91–100 of 369 posts
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The bulk of that transaction fee gets rebated back to the consumer as points, cash back, etc. I only use 2% cash back cards.
So anyone who isn't creditworthy (ie. poor) pays additional tax in the form of higher-priced goods. But to heck with them for being poor, right, because you get the convenience and cash back?
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I get it, but think of what you're getting in return. The example in the article, about the Coke vending machine. Imagine in the past, before vending machines - the only way you would be able to buy a Coke in that particular area would be if there was enough foot traffic to justify a full time real human being to sit there all day, with inventory of soft drinks, and exchange your cash for them. The opportunity cost a…
This has to be the worst imaginable example. Have you never seen a coin-operated vending machine?
My country will be more or less cashless within a few years. We are handing over complete power over the economy to unaccountable private institutions, and the debate always comes down to convenience and eliminating robberies. It's a travesty.
The core concept to remember I think is that there are two ways to pay for things: * Ways that involve cash or cash equivalents * Ways where a purchase requires the permission of someone else Just think of the word authorization, which is a required element of essentially all non-cash transactions. It has the word authority embedded right in it. If you're OK with that concept, you are necessarily OK with the idea tha…
A cashless society would be an attempt to create a society that lacks basic economic freedom, but it would also fail. People will simply return to barter, and the use of whatever precious metals/stones/etc are hot that year.
I would never support getting rid of cash, it's a basic right to spend money without being tracked.
it's a basic right to spend money without being tracked. No it's not. I very much want there to be a way to spend money anonymously, but I can't frame that as a 'basic right'.
It is not in the interest of a free, fair, and just society to give such an entity the power to tax and control transactions at their leisure.
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A cashless society would be an attempt to create a society that lacks basic economic freedom, but it would also fail. People will simply return to barter, and the use of whatever precious metals/stones/etc are hot that year.
As an example of your point, during the Nixon crash, people used postage stamps as a proxy for cash. They also used Canadian coins in America to replace USD coins. People would literally drive over the border to Canada, get a bunch of coins, and bring them back and sell them to stores so they could make change.
My biggest concern is the frightening fact that all of these cashless systems are powered by private, for-profit banks. I'd be more fine with a move to cashless if the fundamental system which powered it were operated by the Fed (for free, as a public service), not Visa or Mastercard.
I go the other way. If Visa decides they don't like me, Mastercard or American Express may still do business with me. If the Fed decides they don't like me, my only option is to leave the country.
And I'd much rather be taxed by my government than by the shareholders of my bank.
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In europe most of the population seems to prefer to pay in cash (for clothes, groceries, electronics etc. pp.).
> In europe most of the population seems to prefer to pay in cash (for clothes, groceries, electronics etc. pp.). That is a very coarse and completely unfounded statement. The situation differs greatly per country; you can spend months without touching cash in the Netherlands or Sweden. In the Netherlands we've passed the 50% mark for electronic debit card payments at a point of sale a decade ago! Online purchases ar…
I know maybe a handful of people except myself under 50 who still use cash for anything, ever. They tend to also have Thinkpads and GPG keys.
The core concept to remember I think is that there are two ways to pay for things: * Ways that involve cash or cash equivalents * Ways where a purchase requires the permission of someone else Just think of the word authorization, which is a required element of essentially all non-cash transactions. It has the word authority embedded right in it. If you're OK with that concept, you are necessarily OK with the idea tha…
While cashless systems are gaining traction, is there any actual attempt for them to replace cash wholesale?
While I agree that cash is extremely convenient and largely anonymous, it is still much more of a hassle to manage than credit or debit cards are. I lived in NYC for a bunch of years and the one thing that I absolutely do not miss is paying for >$100 dinners, entirely in cash, because the restaurant was "too cheap" to handle processing and transaction fees.
> it is still much more of a hassle to manage than credit or debit cards are I don't really get this. I use credit cards (almost entirely online), but I've never used a debit card. Not out of any deep-seated aversion, I just don't see the point.
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Only use a card with a chip. Problem solved
Chip transactions aren't processed in most gas terminals. It's not mandatory for gas terminals until 2020. https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-cards/emv-credit-card...