There is a certain segment of the population that lives on a ‘cash only’ basis. This is to say that they use only bills and coins to complete each of their financial transactions.
Living a cash only lifestyle is absolutely possible. In fact, a 2018 survey of 2,800 individuals found that 30% of all transactions were made with cash, with 55% of transactions being under $10.A
Some users prefer cash for various reasons. They may want to avoid credit card fees and interest for smaller purchases. They may prefer to use cash for budgeting purchases and like seeing their transactions in real-time. They may just want to avoid banking institutions altogether.
The good news is you can adopt other financial strategies without having to tie yourself to a commercial bank. There are many ways to get beyond cash that don’t need to have a negative impact on your finances.
Alternative to Using Cash
One thing you can do is open anaccount like the ACE Flare™ Account by MetaBank®.1 With this account, you can add money into the account either through Direct Deposit or by visiting one of more than 900 ACE Cash Express locations. You then have access to that money through cash withdrawals and a companion debit card.
Debit Cards
Bank-issued debit cards give you access to the funds in your account without having to carry cash. Prepaid debit cards do the same thing. The only difference is that you add funds directly to the prepaid card, rather than to an account.
Online Bill Pay2
Another way to make use of an alternative to cash is to pay your bills using funds from your ACE Flare™ Account by MetaBank®. You can setup automatic payments with a variety of billers through the biller website and add your Flare Account routing number and account number to your file. You can also setup one-time payments using your debit card number.
We understand that some people do not like to involve themselves with brick and mortar banks. We also know that others have an aversion to credit. All of these concerns are completely valid. But living the cash only lifestyle is not necessarily the only way to avoid such things. The Flare Account is just one of many alternative financial services providers that can help you move beyond the cash only lifestyle without requiring you to embrace those forms of brick and mortar banks you don’t really like.
