10 reasons why we should be cashless in 10 years or less.

I thought viruses die within a few seconds outside their host. Aren't they outside if they are on money?

 

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Now I am not by any stretch of the imagination a techie, and things change so fast that what I had heard might have changed twenty two times by now, but I had heard that the goobers insist that banking codes and such have a convenient back door for them to do the snooping they feel is necessary to keep the cattle properly herded, that there are encryption methods that would be safer, but that to do so might make doing their jobs a little harder so from what I gathered the cyber money might be made safer but making it safer from crooks would also make it safer from the good guys.

I hope that nobody takes this post as being political since AFAIK both the two multinational parties support the current state of things.

 

Has anyone ever successfully stole the funds electronically without eventually converting it into cash some where along the line where they eventually make their untraceable getaway?

Banks require cash to exist.

 

What are "multinational parties"????

 

Cinco de Mayo here

 

You wouldn't have such problems if you used cash!

 

Another reason against a cashless society, is that several countries aren't even into credit cards, let alone a cashless future. Germany comes to mind. Debit cards and cash are the preferred form of commercial exchange, but not credit cards. You will find small shops, drug stores, even supermarkets and such don't accept them. Not even McDonalds. We Yanks think the world performs and functions at our level. We use it or want it and therefor the rest of the world must to. This could be one day, but never in ten years.

 

Salty, the world will never perform or function at our level. Too many differences and all. Not just national pride or capabilities, but belief systems on so many levels as to what is proper and what isn't.

 

Tim, you're way ahead of the times when it comes to being totally cashless. Not trying to be mean, but you are the one who constantly, on a daily basis, reminds us of this fact.

 

No cash = no privacy.

If every transaction is "electronic" then everything you purchase from toothpaste to tampons will be known.

 

And that would be such a horrible thing

 

It's the principle.

 

Touching the door to enter or exit the store can transmit just as many bacteria or viruses. Better yet, simply "being" in the presence of or being "where" other human beings are or have been is gonna get you sick. BUT, most of these viruses simply make us stronger since the only way to build up immunities is by being exposed.

To the viruses.

HIV is a "blood born" virus which dies within seconds of being exposed to air. It cannot be transmitted by saliva because if it could, then we'd all have it. It can only be transmitted via direct blood to blood contact.

All your other arguments are weak since when society becomes reliant upon computers for all their financial transactions, then society is one keystroke away from being robbed.

$50,000 on a debit card vs $50,000 in my pocket? When you get older you'll realize how silly that comparison actually is.

 

Guess that by "commercial exchange" you mean one-time payments at a store. (Most recurring payments are done via direct debit.) Well, pretty much everybody here has at least one debit card: You almost automatically get one if you have a bank account, and whenever you use it for a payment, the amount is taken off your account.

Most stores here do accept credit cards (but people from outside Europe may have run into problems if their cards still do not have a chip). For a store it is simply a question of what comes in and what goes out. Considering that a credit card payment costs the business more than a debit card payment, will possible extra revenue make up for the extra expenses?

Christian

 

Besides the several good arguments already made against cashlessness... the loss of physical coin and currency as realities of daily life would strike at part of the essence of collecting, wouldn't it?

I mean, when you hold a worn coin from long ago (and perhaps far away), don't you muse about the 'life' it had, the transactions it was used for, the people who held it before you? The very mundanity of coins helps us feel this connection--the people who carried and spent these were not so different from us.

If we delete all cash from our own lives, we cut some of the threads that tie us into this history.

 

Here is an interesting link addressing this issue. Type "credit cards in different cultures" in the search area. Then click on the top link in the new screen. In your country's case, $158 per year isn't considered much credit card use here in the U.S. It's very recent, it's dated today 12/01/2013. France is another country that prefers debit or cash over credit cards. A cashless society wouldn't be received to well there either.

www.creditcards.com

 

Well, I just tried to explain in my previous post why a credit card is not that useful or necessary in cases/countries where everybody has a debit card anyway. When I pay at a supermarket, I usually use cash (low amounts) or one of my debit cards. And when it comes to paying a magazine subscription or my utilities bill, all I do is sign a direct debit authorization once, and that's it. Now a friend of mine in the US uses his credit card as much as possible, also because he has an extra incentive - collecting airline miles, that is.

Until a couple of years ago, the only reason for me to have a credit card was my trips outside Europe. Of course things have changed since then, with regard to both purchasing habits and payment options. The credit card that I use these days will at least get me a rebate at most gas stations. Useful when a liter costs €1.479 or so ...

Not sure about France; they use plastic a lot. Again, whether that is debit cards or credit cards does not matter much in my opinion. Also, while in Germany checks have been pretty much dead for many years, they are still somewhat common in France.

In Europe, the Scandinavian countries are well on the way to almost cashless societies. In Sweden they use less cash (in terms of payment volume) than people in the EU/average or in the US. But even in Sweden the central bank is about to replace the current coins and notes with updated ones. New fodder for us collectors.

Christian

 

Chris. I say Credit but actually I think a lot of people who use "credit" are actually just using their debit cards that are attached to their bank account. I know I do. But instead of using it as a "debit" card (meaning using a pin number with it when I do the transaction and calling it a debit) I use mine mainly (nearly always) as a "credit" card where I am calling it a credit transaction and signing my name for the transaction as I would if it was an actual credit card not attached to my bank account. It does cost the store more as they do not know when you use a card that way whether you are putting it on credit or whether it comes straight out of your account. But you are protected in the same way from bad transactions as if you had a credit account. And you can use it online as a credit card as well. It is good because noone has to open a credit line anywhere to have a 'credit card' and use it in the world. I went to Europe (Poland/Russia/Ukraine) in 2007 and had no problem with my card, except once when I had used it that day and the bank questioned it so they wouldn't let me use it that night. I called my daughter in the a.m. and had her call the bank for me. It was cleared within one hour of her talking to the bank, and I had no more issues that trip.

 

Depends on the virus...in the case of HIV, yes.

 

Something like 70% of US currency circulates outside US borders. So, you are suggesting in 10 years time all the cash outside the United States will need to be converted to some electronic compatible form or lose it's legal tender status? The rest of the world would sooner nuke us than allow that, (though we might get nuked anyway given the US proclivity for spying on everyone friend or foe alike).

The whole cashless society thing is predicated on the continued status of the US dollar as the world's reserve currency. There is a much greater chance of the dollars reserve status ending in the next 10 years than of electronic commerce completely eliminating cash transactions. And once that happens, the resulting currency chaos will make folks look back on the hyperinflation that lead to the currency crisis with nostalgia and sentimentality for "the good old days when inflation was the only monetary problem we had".