Physical cash is dying–and you don't need to be a conspiracist to worry • Hacker News Board

Re: Physical cash is dying–and you don't need to be a conspiracist to worry

#21

Post by ghaff » Sat, Feb 03, 2024, 12:28 PM UTC

HumblyTossed wrote: post #18

xbmcuser wrote: post #5

I personally started using digital payments once phone touchpay systems came out previously you had to take out cash or card from your wallet to pay so I would still use cash. But once phone payment became common just tapping your phone to pay had a lot less friction than taking out wallet and paying cash or by card.

Oddly, I’ve never been inconvenienced by my wallet.

Yeah, I carry a small wallet and pretty much never use phone pay. I'm taking something out of my pocket in either case and there's never a question whether my credit card will work or not.

Re: Physical cash is dying–and you don't need to be a conspiracist to worry

#22

Post by 4bpp » Sat, Feb 03, 2024, 12:28 PM UTC

lotsofpulp wrote: post #7

troupo wrote: post #3

I really really really like cashless payments I really really really dislike that my money can be whisked away at the whim of a cray government or a glitch in the system

A government can reduce the purchasing power of cash too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Indian_banknote_demonetis... Or just issuing new money at a rate that exceeds demand for the money (meaning the relative desirability of the money, which relates to the trustworthiness of the community using the money and the economic productivity of the community using the money). Like when the population pyramid starts turn…

With cash, they can only do it to everybody at once or not at all. With a number in a bank's database, they can selectively expropriate people based on any criterion with as little effort as between zero (in the case of tacit understanding) and a dozen (if they have to remind the banks that a tax audit is technically overdue or something) phone calls.

Re: Physical cash is dying–and you don't need to be a conspiracist to worry

#23

Post by darrenf » Sat, Feb 03, 2024, 12:29 PM UTC

superkuh wrote: post #9

I will always recall the chaos of being in a northern Minnesota tourist town (Ely) when the single fiber-optic line serving the region was cut. I sure was glad our group brought cash. All the people with only third party companies willing to pay for them some time in the future had their trips and plans ruined. But that's sort of a trivial example. It could be much worse. And then there's the rent seeking inherent in…

> Plus cash is just so much more convient and faster.

There are many reasons I'm not anti-cash, but I am really struggling to think of a single example of this specific statement being true. Just acquiring cash at all means I have to take time out of my day, repeatedly, to make withdrawals. Then I have to carry it securely (as well as the cards I need to get hold of more), which is annoying at the best of times and pretty much impossible when I'm out running, say. Handing cash to a merchant means they need to figure out change, and eventually I end up carrying a bunch of coins and they are even slower to spend than notes. Boarding buses was so much slower when each person paid in cash. Paying for a beer or meal needed the staff to take the money back to the till and return with change. When going abroad I need to use notes and coins I'm unfamiliar with. Honestly, when is cash faster?

Re: Physical cash is dying–and you don't need to be a conspiracist to worry

#24

Post by unsupp0rted » Sat, Feb 03, 2024, 12:29 PM UTC

ekianjo wrote: post #8

xbmcuser wrote: post #5

I personally started using digital payments once phone touchpay systems came out previously you had to take out cash or card from your wallet to pay so I would still use cash. But once phone payment became common just tapping your phone to pay had a lot less friction than taking out wallet and paying cash or by card.

they will get you by convenience

Of course they will. Why shouldn’t they?

Re: Physical cash is dying–and you don't need to be a conspiracist to worry

#25

Post by berkes » Sat, Feb 03, 2024, 12:29 PM UTC

troupo wrote: post #3

I really really really like cashless payments I really really really dislike that my money can be whisked away at the whim of a cray government or a glitch in the system

I really really really would think that Bitcoin fills this exact need.

There's a lot wrong with the cryptocurrency world and with Bitcoin specifically. So much wrong, that I'm afraid we closed the one way out of government and corporate-controlled "digital money" and all the risks that comes with. But maybe it never was a good "way out" in the first place: maybe there never was a way out at all.

