
Countries where cash is on the verge of extinction - finid
http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20160922-the-countries-where-cash-is-on-the-verge-of-extinction
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henrikschroder
The problem with a cashless society is that if all payments are tracked or
controlled by a third party, it's impossible to make black market transactions
or grey market transactions.

The line between legal and illegal keeps changing, as attitudes in society
changes, but not allowing people to vote with their wallets which way society
should go is an incredibly bad idea.

How could you run a gay club in a cashless country where it is illegal to be
gay? How could you buy marijuana in a cashless state where the legality of it
is undefined? How can you donate to wikileaks when no US-based payment
provider wants to facilitate payments to it?

The argument against cash is exactly the same as people not caring about their
web browsing history being accessible to others, and saying 'they have nothing
to hide'.

Well, one day you might have something to hide. For good reasons or bad
reasons or whatever, and that's when privacy is a good thing. That's when
anonymous cash is a good thing.

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happynewyear
> The problem with a cashless society is that if all payments are tracked or
> controlled by a third party

Problem for you but imho one of the key motivations for getting rid of cash.

Our civil liberties are increasingly dependent on the "good will" of
governments. Globally they play-act their conflicts, but every single one of
them agrees that their citizens need to be monitored 24/7.

Digital cash in combination with IoT monitoring of infrastructure such as
utility metrics, and your friendly big-brother in your mobile device likely
will make it extremely difficult for a bartering economy/black-market to
emerge as well.

A global Permanent Establishment™ is being constructed right in front of us
but alas we're all distracted by phony spats between geopolitical actors who
are all (and their families as you can see) stakeholders in this Permanent
Establishment™.

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manquer
Is rejecting cash legal in these countries ? I get they do not want handle the
cost and difficulty etc. But refusing cash should be illegal for public
establishments at the very least.

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jaclaz
Technically it would negate the status of "legal tender" to the money, not
really something that a state or governement can allow, not even in private
transactions, but of course the article is largely exaggerating:

Title: ... cash is on the verge of extinction...

Inside:"Electronic payments in the Netherlands’ shops and supermarkets
overtook cash payments for the first time in 2015 by a narrow margin: 50%
debit cards while 49.5% were paid for in cash the remaining 0.5% were credit
card-payments. There’s a movement afoot by a coalition of Dutch banks and
retailers that want that ratio to increase to 60% electronic payment versus
40% hard currency by 2018. "

~~~
goatlover
So not on the verge extinction at all. Also, whenever someone brings up the a
northern European country as the trendsetter for the rest of the world, I
can't help but be skeptical.

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gmjonker
Helping the popularity of debit cards in The Netherlands is contactless
payments for small amount. I love it, it's super efficient.

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petre
Cashless societieas area dictator's pipe dream.

