What worries me about this idea of doing away with 'cash' is - what happens to people who 'can't' go digital ? Not everyone is online or has a mobile phone - let alone a smart one. Are governments prepared to provide free the means to those who can't afford it ? (No need to answer that one) lol The 'reason' is supposed to be that more and more people either rarely or no longer use cash. I've seen comments from people saying they will ditch their cards and smart phones.
My sister-in-law (now passed away) was disabled and was on SSI. She did not even have a bank account, and what the government did was give her a card (probably a debit card) with her monthly SSI allowance on it. Actually, some of us are close to that right now, too. My SS pension is direct deposited into my bank, and then I use my bank card for whatever I need to buy, so the only difference is that my money goes through a bank and I can go to that bank and take all that money out if I wish to spend it as cash. I don’t think that Roxy could get cash with her SSI card, she just paid for everything that way. The next logical progression for this would be to say what the card can be used for and can’t be used for. I think that our generation, who’d basically grew up with freedom to earn money and buy what we pleased, might be the last one that values what we had. Younger people have mostly only had bank cards instead of cash, so that aspect seems fine to them.
@Yvonne Smith - I agree, it's pretty much a case of what you grew up with. At the moment as I'm shopping online - it does mean that I'm using card more than cash - but that doesn't mean that I want to lose the option to pay cash if I'm actually in a store. One of the drawbacks I've found through using a card for everything is that I have had instances where some cash would have been handy - or sometimes even necessary - and I haven't had any in my purse. For example - a fish and chip shop near me will 'only take cash'.. It's for this reason that I've decided to reduce my card payments and draw cash to use in stores etc.
The larger aspects of having a purely digital society like buying a car, groceries or even a gun is easy to visualize but how about the smaller stuff like: Yard sales, lemonade stands, that young man who mows or rakes his neighbors lawns or the teen baby sitter that gives mom and dad a night out? There are a ton of services that people just pay cash for like the neighborhood handyman or a guy who has a pickup truck and is willing to help people move. In a digital world, everything can and will be tracked and the only good I can see come out of it is that the local dope dealer will have to have an account to sell drugs. Other than that, those new 80K IRS agents will be kept busy busting Johnny who earned a thousand dollars one winter for shoveling his neighbors’ snow.
@Bobby Cole - Exactly and next it will be 'enforced' digital receipts so that not only 'where you shop' will be tracked but also what you bought, how much/many of it and how often. At the moment you can accept or refuse paper receipts,but you 'may not' have that choice with enforced digital ones.
I think that has been happening for some time now. If you are part of a loyalty program, then each time you shop at that store, you show your loyalty card for the discounts, and it tracks what you purchased, even if you paid in cash. Even without a loyalty card, it is tracked if you order online. Some places ask for your phone number when you are at the checkout counter, so purchases are tracked that way, even without a loyalty card. I just assume that most anything I do is somehow being tracked. I just ordered the mushroom herbal coffee from Teeccino, and now my facebook page is cluttered with ads for all kinds of mushroom coffees.
pilot program going on now with largest banks...that have agreed to follow the new ESG...rules Environmental Security Guidelines..
If you buy ammo etc and they ask if you have a loyalty card say no. The 'rewards' are seldom worth being tracked for anything, for that matter.