A Cashless Country..

[Mitchell]

I just read an article online defending the idea of the United States gradually becoming, and floating the idea of.. us being a "Cashless Country". In the atticle, they said that countries like Finland, and Sweden, are the most cashless countries in the world.

Since my mom has been out of the house, I carry a bit more cash then I used to, to pay for expenses, but.. it seems like I purchase most items with my ATM/Debit card.

Additionally, this article also stated that pennies and nickels are now becoming more expensive to produce than they are worth.

While this idea wasnt discussed in this particular article, I've read other articles which have floated the idea of retiring the US $1 bill altogether, as, with today's high prices, one can rarely find something that costs just a dollar anymore.

Has anyone else seen this article? Thoughts on the whole "cashless: idea.

Mitch

 

[GQguy]

It's inevitable....

With a few more surprises if my "business" takes hold. We live in interesting times.

GQ

 

[kis123]

They've been talking about a cashless society for decades. Sweden has been the test case and when all the bugs/issues have been worked out, it'll be then dumped upon the masses. By then, the NWO should be in full swing with a cashless world; who'll need a one world currency then?

 

[kis123]

Going cashless is a fine idea .... until the credit/debit machine breaks down or the card itself gets messed up. I saw an example of that the other day. I was getting a sandwich at Subway, with another customer ahead of me. Their machine wouldn't take his card for whatever reason; they spent around five minutes trying to make it work and it still wouldn't. At this point, does the guy pull out some bills to pay for his food? No, he just walks out, leaving his sandwich behind - because he'd "gone cashless".

So, relying solely on plastic without having a backup = not really a good idea.

You know that....and I know that.

But do you think the government has given it any consideration other than their cards work flawlessly?

 

[kis123]

Here you go folks; another example of MSM priming the masses up for the next round of government-supported garbage:

http://www.slate.com/articles/busin...ted_states_save_by_ditching_paper_money_.html

I guess they figure if it worked for gas prices...........

 

[GQguy]

The concept of using a worthless piece of cloth with value ascribed to it instead of the use of a precious metal was very revolutionary at it's onset and was met with much resistance. The concept of bartering for a precious metal that could not feed your family, clothe your back or put a roof over one's head was also very revolutionary at it's time. Think of the dilemma at the time when people first started using gold to trade:"trade all of my goats which provide me milk, cheese and meat for a chunk of gold that does nothing?". I'm sure there were times where the value of gold plummeted with such thinking.

Isn't it amazing how we have billionaires out there whose wealth only amounts to a few zeros in a computer database? Oh how far we've come! But where are we going?

GQ

 

[Leo tickles]

Depending on machines is a bad idea.

Imagine Wal Mart, Christmas day... or Black Friday. So many people running around picking out things. So then the system goes down for whatever reason. Maybe the winter storm outside killed the credit card machines, yeah? K, so now, not only does WM lose a LOT of business, but they have to get somebody to come out and fix the machines... which could take hours.

 

[kis123]

It is a bad idea for everyday people because it is further violating privacy. Then there is record of everything you bought, and if desired people could restrict what is bought on an individual or universal level based on whatever someone felt was appropriate.

^I'll take this for the win^

What some of the younger set may not understand is just because it's new technology doesn't mean we should have or partake in it. This ain't no Iphone; it's commerce! And we have enough issues/problems with commerece as it is without the government getting involved in it. Or lawyers at that matter........they're probably salivating at the thought of the impending lawsuits!

Thanks but no thanks......I'll be saying "no" until I have no other choice.

 

[Myriads]

I manage a small business, and have been there moving in on 22 years now.

When I started our payment methods looked like this:

Cash: 80%
Personal Check 15%
Credit Card 5%

This was back in the day when if you got a credit card, you pulled out this phonebook of bad numbers checked the card against it, and if it was not there, imprinted the card, and then sent your copy in for payment to the card company. It was... annoying.

Today our payments look like this:

Credit Cards 96%
Cash 4%
Personal Checks insignificant.

Personal checks went bad in 2002. At that point in time the store had had less then 20 bounced checks in it's entire history. And we recovered payment on all of them. But in '02 people realized that "Hey! Checks are just paper that PROMISE money!!!!" and the scammers went nuts. We had ~50 bounces in the first half of that year, most unrecoverable. We stopped taking paper, unless it was a customer we knew a long time. And over the next decade fewer and fewer people asked to use checks. When I get asked these days it's almost always someone 60 or older.

The credit cards/debit cards just took over. People like the ease, the need to not carry cash, and the all in one bill record.

It's a change. Money is basically what we define it as.

