What do barber shops, buses, street markets, shisha bars and grandchildren at Christmas all have in common?

They are some of the last hold-outs of the cash economy, small pockets of activity that still deal in notes and coins despite the surge in digital payment systems that threaten to drive cash out of business altogether.

But is this really the beginning of the end for cash? Our readers don’t think so. Respondents to a Guardian callout said they enjoy the ease of contactless payments but fear the risk of fraud and the prospect of marginalisation for some parts of society.

Stewart Mott, 25, a pensions officer from Romford, didn’t deliberately stop using cash but found contactless payments to be helpful when it came to budgeting. “I was an early convert and had no concerns about security,” he said. “I now have a record of what I’ve been spending money on and I’ve noticed it’s been more than I expected.

“A quick review of my statement shows I had been splashing out quite a bit on lunch most days. With cash, it would have taken a lot more effort to work out where my money had been going.”

Manchester retail worker and part-time student, Gary Cunningham-Goodram, uses an app to keep an eye on his spending. “I can easily check my account on my iPhone which has helped me spend money more wisely,” he said. “I know putting all my eggs in one basket may not be the best idea but at least you can block your card on the app!”

However for Neil, from Hampshire, using contactless just encourages people to spend more. “I have a budget and I take the cash I plan to spend on discretionary items out every couple of weeks,” he said. “When it’s gone it’s gone.

“Though more often than not, it’s not gone because there is a strong natural desire to keep some back just in case of emergencies – which of course rarely happens. This reduces the temptation to just have an unnecessary drink, snack or coffee out.”

Last year, cards pushed notes and coins off the top spot as the UK’s number one payment method. According to the British Retail Consortium, more than half of all retail purchases are now made by card with contactless payments making up a third of all card purchases.

But there’s a dark side to a cashless society – worries about an increase in cybercrime and data theft, surveillance and the exclusion of those only able to use cash.

Peter, 73, is more cautious after he and his wife were the victims of fraud. “Our debit and credit cards were cloned at a restaurant and petrol station,” he said. “I use my debit card in reliable supermarkets, but I usually withdraw enough money from a reliable cash machine to keep me going for two to three weeks. Going cashless makes you vulnerable to rip-off frauds.”

For Rachel, from the east Midlands, her concern is who has access to the data around her spending habits. “Everything I spend will be a matter of record and I will have no control over who has access to that,” she said. “Just because I have nothing to be ashamed of doesn’t mean I have nothing to hide, and it certainly doesn’t mean I have nothing to fear.”

A systems breakdown caused by hacking is what Lawrence Kuglin, 48, from London worries about: “It doesn’t bear imagining how disruptive it would be to society and the economy if card payment systems suddenly froze and couldn’t be restored for days or weeks.”

But where is cash still being used? Robert, from West Yorkshire pays cash at the local farmers’ market because “most stalls have no connection to a finance system”. Frank Kelly, 43, from Belfast collects change to pay for his kids to play football. “It’s £2 each time, not to mention the 50p to put air into car tyres.”

There are others to consider in a cashless society: the waiters and waitresses who rely on tips, the rough sleepers who ask for change and the volunteers with their charity boxes. What would a society solely reliant on digital payments mean for them?

Emily, from London, makes charity donations online but feels she makes fewer “spur-of-the-moment payments” which she believes still make up a large part of a charity’s income. Wendy, from Harrogate, said managing money is difficult when you have few resources available to you: “For people with limited access to banking services it would divide the haves and have-nots. A cashless society will just further exclude vulnerable people.”

Small businesses would be among those affected according to Sébastien, from Switzerland. “It would have a big impact on them as they can’t always afford to have a card machine,” he said. “There’s also a large chunk of society that crafts things by hand or grows vegetables for a living who would lose out.”

For Celia, from London, there are wider economic and privacy repercussions to consider. “Many people still work cash in hand,” she said. “If this option is removed there could be implications regarding employment, taxes, and cost increased. Could it not possibly lead to more exploitation of workers rather than less?”

“Paying by cash also allows us some element of privacy when companies already have so much data on us. In a cashless society, every penny we spend will be accounted for. It’s already given rise to bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as individuals seek to avoid scrutiny from banks and businesses. I don’t know much about the subject but I can’t help but think this leaves the average person more vulnerable to cybertheft, blackmail or worse.”