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Cash seems to be a mixed blessing. Used to play an important role. But nowadays we tend to make payouts etc with various accounts and cards.
So why not just do away with it.
For simple transactions requiring making change and such we could print money locally of limited life. Maybe a month or two. Basically a script that pays using a data base to validate the individual notes.
It would certainly make it difficult to run an off the books business. You probably could find a way to do it but you would leave foot prints all over the place.
I am not even sure it costs anything. You remove the cash management function and all the clerical duties connected there to. And no more armored cars.
Won't really stop ripoffs but moves them to the cyber domain. And the financial community is pretty good at that. Been moving large sums around for many years with lttle trouble. Can it be dropped to a lower level of function.
The main reason I can think of, using credit costs small businesses money. There is a bike shop at the beach I go to (and rent a bike from when I go there) and they only take cash. I asked why and they told me the transaction fees they had to pay were 6% for credit cards and they operated on such a thin profit that it would kill their business. There are a few other stores at that very same beach who only take cash as well. I think as long as banks charge businesses so much to use credit cards and debit cards, that cash will still be around for all debts, public and private.
One other thing, when technology is down, what are you going to pay with? I remember the last hurricane that hit and everything was cash only for a few days because no one could take credit cards. It's a good back up.
Cash seems to be a mixed blessing. Used to play an important role. But nowadays we tend to make payouts etc with various accounts and cards. So why not just do away with it.
If cash had become so unimportant, there would not be 425,000 ATMs out there, more than half of them run outside of any bank or other financial institution.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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There are far too many people that take their paycheck to a check cashing place and use cash for everything, because they have no checking account, and have no credit to get a credit card. They could, of course, buy pre-paid debit cards, but apparently prefer not to. And what would the homeless and other panhandlers do?
What's wrong with taking and using cash? The incomes of many are low enough that they are going to have to spend everything quickly in any case, so why bother with useless intermediaries?
If cash had become so unimportant, there would not be 425,000 ATMs out there, more than half of them run outside of any bank or other financial institution.
That number was from the peak in 2008. It was down to 403,000 in 2009 and I believe has been dropping since. Though I can't find reliable current numbers.
I considered cash to be a paper card :S
I trade a paper with a number on it, but money came out of my account beforehand...
Credit card, I have plastic over and money came out of account after purchase. Why wouldn't I want to keep my money as long as I can to collect interest? Cash doesn't generate interest but $1 in wallet is the same as $1 in investment/saving
Even banks treat cash as digital numbers in the end anyhow.
So what I'm hearing you say is that you never use cash and if you don't use it yourself, you want to ban everyone else from using it. Did I get that right?
That number was from the peak in 2008. It was down to 403,000 in 2009 and I believe has been dropping since. Though I can't find reliable current numbers.
Numbers published in 2014 concurrent with the cutoff in Windows XP support (a serious matter for ATMs) indicated that about 420,000 were then in use. In any case, the public's desire for cash remains quite strong.
Cards are a hidden tax on the economy, payable to the banks. Aldi's, for example, only takes cash or cash equivalent as part of the way they keep grocery prices at a minimum. Besides, cash is the only safe way to buy off a politician.
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