £3,000 to £5,000 for a decent-sized restaurant, and obviously the chains pay much more than that.一家规模不错的餐馆一年大约要支付 3,000 到 5,000 英镑，连锁店则要付更多。 Actually, even when people paid with their cards in the past, it wasn't easy or cheap for the restaurants either. The card processing system was much more complicated than it is now.事实上，即使过去顾客使用银行卡支付，对餐馆来说也不简单或便宜。当时的刷卡处理系统比现在复杂得多。 OK, so you're talking about people putting their cards into the machine, the handheld machine? Exactly, yes.你是指顾客把卡插进那种手持刷卡机？没错。 They had different cards, different fees, some were accepted, some weren't, different card readers. The process is much more streamlined now.当时不同的卡收费不同，有些能刷，有些不能，而且刷卡机也不统一。现在这个流程已经顺畅多了。 Yeah, and I think that the card readers, they're much cheaper and easier to use, aren't they, for restaurants?是的，而且现在的刷卡机对餐馆来说更便宜、更容易使用了，对吧？ Yes, and interestingly enough, in addition to that, at one particular McDonald's branch, where they introduced cashless kiosks, i.e. they wouldn't take cash at all, the values of the individual orders went up by 30%.是的，而且很有趣的是，在某家麦当劳分店，他们引入了完全不接受现金的自助点餐机后，单笔订单金额竟然上涨了 30%。 Well, I suppose people are more willing to spend more if it's with a card, as opposed to putting their hands in their pockets for cash.嗯，我想人们在刷卡时更愿意多花钱，相比掏出现金要更轻松。 Certainly would seem so. So maybe, perhaps after all, we are moving towards a cashless society.确实如此。所以或许，我们正在迈向一个无现金社会。 However, interestingly, the Bank of England has observed that despite the rate of card transactions soaring, and actually back in 2016, purchases using a debit card overtook cash for the first time in the UK, the volume of cash in circulation is at a record high, which sounds a bit strange.不过有趣的是，英格兰银行观察到，尽管银行卡交易量大幅上升——实际上早在 2016 年英国借记卡消费就首次超过现金——但市场上流通的现金量却创下历史新高，这听起来有点奇怪。 And the number of British people who only deal in cash, which is about 2.7 million, is also rising.而只使用现金的人数也在上升，约有 270 万英国人只使用现金交易。 So why is that then? Well, there's a number of reasons.那为什么会这样呢？原因有很多。 People are hoarding money after the 2008 crash.人们在 2008 年金融危机后开始囤积现金。 They're stuffing it underneath their mattresses again, are they?他们又把现金塞回床垫下面了吗？ Yeah, sounds a bit strange. But perhaps most interestingly, there's a booming criminal economy.是的，听起来有点奇怪。但也许最值得注意的是，黑色经济正在蓬勃发展。 Cash in hand, avoiding taxes, etc. Exactly.比如私下收现金、逃税等等。没错。 So cards are great for restaurants, but not necessarily for all businesses.所以刷卡支付对餐馆很有帮助，但不一定适用于所有行业。
