Cashless $ociety?

[oldblueeyez 15475]

With the news that Sweden is well on its way to a cashless society, is this our destiny as well? What ramifications would it have for this industry?

 

I like to use cash; it doesn't cost me a damn thing to buy things with cash. But with plastic I need a bank account and all the associated fees, plus the retailer has to pay extra charges for accepting plastic too. If Canada goes cashless someday, I'm going to start a class action lawsuit to make it as free to use plastic as it is to use cash: totally feeless debit transactions.

 

And what happens if there's a huge storm someday and the grid goes down for weeks at a time (remember the Quebec ice storm)? Or a huge EM pulse from the sun (remember the last huge solar storm which fried telegraph networks 100 or so years ago)? What about a major world war (the militarily mighty nations have EMP nukes to knock out the enemy's communications)?

 

Maybe I'm just getting old and stubborn.

 

Sweden Leads in Cashless Transactions

 

 

Maybe we'll have to start using silver and gold coins! :)

[Guest **us]

While it is true, we are continuing to use less and less "physical cash" the need for cash will always exist . You mentioned a number of good examples as to why we will always need cash, tHis industry is just one of them.

[fortunateone 156618]

There are a number of reasons why the world wont' be cashless, and that would be due to the fact that a very large percentage of the world's population don't have bank accounts, are unlikely to ever have one, and live from what they can put together from poorly paid occupations.

 

And this isn't just in the developing countries, but there are many reasons why there are so many cheque cashing services, more of those than banks. many low income or no income social assistant folks can't get a bank account, so are unlikely to have debit cards to become cashless :)

[Boomer 33202]

I think that the cashless society is inevitable, and I don't think anyone can avoid the trend. As technology advances there will be an inevitable critical mass driving this phenomena. In the future there may not even be a necessity of maintaining an account, you may maintain a balance on your phone, and your access to your local bank branch restricted.

 

As for the third world, in many ways because they don't have a bricks and mortar banking system, they are ahead of us. I was reading about a system in Africa that has developed methods using a basic phone and simple texting to send money and pay bills. All they have to do is buy credits on their phone.

[tanyathetgurl 857]

@oldblueeyez: While I was reading the first few paragraphs of your post I was thinking something like "maybe we'll have to start using silver and gold coins" and then that's what you wrote too. :-)

 

I'm very wary of government intervention in the economy and although I've studied economics at University and read much about the subject in subsequent years, I'm rare convinced by the typical arguments of why it's a good idea to have the government muscle in and do ... whatever. As to protecting good people from violence, domestic or international: yes. A courts system, yes ... as to everything else ... I'm not convinced. And that also goes for the role of the government as to: money. The sort of shenanigans that bureaucrats so often do, including essentially Ponzi schemes and running printing presses to inflate the money supply ... that's made me more wary yet. The premise of "I decree that this money should be valuable to you because as your bureaucrat, I printed it and I say so" tends to activate the independent-minded streak in me.

 

Your solution of gold and silver coins, while not convenient, certainly has a "back to basics" sort of appeal to me. It'd be difficult for the government to muscle into that. The items being exchanged wouldn't even need to literally be gold or silver, just something of objective value and/or a valid claim check to that, whether that's a gallon of petrol of a specified octane, or an apple or a chicken egg or an hour of long-distance phone service from A to B -- anything that can't easily be watered down to where it's open to manipulation by the same mindset as (now that I think about it) is currently manipulating money supplies, in so many countries of the world.

 

Somewhat relevant to "our" subject matter: the "Chicken Ranch" brothel got its name due to customers bringing in one full-grown chicken in exchange for a session with one of the girls who worked there. No credit cards, no checks, no fiat money. The customer got what he wanted, and the girls had food to eat as a result of this deal.

 

Maybe I should set my prices in terms of ounces of gold (one overnight = one ounce of gold). Kinda hot, now that I think about it. No chickens, though ...

 

As to the more on-point comments on this thread, I agree that a cashless society won't be viable any time soon, or hopefully ever ... especially in this business.

 

.Tanya

[roamingguy 300292]

Cashless...story of my life LOL

With cash...cash in pocket, it works

Cashless...because Sweden does it. Didn't they bring us the Nordic model that's enough reason to reject anything else they might have

Seriously, cash works

If power, computers go down, then what

If your identity is stolen and the bank freezes your accounts till you come in an see them (btw just happened to me a couple months ago...thank god I had a few bucks in my pocket till the bank (my branch) opened (I was out of town)

I keep a small emergency fund at home, just in case something goes wrong now.

But I like cash. Cash works. Cash doesn't bounce, cash doesn't get declined, using cash doesn't get you in debt. I like having a cc, but only

to use for reservations or in an emergency

A rambling for what it's worth

 

RG

[Kate von Katz 49953]

I doubt we'll ever be truly cashless. Cash is an important medium and it's much more easily accessed than bank accounts, online transfers and other such transactions.

 

Though we are leaning towards streamlining everything so it can be accomplished with the swipe of a card or the click of a button, I very much doubt we'll see anything resembling a cashless society for quite some time. Decades, centuries, probably never.

 

It's also worthwhile to touch on the idea of currency. Cash money which is legal tender is internationally recognized as the primary currency. But bartering may make a comeback and the forms of currency may change, as they have through many cultures and through history. It is because of this that I am very doubtful we'll ever be truly cashless because the medium of what is considered to be cash may change, but still be a real-world physical object.

[oldblueeyez 15475]

Somewhat relevant to "our" subject matter: the "Chicken Ranch" brothel got its name due to customers bringing in one full-grown chicken in exchange for a session with one of the girls who worked there. No credit cards, no checks, no fiat money. The customer got what he wanted, and the girls had food to eat as a result of this deal.

 

 

Whoah! The chicken has been subject to some major deflation! :P My spring rolls just might be worth an hour though. :D

[roamingguy 300292]

Somewhat relevant to "our" subject matter: the "Chicken Ranch" brothel got its name due to customers bringing in one full-grown chicken in exchange for a session with one of the girls who worked there. No credit cards, no checks, no fiat money. The customer got what he wanted, and the girls had food to eat as a result of this deal.

 

 

 

.Tanya

 

Well you know who was a frequent customer at the chicken ranch and explains the smile on his face

 

 

Yup, Col Saunders LOL

Although now got to wonder what he meant when he said finger lickin good

Oh stop groaning, if I didn't say it someone else would have LOL

 

RG

[Liv Waters 52361]

Let's remember that there are many powerful actors in this society who also have a vested interest in cash persisting on :)

 

I agree with Miss Thora; I think it will be decades, perhaps centuries, before we would come close to resembling a cashless society, and in place of legal tender would be some other convenient, highly usable form(s) of currency.

[oldblueeyez 15475]

Humanity won't be here in centuries, perhaps not even one century; our digital prodigy will take care of us.

 

And speaking of Prodigy,

 

 

Hey, it's my thread to pirate. :P

 

I personally think it will be human against machine in 20 or 30 years.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAspqCD34Hw