One country is doing away with cash!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/...=maing-grid7|maing8|dl1|sec3_lnk1&pLid=144372
Discuss.

Sorry about the original link being wrong.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Cannot read the story from your link. Is it Swedden?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/17/sweden-eu-cash-cashless-money_n_1355510.html

 

Link is corrected. Yes, Sweden.

 

tell us the whole story MAN! please, I must know where to never visit. It will kill their *nonexistent tourist dollars.

*nonexistent because they are killing them.

 

They say in the article it has reduced robberies. I guess this was written in 1962 as most robberies now are electronic, not cash based.

I say cashless is a bad idea. When I pay in cash there is no card fee, as there are at every gas station and many shops to use a card. No transaction fees from a bank. No record (I'm not paranoid, but I don't need everyone with a computer knowing what I buy and where). Places like Sweeden have their monetary system run by a bank, so it's an easier transition. Here, we'd go from free money usage to being herded by banking institutions all charging a fee to use your own money.
Guy

 

It was only a matter of time. To be honest, in my opinion, paper money and electronic money is the same. I dont mean collector paper money, but your typical bills.

 

I read the story as sensationalistic, as there is no indication of a governmental drive to do so. It would be different if their central government decreed that there would be no new cash prodced after a certain date. It will continue to decrease in transactions, but there is no real sign yet it is disappearing, just that convenience of electronic transfers is increasing.IMO.

 

No cash is a really bad idea. Not only does it kill tourism its basically making it a burden to make daily purchases. They would also have to upgrade all their computer databases to accept electronic forms of payment. And until they manage to turn all transactions digital how will the people get paid?
And about the robberies, how many times have we heard someone getting killed over nothing? Money is only a partial driving force for criminals.

 

I use very little cash and all of my incoming pay is done digitally. We may not like it, and may not see it in our lifetimes, but cash will eventually disappear globally. It may actually help tourism not having to carry cash. They just need to improve greatly on digital security first. Retina scans, digital fingerprint readers, etc. could even do away with the need for plastic cards.

 

I also think that a cashless society is a bad idea. One would think it would be an easy way to prevent unreported income and illegal purchases, but I suspect the barter system would become extremely popular among a great deal of people.

 

Its also a great way for your government to have total control of your life, and know everything you do. Of course, I am sure this info would NEVER be used against use, right?

 

Actually the fees to use credit cards are usually built into the price of the item. So even if you are paying by cash, you are still paying the fee. Now some places do offer a cash discount.

For example if you go to the grocery store and buy $200 worth of groceries, you are gonna pay the 3% fee as it is built into the prices whether you pay by cash,check, debit or credit card.

 

They will be sorry when a good size coronal mass ejection knocks out their electricity for a few weeks.

 

I now try to use cash as much as is possible. People like mechanics, plumbers, electricians etc., always work for less money ( for me) if I pay cash and keep the stuff "under the table".

I love cash !

 

Why would a cashless society kill tourism? Do people with credit cards not travel?

 

Yeah right! And they would only use drones for national defense too, right?

 

Depends on how it is implemented. For example, an American friend of mine cannot use her credit card in many places in Europe. Problem is, her cards do not have the chip that our cards have.

Now when I travel to the US, I need to have a credit card anyway - after all, that is the only way to pay the $14 "entry fee" for tourists. But once I am in the US, there are several places where the card is useless. Try getting gas with a pay-at-the-pump system: In many cases you will be asked to enter a ZIP code, but anything non-US will not be accepted. May be useful to prevent fraud, but asking for the PIN code would make much more sense ...

So a cashless society where cards are universally accepted would not "kill" tourism. But the more obstacles you build in, the less attractive a quick trip becomes. Apart from that, there is still the issue of card payments being tracked (may not be a major issue) and card data being stolen and misused.

Christian

 

Christian is right. I only have debit cards and will never, ever, even if they tried to make me, get and use a credit card. Even though my debit has the Visa logo, it is completely useless in Europe. My daughter has the same issue with her Chase card.
Guy

 

Weird, I am completely the opposite Guy. My reasoning is that I control when I pay on a credit card, on a debit card they take it away from you immediately. If you have fraud or a problem, they have your money already and you have to fight for it back.

My elderly aunt got talked into getting a debit card, and before she even got it in the mail someone stole the number and charged $2000 on it. She called the bank and they told her for fraud they had up to two months to put the money back in the account, btw you are overdrawn and therefor are charging you overdraft fees now.

Nope. I will charge something, make sure everything is fine, THEN give the bank the money. I pay it off every month, unless there is something contested and I pay the contested amount short.

Anywhere in the world, I would be worried about a "cashless society" due to identity theft. This can be a big enough problem, but imagine not being able to get any money to spend because of an identity thief as well?

 

One of the worst ideas ever. No one should HAVE to get a CC if they don't want to, but the trends are making harder and harder to function without one. I do not use banks, CCs, anything of those sorts. I suppose I may eventually have to resort to using chickens as currency... lol.