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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;chrisild, post: 1467993, member: 39&quot;]The term &quot;authorities&quot; sounds somewhat misleading, I think. Yes, retailers, banks etc. would certainly like to reduce the use of cash - after all, handling cash is expensive. But for paying small amounts, cash certainly comes in handy ...</p><p><br /></p><p>For years one of my cards has come with a cash chip which I can &quot;charge up&quot; and then use at terminals that accept the chip. However, I have to keep track, sort of, of how much money I have left on that chip, and I have to physically insert it into the machine. Newer RFID/NFC based payment options, be it with plastic cards or cell phones, are &quot;contactless&quot; but they are not that widespread yet. Plus (or rather minus), they are often limited to one country only, even here in the euro area.</p><p><br /></p><p>In my opinion, cash sure has a future, but as a &quot;niche product&quot;, not as a primary means of payment. Look at Sweden, for example, where cash is used for about 3 percent of payments (Euro area: 9 percent, USA: 7 percent). Of course further reducing the use of cash will mean more opportunities for governments to control our payments. But there are quite a few not only in SE who actively support and promote limiting its use; a while ago Björn Ulvaeus (Abba, Chess ...) suggested that we should not have paper money any more. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Christian[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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