Should we avoid moving towards a Cashless society?

GingerFurball_2

One of the reasons I rarely use the bus is because First Bus don't give change, so paying cash is an absolute ballache.

zerog

I wonder why contactless limits are somewhat variable, here it's £20, in the US it's $25, in NZ it's $80 and Australia $100!

In NZ many accounts even have user-pays debit card transaction fees too, though cash is only 25% of payments, whereas in Australia it's 75% cash and 25% card - though now only small shops and some restaurants surcharge for credit cards.

Hominu

iAMaLONDONER wrote: »

I don't think the UK's move towards a cashless society is good at all. The use of cards allow banks to cream off a %/amount of all transactions.

Using cash forces companies to pay for services to transport that cash to the bank and forces them to pay to acquire change from the bank. Compared to contactless payments, the cost of cash may be higher.

For certain services such as buses, Contactless payments may also be safer compared to the driver carrying around cash all night (which is I believe why some bus companies have stopped giving out change).

iAMaLONDONER wrote: »

Never mind the privacy issues!

Then you have the ease of money management - if you use cards you know exactly what you spent your money on and you don't even have to take notes - the bank does it all for you

matttye

I long for the day when I can pay for everything using my iPhone and have to use my fingerprint to authorise the transaction.

All of these technologies exist already, they just need tying together and adopting nationwide.

innovate

Question to the OP: how would you suggest we, or any other nation, could avoid it? Moreover, why would we / any nation want to avoid it?

In an ideal world, why do we need to carry any cash at all? Why should my number plate not be enough to pay my parking charge, why do I need to carry cash to buy some ticket, and stress out if I don't get back before my parking ticket expires? Why should it not be enough if I type a given number to an intelligent gadget with my fingers? Why should I need a card to carry the chip with my security details when I could have that chip implanted in my index finger? Etc etc

reclusive46

zerog wrote: »

I wonder why contactless limits are somewhat variable, here it's £20, in the US it's $25, in NZ it's $80 and Australia $100!

I guess its just how much the local banks were willing to risk and how fast they want the transaction. Contactless transactions go online in NZ and Australia so if a card is stolen it can be stopped but it does mean the transactions are approved slower.

The US contactless limit confuses me a little. You don't need to sign for swipe transactions under 50 dollars (with Visa and Amex anyway, MasterCard's and Discover's no signature limit is more complex). Yet a more secure contactless chip that can't be cloned has a no signature limit for under 25 dollars. One thing that is different with the US's magnetic stripe based contactless is that there is no actual transaction limit, you just have to sign if its above 25 USD.

iAMaLONDONER

pmduk wrote: »

That will quickly be dealt with by retailers refusing to accept amex,Many won't already. Fraud costs land at the door of banks rather than retailers.

The banks then pass it onto consumers...

iAMaLONDONER

innovate wrote: »

Question to the OP: how would you suggest we, or any other nation, could avoid it? Moreover, why would we / any nation want to avoid it?

In an ideal world, why do we need to carry any cash at all? Why should my number plate not be enough to pay my parking charge, why do I need to carry cash to buy some ticket, and stress out if I don't get back before my parking ticket expires? Why should it not be enough if I type a given number to an intelligent gadget with my fingers? Why should I need a card to carry the chip with my security details when I could have that chip implanted in my index finger? Etc etc

I'd rather keep a Chinese wall so to speak with my finances.

It seems you'd have no problem living in 1984!

iAMaLONDONER

Hominu wrote: »

Using cash forces companies to pay for services to transport that cash to the bank and forces them to pay to acquire change from the bank. Compared to contactless payments, the cost of cash may be higher.

For certain services such as buses, Contactless payments may also be safer compared to the driver carrying around cash all night (which is I believe why some bus companies have stopped giving out change).



Then you have the ease of money management - if you use cards you know exactly what you spent your money on and you don't even have to take notes - the bank does it all for you

If you only spend physical cash that you have you can't go overdrawn like you can when spending on a card. (This isn't a personal concern but it is for others).

Buses can be fitted with sealed cash boxes which are more or less theft-proof.Still the police should act to reduce crime.

innovate

iAMaLONDONER wrote: »

I'd rather keep a Chinese wall so to speak with my finances.

It seems you'd have no problem living in 1984!

Not sure what you mean with 'chinese walls so to speak with your finances'. Either you have money/credit to your name or you have not. Dancing around, or trying to disguise, your financial reality will do you no good. You are not, and won't be, able to build chinese walls around yourself or your financials - the two of them are one. But prove me wrong, tell us what a Chinese wall around your finances is and how it works.


As to me having no problem living in 1984 - you might be right there. I did live in 1984 , and it was a great year, with very little technology helping us then. We have made great strides forward since then. None of which have been to out detriment, and I am looking forward to us exploiting technology to our advantage.

In case you doubted it, I have of course read George Orwell's 1984, not just once. And since it was first published in 1949, and I am more than a spring chick now, I have gone through the whole 'it cannot possibly ever be true' to the 'so what?' or the 'why didn't we have that earlier'. We have to embrace progress, in whatever form it comes.
Living and thriving without cash as we know it right now strikes me as the future I might not be able to enjoy but certainly the future I want my kids and grandchildren to prosper in.