This Harvard Economist Is Trying to Kill Cash

[Aeluron Lightsong]

Oh shove the fuck off with it then.

"Don't give me a sound solution to issues with a specific bank." Well what the fuck do you want.

It's like saying "oh i lost foot it got chopped off! I need help, and don't tell me to go to the hospital." Well fuck off...

That's not even a viable example. Completely different situation that and it's assuming there's even any bank to switch to in certain areas.

[lonely zergling]

I couldnt surive without cash. 95% of my transactions are done using cash. Only use cards when I have to.

[Karrotlord]

I couldnt surive without cash. 95% of my transactions are done using cash. Only use cards when I have to.

And I'm the exact opposite.

[Azadina]

You've never had someone charge you double on a meal or item. Then corrected it and the extra charge takes 4-5 days if not more to be put back in the account have you?

Banks sometimes charge you for having an account and holding your money for you.

What do you do if need to eat but none of your cards go through for what ever technical glitch. You have no cash. Can't call the bank till Monday. Its Sat night. All day Sunday you have no money for anything.

Nope.
Never happened to me.
Never happened to me.

Any other lightning strike on blue moon scenarios?

[Muzjhath]

I'm amazed that some banks don't have 24/7 all days a year service. My bank (in Sweden) offers services in 25 different languages for crying out loud. (The service availability is common between pretty much all banks).
Is costumer service in general that bad in the US that even banks can't have a good set of service?
And an internet bank that I always can access if need be. Sweden also have an app system where all banks are involved where you can send money p2p by cell-phone number if both have the app. Some stores even use it.

Otherwise, I almost never use cash. When I do it's for things smaller than 10 USD. Often for things smaller than 1 USD. Dislike handling cash in general since it's filthy and I'm far better at saving my money when it's not in that form so I use less.

[Themius]

That's not even a viable example. Completely different situation that and it's assuming there's even any bank to switch to in certain areas.

In America there are a plethora of banks to switch to including a plethora of online banks which usually offer much better customer services and are routinely ranked higher than brick and mortor locations. Saying I can't argue for switching banks when it's an entirely viable option is cutting off a portion of an argument just so one's own argument looks better. "hey don't argue for that!" This isn't golf, I'm not playing with fucking handicaps.

[Powerogue]

I can see the logic of gradually phasing it out starting with the larger dollar bills. I've never carried more than a few 20's for places that only accept cash.

[Gracin]

I'm all for phasing out cash, it'd have to be extremely gradual because in areas like where I live there are still businesses that are cash only. Hell most won't even take checks anymore. But you can't blame them, at least with cash or debit/credit cards you immediately know if you're getting paid.

[timberx]

I can see the logic of gradually phasing it out starting with the larger dollar bills. I've never carried more than a few 20's for places that only accept cash.

So many stores don't even accept anything higher than $20 bills, maybe $50 bills.

[Everwake]

There goes that Christmas cash from grandma!

[Raptor With a Saber]

what is ist like 90% of the world wealth doesnt exist in anything but digital form so who cares

[oxymoronic]

How is having money in a bank not having control?

You know if a person steals your wallet with your cash that's it... me on the other hand I just freeze my cards and lose no money, even if i did it's insured anyway.

if somebody steals my wallet im not worried about the couple hundred bucks i have in it. its one of those things if i lost it i would pay u $200 to get it back... besides what grown man gets his wallet stolen outside of a few armed robbery incidents? u might need to check the people you surround yourself with.

[Deleted]

1. Don't like policies? Switch banks
2. Actions such as what? They typically try to keep people, also see number 1
3. I don't care what they do with my money as long as I have the amount I put in availble to me.
4. Who cares about that? FDIC insurance has you covered up to 250k.
5. This is not a point against cashless

1. In reality all banks may apply the same policy like negative interest. And when will you go then with your money?
3. Perhaps you should. Some banks tend to give a lot risky credits with no hope of repayment.
4. And above 250k ? I guess you haven't got that much so it's no consideration to you.
5. Banks bust all the time. I guess you don't care because you haven't got much money anyways?

I guess 2008 crisis hasn't taught some people anything. Also some people are very ignorant in matters of finance as this thread perfectly shows.

