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A Cashless Economy Locks Out the Poor

nytimes.com

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Re: A Cashless Economy Locks Out the Poor

#11

Post by TheGrumpyBrit »

romanovcode wrote: post #10
zimbatm wrote: post #9

Another side-effect is for donations. In London it's possible to live without any cash. Even markets are accepting cards now. There are often charities that are asking for money at the entrances of the tube. The UK is depending quite heavily on charities for people in need. This year it looks like they started equipping themselves with contact-less payment systems. It would be interesting to be able to see the number…

The government should increase the taxes and spend that money on the poor/people in need.

They're half way there. They've got the first part down to a fine art.

Re: A Cashless Economy Locks Out the Poor

#13

Post by KrishnaAnaril »

zimbatm wrote: post #9

Another side-effect is for donations. In London it's possible to live without any cash. Even markets are accepting cards now. There are often charities that are asking for money at the entrances of the tube. The UK is depending quite heavily on charities for people in need. This year it looks like they started equipping themselves with contact-less payment systems. It would be interesting to be able to see the number…

On the otherside, Charities are a good way to stash cash and skip tax in some countries.

Re: A Cashless Economy Locks Out the Poor

#14

Post by KrishnaAnaril »

dis-sys wrote: post #7
sfifs wrote: post #2

As a counterfactual the other hand everyone in China appears to pay by mobile phone without problems using WeChat Pay and Alipay and no one seems to be locked out. Almost no one I know carries cash - it's just for the tourists who can't access that system. In Africa, mobile payments seems to have driven financial inclusion rather than the reverse. The cashless economy certainly drives de-anonymization, but very littl…

> everyone in China appears to pay by mobile phone without problems using WeChat Pay and Alipay and no one seems to be locked out. That is not true. I met people who don't have Alipay/WeChat on weekly basis. China's central bank beat those who refuse to accept cash payment with a big stick - Alibaba's Freshhema is a high profile target the central bank recently picked, there was actually a news article on that yester…

Are they the only service providers in China?

Re: A Cashless Economy Locks Out the Poor

#16

Post by Santosh83 »

Rainymood wrote: post #15

A cashless society allows every single transaction to be tracked, I do not want this.

And controlled remotely. It gives massive power in the hands of those who control the tech. It's downright dystopian. I mean... the tech itself is great... but combined with what we know of human nature, it's a recipe for high-tech feudalism.

Re: A Cashless Economy Locks Out the Poor

#19

Post by dis-sys »

KrishnaAnaril wrote: post #14
dis-sys wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> everyone in China appears to pay by mobile phone without problems using WeChat Pay and Alipay and no one seems to be locked out. That is not true. I met people who don't have Alipay/WeChat on weekly basis. China's central bank beat those who refuse to accept cash payment with a big stick - Alibaba's Freshhema is a high profile target the central bank recently picked, there was actually a news article on that yester…

Are they the only service providers in China?

they have 95% of the market share. other minor players are not accepted by most businesses.
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