For the first time in my life I did not handle cash – and for an entire week.

Following my recent feature on still heavily using banknotes and coins last month, I accepted the challenge set by my managers to go cashless for seven days.

That would have been the first time I had not even used coins since I was a six-year-old spending my weekly pocket money of sixpence (yes folks, in pre-decimal times).

From the last feature I did about mainly using cash (and still paying bills by cheque) some might think that for the seven days I felt like a bewildered young boy being told to drive a juggernaut.

Actually, it really wasn’t that bad because to some extent I have been regularly using credit cards, actually at least once a week, to pay for larger sums – usually for cigarettes, which I buy several packets at a time.

So into the brave new world I stepped – though not an absolutely alien one.

I simply replaced cash with the credit card even for the smallest transactions, like a cup of coffee in a café. So my posted paper bill (you read right) at the end of the month might be as long as a medieval scroll parchment.

I admit it was simpler to pay for food, dining out, takeaways, petrol and mobile phone credit vouchers with the simple touch of the card on the machine. Most times, for smaller sums you don’t have to even enter your PIN number.

Should the card be stolen the user is required to put in the PIN – that’s when the thief is stopped in his tracks.

That relatively new method (contactless) I found pretty useful at the time of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, when you could avoid touching a keypad with your bare fingers to put in your PIN number.

Using a card constantly also takes away the need to remember to go to the bank to draw out cash.

That will eventually become more helpful as increasing numbers of bank branches close.

There were only two occasions when I came unstuck and was forced to hand over banknotes or coins

The first was when I was on an evening assignment in London Road in Dover and the takeaway business I chose for my dinner would only take hard currency. Tired and hungry, I gave in to that.

The owner explained that there was an outdoor cash machine nearby, so people could use their cards to get banknotes to pay for food

All through the exercise I had still kept banknotes and coins with me, should I ever be in such a situation.

Anyway, having no cash on me for the first time would have made me feel like I was walking down the street with no trousers.

The second time I had to give in was at the Norman Street car park in Dover where the machine only accepts coins or the RingGo app. As that system never sank in with me, I copped out and used coins

Most car parks in Dover listed on the Dover District Council website only have a choice of these two forms of payment.

Only the Maison Dieu, Seafront and Stembrook offer them plus cards as a third choice.

However, I could use the card at the town’s Buckland Hospital car park, where I went for an ankle injury.

I was able to figure out how to pay by credit card, which I found very easy. Actually, I went through the steps so quickly that I can’t even remember how it was done.

The credit card been a form of payment since the pre-decimal era.

The first for the general public's use came from Barclays Bank in 1966 with the Barclaycard.

That’s five years before this country adopted decimal coinage, replacing a system that originated in Roman times.

Barclays’ pioneering move in this country spurred rivals to follow suit.

Some developed the new card as a joint venture, and called it Access.

Older readers will remember TV adverts for this card from 1978 with the slogan “your flexible friend”, stressing to those first generations of users the greater convenience the card has over cash.

People could clear payments for multiple costs even when they had cash flow problems.

American Express had actors on TV adverts in the 1980s and 1990s using the phrase “that’ll do nicely”, and bought products were also guaranteed for 90 days.

Roger Daltrey, singer for The Who, in the 1980s advertised the card with the slogan: “Don’t leave home without it.”

A few small businesses, including little community pubs, continue to insist on cash only – but to quote Bob Dylan, The Times They Are A-Changin’.

There seems to be an inexorable move away from old-style forms of payment.

Much of it as always is driven by the customer, who finds more modern methods easier and more convenient.

First and foremost, our poll in our recent feature on this subject showed that only 26% of respondents still paid for anything by cheque.

There was a little more of an even split in the cash vs card issue. A total 57% said they preferred a credit or debit card but 43% still stuck with coins and banknotes.

Some businesses are becoming entirely cashless – something I’ve particularly noticed in London pubs when I have gone back there.

But also in Kent, places like Dover District Leisure Centre, which opened just four years ago, has accepted no cash payments since 2022.

It either demands online or contactless payment – that is by card or smartphone.

Sevenoaks, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells district and borough councils are currently consulting on whether to make it mandatory for taxis to have card machines.

It seems to be the way we are going and as a consumer, despite preferring cash, I will have to adapt to changes when cornered by them.

What did I learn from this experiment? The credit card is your flexible friend and is a handy alternative at times when you don’t have enough notes and coins

As for the fear of maxing out the card, the company you use restricts how much you can spend on it before paying off the bill.

But, in my view, you still can’t cope 100% without cash.