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In Urban China, Cash Is Rapidly Becoming Obsolete

nytimes.com

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Re: In Urban China, Cash Is Rapidly Becoming Obsolete

#351

Post by TheCoelacanth »

DrScump wrote: post #349
TheCoelacanth wrote: post #348

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it affects processors only Yes, exactly like I said. It prevents processors from requiring merchants not to have minimum charges. In other words, it prevents processors from making agreements with merchants where "requiring minimum purchases is a violation of the merchant-processor agreement". It doesn't stop someone else from stopping the merchant from having a minimum charge, but it does stop the type of merchant…

I don't see how you differ from what I wrote. The start of the thread was the claim that the Durbin amendment made it illegal for merchants to set CC minimums for consumer purchases . That's the false interpretation.

What I originally wrote is easily verifiable and clearly does not say that:

> the law requires that processors allow merchants to have a minimum purchase requirement of up to $10

Re: In Urban China, Cash Is Rapidly Becoming Obsolete

#352

Post by DrScump »

TheCoelacanth wrote: post #351
DrScump wrote: post #349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see how you differ from what I wrote. The start of the thread was the claim that the Durbin amendment made it illegal for merchants to set CC minimums for consumer purchases . That's the false interpretation.

What I originally wrote is easily verifiable and clearly does not say that: > the law requires that processors allow merchants to have a minimum purchase requirement of up to $10

I give up. You refuse to see the distinction between the processor-merchant relationship and the merchant-consumer relationship.

Re: In Urban China, Cash Is Rapidly Becoming Obsolete

#353

Post by TheCoelacanth »

DrScump wrote: post #352
TheCoelacanth wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I originally wrote is easily verifiable and clearly does not say that: > the law requires that processors allow merchants to have a minimum purchase requirement of up to $10

I give up. You refuse to see the distinction between the processor-merchant relationship and the merchant-consumer relationship.

No, I'm really don't. My original comment is about the processor-merchant relationship. You can tell because it uses the word "processor" and "merchant" and is about what the processor allows the merchant to do.

Re: In Urban China, Cash Is Rapidly Becoming Obsolete

#354

Post by ec109685 »

icebraining wrote: post #206
ec109685 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> With digital wallets, there's zero need for credit cards and their predatory interest rates. How is there zero need? If don't need to borrow money longer than 30 days, you pay zero interest. If you do need a bit longer to pay, you have that option.

Since banks aren't charities, the fact that those 30 day loans are "free" just means you're paying for them even if you don't use them .

By using a digital wallet, you personally don't save any money over a credit card.

Re: In Urban China, Cash Is Rapidly Becoming Obsolete

#355

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

blahedo wrote: post #180
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #15

I think this article hit the nail on the head when it pointed out that being ahead of the curve at one time (with Japan and their advanced flip phones in the early 2000s) can make it harder to adopt the next big advance because what you have is already "good enough". Thus, in the US, I suspect that mobile payments haven't taken off as much because they are only very slightly faster to use than a credit card, as oppos…

> as opposed to cash, which is much slower with people counting out amounts and cashiers counting out change I can't really let that comment stand. Cash transactions go way faster than credit card transactions in my experience. (They'd go faster still if prices were posted with tax included, but that's a different issue.) Hand over the card, swipe the card, hand back the card, wait for the receipt to print, get a pen…

The vast majority of places where I have to wait in line to pay (lunch spot near work, CVS, Starbucks, etc.) I don't have to sign because the amount is below the limit (usually $25 or $50). Pretty much the main place I need to sign is at restaurants, and then I usually don't care because I'm sitting down, in conversion, and not in a rush.

Re: In Urban China, Cash Is Rapidly Becoming Obsolete

#356

Post by notadoc »

thegayngler wrote: post #83
notadoc wrote: post #11

In urban USA, cash is pretty rare too. Almost everyone uses credit.

Not in NYC. Many many places have limits on how much you must spend before credit card use is allowed and even then some places require cash anyway.

Sure but the limit is usually $5, and realistically what is being bought under that amount exclusively at any regularity?

Re: In Urban China, Cash Is Rapidly Becoming Obsolete

#357

Post by urethrafranklin »

kuschku wrote: post #328
urethrafranklin wrote: post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I read that article too. I already told you why it doesn't apply.

Which article? Also, it literally applies here – since the fees for credit cards were reduced, ALDI and LIDL introduced payment with credit card (which wasn’t possible before at all at them). Same with REWE and coop. How can you say it doesn’t apply if it literally happened.

That's not at all what you were talking about earlier. If you can't understand the difference, it's not worth explaining anything to you.

Re: In Urban China, Cash Is Rapidly Becoming Obsolete

#358

Post by urethrafranklin »

0xffff2 wrote: post #330
urethrafranklin wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You must be a very scared person then.

Not really. I'm quite certain that arresting me for not carrying ID would be illegal in the United States. Note that in some states I might be required to identify myself, but simply stating my full name counts; I don't have to have a physical government-issued ID. Similarly, I am required to carry a driver's license when driving, but forgetting my license at home will at most result in a ticket. There's just no plau…

You're quite wrong. It's happened to me.

Re: In Urban China, Cash Is Rapidly Becoming Obsolete

#359

Post by _ea1k »

rodgerd wrote: post #40
_ea1k wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, it is hard to overstate just how easy it is to use a credit card in the US. I have only managed to use Android Pay a couple of times and the store that I did that with has removed it since then. When it works, it is approximately the same level of annoyance as a credit card. When it fails, it is so much worse. I just don't see it taking off here in its current form.

> Yeah, it is hard to overstate just how easy it is to use a credit card in the US. You have got to be kidding. Handing my card over to someone who disappears off with it? Those bloody awful faux-pens to sign on an LCD? That's your idea of easy to use? Paying for things in the US feels like the stone ages.

In the context of a restaurant where they take it away, I agree. Also, if they actually require a signature.

But the sweet spot of <$50 transactions that require neither PIN nor signature (admittedly, this depends on the retailer) is really quick and easy. It is certainly much quicker than pulling out my phone and fiddling with the poor feedback in Android Pay.

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