The US Army Corps of Engineers no longer accepts cash for campsites they manage. The US Government no longer accepts its own currency. That's where we are in the USA at least.
Ask HN: To what extent have digital payments replaced cash in your country?
11–20 of 162 posts
Re: Ask HN: To what extent have digital payments replaced cash in your country?
#12Here in India, UPI payments are quite popular. I live in New Delhi the capital and never withdraw cash in my day to day life. The only instance where I have to withdraw cash is when I have to pay rent as my landlord accepts only cash to evade taxes. Apart from these barring very few, at least in cities everything works on digital payments. Please note that card payments are not at all popular in India and UPI is the…
this is true for the affluent class.
smartphones are necessary to pay via UPI
smartphones--bank accounts--aadhaar card
in case of some low income workers, smartphones are not universal
in case of some migrant workers (including those that come from neighboring countries in search of jobs) .. aadhaar or bank account may not be immediately available
while digital payments are definitely becoming common cash is still accepted
in some cases autorikshaw drivers either avoided UPI (because something went wrong previously and their account went into negative balance ..so any payments they accept there will be swallowed by the app) ..or sometimes ask for cash as preferred mode because for them it is easier to spend immediately (sometimes even for sentimental reasons like first ride of the day)
Re: Ask HN: To what extent have digital payments replaced cash in your country?
#13Since nobody's chimed in here from Germany yet:
Germany's broadly a hold-out. Particularly a lot of restaurants, bars and clubs are still cash-only, and some smaller shops definitely prefer cash. Used cars are, interestingly, almost always cash-only. Person to person transactions (i.e. buying something you pick up in person) are almost always cash. Open air markets (produce, flea markets) are always cash.
Electronic payments are becoming more accepted, but it's wise to almost always have some cash on hand.
Cash retains a certain appeal for privacy reasons, and, let's be honest, for businesses avoiding paying their taxes. I'm actually happy cash remains. I don't like the idea of everything I ever buy being recorded. I also don't mind when e.g. going out that I have to consciously get more cash from the ATM when I've blown through my evening budget.
This is in amusing contrast with my trip to Sweden last year, where I pulled out the equivalent of €100 for emergencies, and had trouble getting rid of it in the week and a half there since most places didn't seem to even take cash.
Re: Ask HN: To what extent have digital payments replaced cash in your country?
#14I'm surprised so many here seem to be fine with paying by credit card.
Isn't it causing you an uncomfortable feeling, that one company gets all the data about every single thing you buy?
And via this also everywhere you go and when you go there?
So you are a 100% "see through" person to Apple, Google and/or Visa?
Re: Ask HN: To what extent have digital payments replaced cash in your country?
#15Netherlands. Only carry cash because I received some as a gift at some point. Only place that I use my cash on is the local barbershop which only takes cash (probably avoids paying taxes that way).
I pay everything through contactless payments through my phone or my debit card barring that.
Some shops don't even take cash anymore because of how few of their customers paid in cash compared to how risky carrying that cash to the bank is. I'm not very happy with that development, but I can understand why they do it.
Some people prefer cash, some people prefer using their debit card (chip + PIN is generally very secure, of course!).
Re: Ask HN: To what extent have digital payments replaced cash in your country?
#16Here in India, UPI payments are quite popular. I live in New Delhi the capital and never withdraw cash in my day to day life. The only instance where I have to withdraw cash is when I have to pay rent as my landlord accepts only cash to evade taxes. Apart from these barring very few, at least in cities everything works on digital payments. Please note that card payments are not at all popular in India and UPI is the…
India is really frustrating for tourists right now... I was there earlier this year, and there were several things I just couldn't do without UPI... Some restaurants just didn't accept cash so I couldn't eat there... Bus tickets had to be booked online with UPI... I think they're moving towards opening it up, but when I was there it was completely impossible for a foreigner to use UPI.
Re: Ask HN: To what extent have digital payments replaced cash in your country?
#17USA: rarely use cash. Either p2p apps (zelle, Venmo, cash app, apple cash) for sending money to ppl or buying and selling used items.
Debit or credit cards for businesses. I keep a $20 on me plus a debit card w/ atm access and checking account that reimburses atm fees. Just for those super rare purposes that cash is needed. Although most of the time, I will just not buy from that merchant.
Re: Ask HN: To what extent have digital payments replaced cash in your country?
#18I'm surprised so many here seem to be fine with paying by credit card. Isn't it causing you an uncomfortable feeling, that one company gets all the data about every single thing you buy? And via this also everywhere you go and when you go there? So you are a 100% "see through" person to Apple, Google and/or Visa?
For me, the answer is no, I don't care about this at all.
Re: Ask HN: To what extent have digital payments replaced cash in your country?
#19Since nobody's chimed in here from Germany yet: Germany's broadly a hold-out. Particularly a lot of restaurants, bars and clubs are still cash-only, and some smaller shops definitely prefer cash. Used cars are, interestingly, almost always cash-only. Person to person transactions (i.e. buying something you pick up in person) are almost always cash. Open air markets (produce, flea markets) are always cash. Electronic…
Yes, I agree, I was going to write the same. But to be honest, I like cash. The feeling of the cash flowing out of your hand is much more palpable than when you use a card :)
In Switzerland there is a national app for sending cash to friends that is really handy and popular (TWINT)
Re: Ask HN: To what extent have digital payments replaced cash in your country?
#20I'm surprised so many here seem to be fine with paying by credit card. Isn't it causing you an uncomfortable feeling, that one company gets all the data about every single thing you buy? And via this also everywhere you go and when you go there? So you are a 100% "see through" person to Apple, Google and/or Visa?
For me, the answer is no, I don't care about this at all.
Would you also not care if that dataset gets leaked to the internet some day?