Personally I only transfer cash into the debit Mastercard when I know I need it (often at the moment of checkout via mobile app).
I think a possible technical solution would be for chip cards to include a “local” account on-board them which houses some digital currency for when processing systems are offline.
It wouldn’t resolve the issue for those vendors that don’t have any form of digital payment of course, but with things like Stripe out there as cheap available payment processing systems, it’s feasible to minimise the need for cash.
I think there will always been some need for cash however, as there will always be those who don’t trust guv’ment, don’t like the processing overheads, need to make untraceable payments, etc.
Let’s suppose we’re being forced into a society without real ‘wedge/moolah/dough’ or cash. How long do you think the transition would be? There are many people that only use this type of payment. Interestingly people that use cash only are being penalised. Telstra, for example not only charges for a paper bill, but also adds $1 for paying at a Post Office.
This current scourge (Corona Virus) has seen a lot of new innovations many of which may be dubious?
Don’t get me started on switching providers, by the way.
I think if banks, businesses start charging for cash processing, they’d just be (very late) coming to the realisation that they can sting us that way, as they do for CC payments, etc. So less about penalising cash, more about them making more money . o O ( probably spun as leveling the playing field in their minds )
Certainly COVID-19 has seen a big rush to contactless payments. Not sure if the hype over cash contamination is somewhat hyperbole or not, but as an immuno-suppressed person I choose not to find out.
And yeh in terms of switching Telco’s don’t investigate any, or like electricity providers, solar quotes, insurance, etc you’ll be forever on their marketeering lists.
Yeah. I mean, I’m at risk of being one of those with worse complications if I do contract COVID-19, yet I think cash is generally able to be less handled than say a railing, doorknob or lift button
I’m over this rubbish. At the end of the day it’s all about greed and money. Nothing will change, for the majority. I am taking a step forward and transcending all of this and having a simple, satisfying life with my family and friends (when we can physically get together).
I’ve been happily doing that for years, @SueW (using cash for day-to-day). There’s an ATM near my (pre-COVID) office and another where I often get petrol so it’s no drama to top up every week or so.
It’s gradually becoming more common that staff at cafes and lunch places are a bit lukewarm on being offered cash.
I do use tap-and-go as well but on privacy grounds like having the option of using cash. I don’t want my spending patterns and location history be on-sold, passed to “partner companies” or otherwise fall into the hands of data miners and assorted international crims and spivs.
If the government could give a credible, enforceable guarantee that my transaction info would never go outside my bank except to government and law-enforcement agencies that are entitled to it under Australian law, then I’d be happy to give up cash and pay for everything by card.
So, never.
ps. I am a very dull, law-abiding person who doesn’t use either cash or card for anything dodgy, Virginia Trioli.
The thing is, these days, so much gets transferred via money changing hands, once the virus ht our shores I ws immediately grateful for my apple watch. NFC is good.
It might be a selling point, but it is far removed from the issues raised by the ABC article.
Neither might the cash-in-hand tradies and contractors. It’s likely both groups will find ways to reinvent their business models, rather than just go out of business. Bitcoin, gold, diamonds, collectables, the human sole. Alternate systems of value and barter there are many to explore and exploit? Time will tell.
It suggests a utopia in which all commodities of value will require government monitoring and scrutiny.
There are some practical lessons from Sweden. The ABC notes 500,000 Australians do not use a debit or credit card, cash only.
I’ll note a similar issue to Sweden, in that access to universal and reliable electronic payment, a challenge in Sweden, is going to be more geographically challenging in Australia.
A point not raised also worthy of consideration may be how as individuals many of us budget. Many of us oldies learnt to seperate our cash into different buckets, setting aside cash for the rent, utilities, party money etc. Glass jars and using seperate compartments in a purse or wallet worked for me.
Does the way our financial institutions function make budgeting transparent and easy to manage. Should we ask if there is a need to revisit financial life skills and how our financial institutions might support rather than take unfair advantage of their customers? Rental agents and utilities are pushing automated direct debits or similar payment arrangements. It might be sold as making it easy and convenient for us to manage. Is the reality they don’t Trust most of us to manage our own money.
Is there further need to consider there are many perceived risks? The ABC noted the Swedish government needed to legislate to require their banks to provide a minimum range of cash services for customers!
Choice gets some good mentions. The article suggests one reason why the banks are enthusiastic about a cashless society. ka-ching.
The closing comments from the ANZ CEO are priceless -“It’s a fair product, people know what they’re getting. It’s easy not to use it if you don’t want one” all while each of the banks is in one or another way lobbying for ever less cash use.
I cannot remember when I last used cash at a grocery, but with the numbers of processing failures from Westpack, CBA, ANZ, NAB, … , … , … it might only take being in the queue once when you cannot pay by card and cannot get your groceries, nor can the people behind you, to focus one’s attention on the problem.
The old ICT adage is the more reliable a system is, the more reliable it has to be. Any failure in a cashless society has to be unacceptable, but statistically failures will happen, and in a cashless society with no backup and the failures varying from minutes to hours to the rare day(s) in one or another context…
The ‘down’ can be with the grocery’s processing, or your banks processing, with either being problematic. The customer in front of you is ‘down’ and cannot pay but the shop’s system is up and running. A bit of a kerfuffle to get the line moving again, with a very happy (/s) customer sans groceries.