The cell phone companies want a piece of the credit exchange market. Eventually they will start to mirror what you can do in Europe and Japan; use your cell phone as a credit card. Point it at a soda machine, click, out pops a soda, your phone bill gets the cost added. And so on.

There will always be a place for cash, and some will always use it. but it will be a small payment pie-bit.

Myriads

 

[Myriads]

I manage a small business, and have been there moving in on 22 years now.

When I started our payment methods looked like this:

Cash: 80%
Personal Check 15%
Credit Card 5%

This was back in the day when if you got a credit card, you pulled out this phonebook of bad numbers checked the card against it, and if it was not there, imprinted the card, and then sent your copy in for payment to the card company. It was... annoying.

Today our payments look like this:

Credit Cards 96%
Cash 4%
Personal Checks insignificant.

Personal checks went bad in 2002. At that point in time the store had had less then 20 bounced checks in it's entire history. And we recovered payment on all of them. But in '02 people realized that "Hey! Checks are just paper that PROMISE money!!!!" and the scammers went nuts. We had ~50 bounces in the first half of that year, most unrecoverable. We stopped taking paper, unless it was a customer we knew a long time. And over the next decade fewer and fewer people asked to use checks. When I get asked these days it's almost always someone 60 or older.

The credit cards/debit cards just took over. People like the ease, the need to not carry cash, and the all in one bill record.

It's a change. Money is basically what we define it as.

The cell phone companies want a piece of the credit exchange market. Eventually they will start to mirror what you can do in Europe and Japan; use your cell phone as a credit card. Point it at a soda machine, click, out pops a soda, your phone bill gets the cost added. And so on.

There will always be a place for cash, and some will always use it. but it will be a small payment pie-bit.

Myriads

 

[GQguy]

It is a bad idea for everyday people because it is further violating privacy. Then there is record of everything you bought, and if desired people could restrict what is bought on an individual or universal level based on whatever someone felt was appropriate.

Check out BitCoins. It's an online currency that reached the mainstream a few months ago. So mainstream in fact that in big cities people could buy lunch with it. The most beautiful thing about it was that it was totally anonymous. So anonymous in fact that people stopped using cash and used them for drug transactions. Talk about the need for privacy! The market however crashed...but the idea is out there. An enterprising person...likely in their teens through thirties is likely working on a new version to replace the old...and with some sort of backing it could stick. This is what the one world currency might look like. Money created for the people....by the people.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technolo...s-collapsing-with-no-sign-of-recovery/243253/

Depending on machines is a bad idea.

Imagine Wal Mart, Christmas day... or Black Friday. So many people running around picking out things. So then the system goes down for whatever reason. Maybe the winter storm outside killed the credit card machines, yeah? K, so now, not only does WM lose a LOT of business, but they have to get somebody to come out and fix the machines... which could take hours.

Touche'. I'm far from an IT guy but if Walmart's computers crashed on Black Friday i'd dare say they'd lose 96% of their business anyway if we went by Myriads stats. Depending on demographic and geological location that number would go up or down. But I understand what you're saying. As an engineer i'd institute a series of redundancies(i'm sure some exist now) to ensure that customers are still able to shop. Hell....iphone's have the ability to swipe debit and credit card transactions and can handle hundreds a day. Smart phones could also process transactions with the website.

I can't say if this is bad or good. Humans have been on a path of sorts for a long time. This is the obvious next step when it comes to currency. Even the writers of the bible knew it!

GQ

 

[milagros317]

Purchasing everything via credit cards or debit cards turns your whole life into an open book and leaves you with no privacy. No thanks.

 

[kurchatovium]

Purchasing everything via credit cards or debit cards turns your whole life into an open book and leaves you with no privacy. No thanks.

Gotta agree with mils on this one. I like all my options open 🙂

 

[shark]

The only debit card I've ever used was for a rebate, and was far more trouble that it was worth for me AND the local vendor. The only time I had a credit card comprimized was possibly a trojan, so I always virus scan before doing vital online business. I avoid using cards if the cash onhand will cover the price. Cash can't be hacked, taken by virus, scrutinized by whoever has the ability, bounce, go over limits, or expire,and the possible loss is limited by how much you carry. For everyday nonbusiness life, it is accepted most anywhere, and is still the only accepted form of payment in some establishments. I would really hate to see a cashless society.

 

[Mitchell]

mils makes an interesting point.

It used to be where I paid for cheap meals with cash, and anything else with ATM/debit, etc. Lately,. it seems that I only use the debit card for my meds, or haircuts, and everything else is cash.

I'm not in favor of going completely cashless. It's nice to pull out a bit of green every once in a while. Then again, since the advent of credit cards, and especially debit cards, many people carry far less cash now then they used to, simply because there are so many other methods of payment available to them.

Mitch