Why do we even have physical currencies in this day and age?

[Deleted]

dont think ive ever actually seen a newspaper/magazine stand apart from in London, most people just get theres from a corner shop or supermarket. and yes, every bakery/meat ship i have been to accepts cards. but i understand the uk is obviously further ahead with this than a lot of countries. even some market stalls have card readers now, i know a lot of the bigger markets in london have card readers.

Right. Well we barely have any. The big markets/shops have card readers, but they are rarely seen in the smaller ones. Add the fact that the banking system is awfully slow when it comes to issuing a credit/debit card and there you have it.

[Deleted]

Right. Well we barely have any. The big markets/shops have card readers, but they are rarely seen in the smaller ones. Add the fact that the banking system is awfully slow when it comes to issuing a credit/debit card and there you have it.

yeah i said in my post earlier we would not see it for a long time, but in places like the uk, and probably NA/western europe, paying by card is already becoming more popular than paying by cash. not sure what the figures on it are, just going by my experience from working in a few shops. its faster and easier when people pay by card. but i know not every even has a bank account.

[Laize]

Nope you get more value for cash transactions.

In what universe is this?

Cash is the thing that inflation is based off of. It is by definition the worst thing to hold if you're trying to combat inflation.

[Mormolyce]

I was wondering this myself the other day. I hate carrying cash.

There are still barriers for small business acceptance of eftpos/credit/etc, largely caused by the merchant service fees charged by the schemes and banks. Those are frankly gouging and should be reduced significantly... and I say this as someone whose job it is to make the banks as much money as I can from those fees.

[Barnabas]

In what universe is this?

Cash is the thing that inflation is based off of. It is by definition the worst thing to hold if you're trying to combat inflation.

In THIS universe. Go buy things with cash and see how much you save.

[Evolixe]

In THIS universe. Go buy things with cash and see how much you save.

Then try to buy the same things after massive inflation. See how much you can buy with it then.

[Laize]

In THIS universe. Go buy things with cash and see how much you save.

Unless you're buying gas (only in some stations) you save exactly nothing.

You do realize Mastercard and Visa agreements prevent businesses from charging customers different amounts for cash/visa/mc right?

[Deleted]

Unless you're buying gas (only in some stations) you save exactly nothing.

You do realize Mastercard and Visa agreements prevent businesses from charging customers different amounts for cash/visa/mc right?

usually the only places that say theres a £1 charge on card purchases are very small shops, but even thats quite rare now. some have a £5 minimum spend though

[Elegiac]

usually the only places that say theres a £1 charge on card purchases are very small shops, but even thats quite rare now. some have a £5 minimum spend though

Pretty much, and since small shops are going the way of the dodo this really isn't a problem for the forseeable future.

[Laize]

usually the only places that say theres a £1 charge on card purchases are very small shops, but even thats quite rare now. some have a £5 minimum spend though

They really have no business even charging that minimum or fee either. They always fail to take into consideration the fact that, with cash, you need to pay someone to transport it to the bank for you as well as have additional security measures in place (such as a safe that requires someone else as well as yourself to open).

[Deleted]

Little obstacle here is that credit cards can be copied far more easier than cash (bits vs. physical), just swipe and you card is copied, not to mention online checkups some numbers from your card and your done. Once we get some fool proof system sure cash is history, but that thing is far in the future, also to be adapted all over the word it needs to be free. Atleast we have gotten away from currencies that actually were worth something (skins, silver etc.) to just paper with numbers+ holograms.

[Elegiac]

Little obstacle here is that credit cards can be copied far more easier than cash (bits vs. physical), just swipe and you card is copied, not to mention online checkups some numbers from your card and your done. Once we get some fool proof system sure cash is history, but that thing is far in the future, also to be adapted all over the word it needs to be free. Atleast we have gotten away from currencies that actually were worth something (skins, silver etc.) to just paper with numbers+ holograms.

However, cards open up other options - because the records are there and set in circuit, it is easier to obtain legal recourse for monetary fraud than that conducted by cash.

If you get robbed on the street when carrying a card, you can immediately phone your bank or card issuer and have them cancel it, and dispute any payments that arise from the stolen card. If you get robbed while carrying cash, you just lost your cash and are unlikely to have any recourse against it.

[malbojia]

How am I supposed to "Make it Rain" at the strip club with a credit card...

[Elegiac]

How am I supposed to "Make it Rain" at the strip club with a credit card...

Buy x amount of monopoly money at the front desk with card.

[Reeve]

I have 3 different banks (Ally, PNC and Wells Fargo) and not one of them charges me money to send cash to another account.

As far as why 10-16 year olds don't have bank accounts? Why not? The day I turned 15 and got a job I walked to the strip mall I worked in and opened a bank account. I don't remember what documentation I needed but I know I was able to do it.

I had a bank account in my name at age 6 or so. I almost never use cash, and as the electronic currency tech gets better (NFC, for example), I imagine I'll stop using it altogether. It's just a pain in the butt compared to electronic payment options.

[Ianus]

maybe cause i dont wanna pay up to 25% of used money on credit card to the bank..i.e. Diners or mastercard

[Reeve]

maybe cause i dont wanna pay up to 25% of used money on credit card to the bank..i.e. Diners or mastercard

So don't. Use a debit card or pay your bills on time.

[Marooned]

Buy x amount of monopoly money at the front desk with card.

lol you don't plan to spend that much money when you're sober at the front desk. But the thing is there is nothing to worry, countries print as much money as its needed. The more ppl use online/electronic transactions the less money will be printed so its gonna balance itself out toward what ppl prefer.

[Iamanerd]

I prefer cash for all purchases I make in person and only have a debit card for my online purchases and netflix. I would never want to fully convert to all digital currency system as well it's not hard to get CC numbers and other account information if your not careful with it and a lot of people aren't aware of how easy ti can be to get CC info, but this is all the network security side of me as I've seen some people get screwed because they're not careful. Until its much safer to use some of these currency methods then I'll convert most of the way to it, like Paypal I trust as they're pretty secure but not invulnerable.

[prwraith]

There's that thing you can clip ontop of an iphone or ipad that can charge people now.

There's really no excuse for any non third world country to not be on a paperless system