I keep hoping the grifters and scammers and marketeers move on to the next hypetrain (metaverse, ai) allowing the bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies to be salvaged and become the way out again. But that hope is diminishing.

Re: Physical cash is dying–and you don't need to be a conspiracist to worry

#26

Post by rwmj » Sat, Feb 03, 2024, 12:29 PM UTC

ghaff wrote: post #13

jason-phillips wrote: post #2

I live an hour or so outside of Austin and people still primarily write checks as that's the only acceptable payment method, along with cash. My new wife said, "Wait, why not just use Stripe? I'll tell them." I had to explain to her that one does not simply pull forward a society thirty years into the future. There is an incredible amount of cultural inertia to overcome. So I carry a lot of cash out here.

I use very little cash in MA. But checks are still pretty much the default for a lot of people doing various services for me. I can just leave a check for someone like my housekeeper. I could presumably make arrangements to pay in a different form (including cash) but why bother? And, in many cases, it's my bank actually "writing" the check and delivering it. I'd change if it became an aberration or weird to do but i…

That's wild. Here in the UK, tradespeople usually have a card reader, or some accept bank transfers.

Re: Physical cash is dying–and you don't need to be a conspiracist to worry

#27

Post by avianlyric » Sat, Feb 03, 2024, 12:30 PM UTC

ghaff wrote: post #13

jason-phillips wrote: post #2

I live an hour or so outside of Austin and people still primarily write checks as that's the only acceptable payment method, along with cash. My new wife said, "Wait, why not just use Stripe? I'll tell them." I had to explain to her that one does not simply pull forward a society thirty years into the future. There is an incredible amount of cultural inertia to overcome. So I carry a lot of cash out here.

I use very little cash in MA. But checks are still pretty much the default for a lot of people doing various services for me. I can just leave a check for someone like my housekeeper. I could presumably make arrangements to pay in a different form (including cash) but why bother? And, in many cases, it's my bank actually "writing" the check and delivering it. I'd change if it became an aberration or weird to do but i…

The lack of fast free digital money transfer infrastructure in the U.S. is something that seems crazy to anyone in the EU.

Every EU country (and the UK) has had fast free digital bank transfers for decades now. Here in the UK we pay all “casual” services like cleaners, dog walkers etc via a simple, quick bank transfer. It’s great, I don’t need to keep cash, and person providing the services has the money in their account, ready to spend, about 500ms after I tap the “send” button on my phone.

I can see how cheques are convenient for purchasers, but for suppliers they’re a bit of nightmare, as they need physically deliver the cheque to cash it. Then wait for it to clear, and also take on all the risk of it bouncing. All of that just goes away with proper digital money transfer technologies.

Re: Physical cash is dying–and you don't need to be a conspiracist to worry

#28

Post by amelius » Sat, Feb 03, 2024, 12:30 PM UTC

troupo wrote: post #3

I really really really like cashless payments I really really really dislike that my money can be whisked away at the whim of a cray government or a glitch in the system

The problem is that (2) goes away by just putting your head in the sand, while (1) is what you're confronted with no matter how much you try to not think about it.

Re: Physical cash is dying–and you don't need to be a conspiracist to worry

#29

Post by toenail » Sat, Feb 03, 2024, 12:30 PM UTC

I don't see why I should give a corporation information about all my payments. I already carry a phone with me, that's enough to spy on where I am, they don't need to know what I do or who I do it with. Privacy is a right, not a privilege, I don't see why I should just throw it away for a little convenience.

Re: Physical cash is dying–and you don't need to be a conspiracist to worry

#30

Post by rwmj » Sat, Feb 03, 2024, 12:30 PM UTC

charcircuit wrote: post #14

It's strange that governments are not minting more digital currency if the demand for physical currency is falling.

Because it doesn't solve any problem that anyone has? Bank transfers and card payments are easy, fast and already widespread, at least everywhere except for the US.