Cashless Society

System

bearcat16 wrote: »

Why would we surrender our entire purchasing machinery to a few very large American corporations?

Especially when they have proven to be at the beck and call of the US governments political agenda, as was demonstrated by the wikileaks case.

They were (basically) told to starve wikileaks of funds by refusing to process payments to it.

When Uncle Sam said *jump* visa, MasterCard and PayPal said *how high?*

So, what if the US government decides it doesnt like one of our policies?

Giving away control of our whole commercial machinery to a foreign power? Yeah that wont end badly, will it.

Mastercard own LINK (sole UK ATM network)

Ballard

Uxb wrote: »

A cashless society makes it possible for negative interest rates to be used by the Government as a way of enforcing their desires on the population for say more spending and less saving as a way of pushing up 'growth'.
At present such a a proposal would result in a mass move to cash and total withdrawal of all deposits from accounts.

I see your point but for slightly negative rates to have an impact you’d need a significant amount of capital. -1% on £2000 would cost about £1.66 a month. Against the risk of being burgled and losing a couple of grand I think that most people would accept the cost.

Ballard

schiff wrote: »

The end of betting shops and casinos?

I don’t use casinos but I’d be surprised if they didn’t already take cards. Bookies certainly do. Some on course bookies also have machines.

usefulmale

Why are some people so desperate to hand over one of the last remaining freedoms?


The cash in my pocket has never 'crashed' or been refused.


Using my cash is not dependent on a third party (who wants their cut, of course) positioning itself in the middle of every transaction and, ultimately, deciding if that transaction will, in fact, take place.


Using my cash is strictly between me and the retailer. No transactions logged and sold to anyone willing to pay.


For all those using cards etc, don't make the mistake in thinking that you control your accounts. You are simply allowed to administer them.


Look at it this way.


If you close your account, bank doesn't care. If the bank closes or, even worse, freezes your account (plenty of evidence of that happening), bank doesn't care. But it will have a heavy impact on you.

antrobus

Uxb wrote: »

A cashless society makes it possible for negative interest rates to be used by the Government as a way of enforcing their desires on the population for say more spending and less saving as a way of pushing up 'growth'.
At present such a a proposal would result in a mass move to cash and total withdrawal of all deposits from accounts.

CPI is 2.3%. The best buy instant access account pays, what 1.4%?

We already have negative interest rates. I see no mass move to cash and total withdrawal of all deposits from accounts.

newatc

I've surprised myself by using cash much less (by using contactless) in the last few years but can't see the day in my lifetime (10-15 years hopefully) that cash won't be around. Number of times recently in the coffee shop I use, I've seen the sign "Sorry cash only, card machine down". When I'm giving tips, it's always cash, seems more personal and the list could go on.

takman

spadoosh wrote: »

I don think so.

For the simple reason that within the last two months ive been a t a petrol station having filled up to be told that 'VISA is down'. And Im also a TSB customer.

Well you don't have to be with only one bank and if you had a MasterCard it may have worked fine.
But obviously that is a negative of card payments.

spadoosh wrote: »

I also like the lottery of cash. Like finding a beatrix potter 50p. Or a first run £5 note.

I cant see homeless people sitting on the streets with a card reader in hand.

I cant see the local drug dealer taking anything other than cash. And how would peopel snort cocaine?

Not really a positive thing..

spadoosh wrote: »

You dont find bank cards with money on them stashed down the sofa. Or in an old pair of jeans.

I've never actually found much money down the back of my sofa or in my jeans. Although I did find my Pockit Prepaid debit card and it had just over £3 of credit on it; so yes you can find bank cards with money on them!.

spadoosh wrote: »

You cant copper up when the more desperate times are on you.

If you lose a fiver its gone, you lose your bank card, youve got no money for a few days.

Only if your silly enough to have only one account!

spadoosh wrote: »

Your wallet gets stolen you lose the cash you had, your bank card gets stolen you can lose everything in the account.

Now this is where you have it completely back to front.

If you loose a bank card you loose no money because they won't have the pin and Contactless and Online purchases will be refunded by the bank.

Any cash you loose forever which is a big negative of cash.

spadoosh wrote: »

Its the go to fail safe. When power goes out in a shop they can always trade manually, they cant with card.

It facilitates a second hand economy. Thigns like facebook marketplace/car boots would be less prevalent due to the cost of implementing way to facilitate transactions.

On Facebook messenger if you mention paying someone some money you get a button pop up to send them money and it doesn't cost anything. There are many ways to send money electronically for free.
The problem is not the cost but having a system that everyone uses.

Also it costs far more money to buy a till, have a safe to store money and transport cash to the bank than any card payment costs to process.

GaleSF63

elsien wrote: »

I find the opposite. Spending on a card makes it far easier to overspend - it's not like spending "real" money..... I find cash makes me more aware of what I'm spending.

daveyjp wrote: »

As soon as my rugby club upgraded its systems to take contactless and apple pay bar revenue increased dramatically.

Perhaps that is why so many places prefer cards. People are spending more freely - especially where alcohol may be a factor.

Skippy13

It would make it easier to track spending if contactless payments showed immediately. If I withdraw and spend cash I know it's gone but if I use contactless it can take a few days to show in my account.

takman

Skippy13 wrote: »

It would make it easier to track spending if contactless payments showed immediately. If I withdraw and spend cash I know it's gone but if I use contactless it can take a few days to show in my account.

Get an account like Starling or Monzo; everytime you make a payment you get an instant notification on your mobile (even with Contactless) and you can see the up to date balance of the account at any time.