[Kellhound]

Of course the government would love to get rid of cash so it can easily track everything you spend your money on....

[Deleted]

As to this 'Harvard Economist' its always good to discover real motivations of such people.
I'm sure this guy has ties to some card or electronic payment company.

[Endus]

Money in the bank can be.
Frozen. Not available, having to be waited on to transfer out to someone else. I've been in situations where due to banking "errors" a pay check on Friday wasn't available till Monday.

That's likely not an "error", that's likely your bank ensuring the paycheck cashes in properly, especially if it's over a weekend. Same happens with any check. A check is basically an "IOU" and until your bank contacts THEIR bank and secures the funds, it's often unavailable to you, the customer.

You've never had someone charge you double on a meal or item. Then corrected it and the extra charge takes 4-5 days if not more to be put back in the account have you?

Not ever, actually. I've been informed by Visa that it happened and they'd automatically corrected it, though.

Banks sometimes charge you for having an account and holding your money for you.

And? You're paying for a service. If you have enough invested with the bank, you can often get those service fees waived, because they'll be making enough off your capital to keep you around.

Of course they're going to charge you a fee for providing you services. They're not charities.

What do you do if need to eat but none of your cards go through for what ever technical glitch. You have no cash. Can't call the bank till Monday. Its Sat night. All day Sunday you have no money for anything.

I budget so that's never a risk. Plus, that's what my credit cards are meant to cover; they're paid off monthly. The only time I was in a position where the entire system was down, after a hurricane, when power was down across the city for days, shops started taking credit card payments the old way, by hand.

1. In reality all banks may apply the same policy like negative interest. And when will you go then with your money?
3. Perhaps you should. Some banks tend to give a lot risky credits with no hope of repayment.
4. And above 250k ? I guess you haven't got that much so it's no consideration to you.
5. Banks bust all the time. I guess you don't care because you haven't got much money anyways?

#1 is kind of silly. If there's a demand for a better service, someone will end up offering it. If they don't, why don't you? Credit unions in particular have little reason to hose their customers that badly, since their customers ARE their shareholders.

#3 is an issue with not enough governance.

#4? C'mon. That's $250,000 per institution. If you've got more than a quarter million in your checking account, and are still only working with a single bank, you should maybe reconsider things, and diversifying your incomes. Also, this is insurance, only relevant if the institution goes under. If you set up your accounts properly, this isn't an issue. Set up some CDs with one lender, your chequing/savings with a second, and bam, that's potentially $500k covered, AND both institutions would need to fail.

I guess 2008 crisis hasn't taught some people anything. Also some people are very ignorant in matters of finance as this thread perfectly shows.

Canada barely had a hiccup during the 2008 crisis, largely because of how our government was managing the banking industry. So really not seeing the doom-and-gloom.

[Incredibale]

Cashless society = total control of individuals' finances

And like other government malfeasance, criminal activity is used to justify the crackdown.

[Crissi]

I prefer a mix. Cash lets transactions happen easier between family and friends imo. It certainly makes it easy for mine to pay me for stuff they want me to buy for them. A credit / debit I'd need to use my own finances first before being reimbursed

[Deleted]

I for one welcome this rationally constructed and motivated totalitarian system

[JusticeJacko]

Bank deposits belong to the bank. The money that you think is yours is not, it legally belongs to the bank. You gave it to them in exchange for a claim on that money, a claim that may or may not be honoured depending on circumstance. Read the documents you signed when opening your bank account.

This is a situation that has already happened in recent memory (Cyprus), where the bank "bail-in" simply took customer deposits to fund their shortfall. Since that time every major central bank in the world has made sure that bail-in mechanisms are fully implemented for any future crisis.

A cashless society would mean nobody would own any money at all, and the banks (and therefore the state who pull their strings) would have total control of the currency that you spend most of the week working for.

Ever had the situation where you try to buy something online but it doesn't go through because the bank stopped the transaction? It's most likely for a legitimate reason such as unusual activity which may indicate that your card had been stolen, but the mechanisms are there to stop you buying things at the flick of a switch. Make no mistake this is an immense amount of power over all of us. Piss off the government? The government then tells the bank to stop your transactions because you are "under investigation". This is phenomenally concerning, only a fool would allow that much power in the hands of the state.