I’d think that even if the society went cashless, there would be some kind of token used for black market/nefarious/under the radar purposes. Think cigarettes in prison, for an example.
Where it would get interesting is where those tokens intersect the virtual cash world- there would be exchange rates, arbitrage and a bunch of other stuff.
Unless you are getting armored truck deliveries and drop-offs, the banks don’t charge anything for taking money and giving out change orders.
I pay over $1000 a month in credit card processing fees, which is how the majority of my clients pay. I spend maybe 5 minutes, (probably more like 2) a day counting my cash. I’ve spent hours on the phone with the bank and merchant services when something was wrong with my cc machine. The bank is on my way home and I just deposit it in the ATM.
I prefer cash, because every cash dollar a client gives me is like $1.03.
I don’t have a smart phone and have no plans to get one. I still use a fair amount of cash and also write cheques, as well as checks. The guy who mows my lawns and cleans snow off my driveway uses only cash or cheques. My barber does not take CCs. Nor my doctor on the rare occasions I have to pay him. Nor my chiropracter. And my US cell phone company will not process a credit or debit card payment even from a US bank, unless I can give them a US zip code, so I have to send them checks.
I probably spend over $100 a week in cash transactions. Some of the recipients may be dodging taxes but most do not.
Not directly. But the bank spends a lot of money on handling cash, and that cost must come from its customers.
It does, but not on a per transaction basis. It is distributed through the cost of all products, but I doubt any savings from eliminating cash will result in lower banking fees, and likely higher ones anyway.
I’ve heard that they accept Tide.
Many beggars accept Google Wallet and some carry Stripe or Paypal readers.
Yeah, but no one can rob you of your credit card receipts. I’ll bet if the ever is a trend toward stores going cashless, they will get insurance breaks.
During the US Civil war, postage stamps were a medium for small transactions for a while. I’m not sure why there was a cash flow problem, yet people had stamps-- I think it just had something to do with metal shortages-- but eventually the Confederacy printed fractional currency-- 50 cent and 25 cent bills.
My point is, people would probably use something for very small transactions-- we’d figure it out, just like we figured out using precious metal as a medium for transactions in the first place. Electronic transactions are just as representative as cash. Cash has no intrinsic value, just the agreed-upon one we imbue it with.
I’m a little surprised that nobody has mentioned implants yet. That’s where the technology is going, although it will be several years yet before it’s ready for wide-spread use.
That’s the biggest argument for going cashless.
Yeah, much better to have someone cut off your hand when they rob you.
I’ve worked around cash all my life, no one has robbed me yet. I pay about $30 a month in insurance, and pretty much all of that is toward clients slipping and falling, or injuries to dogs in my care. I don’t know that any of it covers cash loss or injury due to robbery, but if it is, it’s gotta be less than a dollar. If going cashless saved me a dollar or so a month, it would not be worth it.
The Europeans are in the process of stopping printing of five-hundred Euro banknotes and the US is considering stopping the production of one-hundred-dollar bills, specifically because these large-value bills are used in illegal transactions.
I understand the reasoning, but it’s a shame.
Biggest argument for keeping cash is that not every transaction needs to have a tax on it.
When your grandmother sends you $5, do you really think Visa should be getting fifty cents of that?
If you lend your friend some money for bills, and he pays you back, you have to pay Visa for both transactions, so about a 6% loss there.
Also, not all transactions that one may wish to keep private are illegal. If I go to the strip club, do I really have to have a permanent record of how much I spent, and who on?
There are already phone apps that let you do that, both pay and receive payments. No need for a CC reader; each user links his app account to whatever card or bank account they want to.
Also, “utility” apps where you can use the money in the app itself or take it out. As an example of the second, I recently ran a blablacar: I was going on a longish trip that’s not well covered by public transportation and offered spots in my car. I ended up having a full car the whole way, with people leaving and being replaced along the way. I could leave the money I got paid in my blablacar account and use it to pay for trips, or have it transferred to my bank.