cashless society

[bernorange 8348]

We had a few threads on the old site on this subject.  It's a topic near and dear to my heart.  I don't feel like copypasta'ing the previous discussions, so sorry if the following lacks context for you:

Quote

It is hard to argue that you cannot trust the government when the government isn’t really all that bad. This is the problem facing the small but growing number of Swedes anxious about their country’s rush to embrace a cash-free society.
...
... In February, the head of Sweden’s central bank warned that Sweden could soon face a situation where all payments were controlled by private sector banks.

The Riksbank governor, Stefan Ingves, called for new legislation to secure public control over the payments system, arguing that being able to make and receive payments is a “collective good” like defence, the courts, or public statistics.

“Most citizens would feel uncomfortable to surrender these social functions to private companies,” he said.

“It should be obvious that Sweden’s preparedness would be weakened if, in a serious crisis or war, we had not decided in advance how households and companies would pay for fuel, supplies and other necessities.”

The central bank governor’s remarks are helping to bring other concerns about a cash-free society into the mainstream, says Björn Eriksson, 72, a former national police commissioner and the leader of a group called the Cash Rebellion, or Kontantupproret.
...
But an opinion poll this month revealed unease among Swedes, with almost seven out of 10 saying they wanted to keep the option to use cash, while just 25% wanted a completely cashless society. MPs from left and right expressed concerns at a recent parliamentary hearing. Parliament is conducting a cross-party review of central bank legislation that will also investigate the issues surrounding cash.

The Pirate Party – which made its name in Sweden for its opposition to state and private sector surveillance – welcomes a higher political profile for these issues.

Look at Ireland, Christian Engström says, where abortion is illegal. It is much easier for authorities to identify Irish women who have had an abortion if the state can track all digital financial transactions, he says. And while Sweden’s government might be relatively benign, a quick look at Europe suggests there is no guarantee how things might develop in the future.

“If you have control of the servers belonging to Visa or MasterCard, you have control of Sweden,” Engström says.

“In the meantime, we will have to keep giving our money to the banks, and hope they don’t go bankrupt – or bananas.”

More (recommended):  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/03/being-cash-free-puts-us-at-risk-of-attack-swedes-turn-against-cashlessness

Bold emphasis is mine.  Maybe there is hope that sanity will prevail.

[yaqdum 182]

the move to cashless economy is very similar to the move to driverless cars.  we seem utterly compelled to throw ourselves at the mercy of completely digital systems at the same moment that we realize we can't really secure anything that is digital.  when future generations look at us -- assuming there are future generations -- they are going to be at a loss to comprehend how stupid we are . . . right now, today.

[Brisketexan 104537]

It's difficult to tuck a bitcoin or credit card in a stripper's g-string.  And it's even harder to keep your wife from finding out about those transactions when she reviews your monthly statement.

Cash will survive if for no reason other than that.

Edited April 4, 2018 by Brisketexan

[HenryJames 65884]

3 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

It's difficult to tuck a bitcoin or credit card in a stripper's g-string. 

What if she has a card reader in her butt crack?

[InkaUtexas 25486]

my cleaning lady does not take bitcoin or debit cards. Do Wives still like cleaning ladies? 

[yaqdum 182]

11 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

What if she has a card reader in her butt crack?

of course she has a card reader in her butt crack.  it's immediately aside the receipt generator.

[Ben Tobin 374]

14 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

What if she has a card reader in her butt crack?

I"ll have to insert the chip

[Dr. Teeth 5822]

5 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

my cleaning lady does not take bitcoin or debit cards. Do Wives still like cleaning ladies? 

Only if you aren't fucking her.

[InkaUtexas 25486]

wife or cleaning lady? 

[wildcat09 29213]

How many banking executives have wet dreams about the fees they'd collect in a cashless society?

[Washpark 176]

 

[RDCanecutter 26246]

I read a NYT article where a guy went cashless. He described a rather detached existence, stiffing service workers for tips, and sponging cash from family when he absolutely needed it. Though he would probably show these character traits even with a pocket full of bills.

One of the more twee paragraphs:

Quote

I paid for my morning coffee using the Starbucks app on my iPhone, picked up lunches with a credit card and ordered-in the occasional dinner using Seamless. One day I went to get some vegetarian tacos at Dos Toros and happily discovered that the fast casual chain was one of those restaurants that have

stopped accepting cash altogether.

"Happily discovered" that somebody couldn't use cash there? That's odd. I could see being happy that a business offered multiple payment options so that people could choose, but being happy that somebody couldn't use cash? Why would that be?

In the last paragraph he tells how he slid off the clean no-cash wagon, had a little bit, and bought a coffee and muffin with barbaric paper money. Left a dollar in the tip jar! I knew he was a high roller, I didn't know he was that big-time.

 

Going Cashless: My Journey Into the Future

By DAVID GELLESMARCH 30, 2018

Photo

 

Credit Michael Waraksa

I didn’t mean to do it. It just sort of happened. But what began with an empty wallet on New Year’s Day has evolved into something akin to a lifestyle change.

I’ve gone cashless.

For the first three months of the year, I have hardly touched paper money or metal coins. There are no grimy bills folded alongside my driver’s license. No quarters or pennies jangling in my pocket.

Instead, I’ve relied almost exclusively on credit cards, Apple Pay, online orders and the occasional generosity of an unsuspecting friend.

By essentially renouncing physical currency, I’ve slipped a little further into the future. Already, some technologically advanced nations — South Korea, Sweden — have all but done away with cash. Yet in the United States, I remain an outlier. In a study last year by ING, the vast majority of respondents from the United States said they would never go completely cashless.

I’m here to encourage my fellow Americans to reconsider.

My unintentional experiment began on Jan. 1 as I awoke with a rumpled tuxedo, a mild hangover and no money in my pocket.

The night before, I had imbibed at various bars, handing out the $60 or so in my wallet as tips to bartenders kind enough to work a holiday. As the first days of January passed, I never bothered to go to an A.T.M. and withdraw a wad of cash. I didn’t need to.

Here in New York City, as well as just about everywhere these days, it’s possible to pay for nearly everything with a card or a phone.

I paid for my morning coffee using the Starbucks app on my iPhone, picked up lunches with a credit card and ordered-in the occasional dinner using Seamless. One day I went to get some vegetarian tacos at Dos Toros and happily discovered that the fast casual chain was one of those restaurants that have stopped accepting cash altogether.

Grocery shopping was similarly easy, our kitchen restocked using a mix of Amazon.com, Fresh Direct and trips to my local market, where I paid with a credit card. And so it went. Before I knew it, February had arrived and my wallet was still empty.

Photo

 

I took the kids to a carousel only to discover it was cash only. Luckily my cousin was with us and lent me $4, narrowly averting a very public temper tantrum. Credit David Gelles/The New York Times

I vividly remember the first time I heard someone describe a world without cash. It was 2012, and I was at an event in London, listening to Ajay Banga, the chief executive of Mastercard, extol the virtues of digital currencies and the problems with paper money.

Cash, he argued, enabled all sorts of bad behavior. Drug dealers, illicit arms traders, tax evaders and sex traffickers all rely on cash, he said. Make cash obsolete and those nefarious activities get much more difficult. Plus, cash is dirty, a vector for germs and disease.

It was a compelling argument, but at the time, my wallet stuffed with colorful plasticy pounds, I thought he was crazy. Old habits die hard, and humans have been using cash, in one form or another, for roughly 7,000 years.

Plus, forsaking cash can be more difficult for the bankless, many of whom have been through economic crises and are ineligible for credit cards and bank accounts. (Though it’s getting easier, thanks to the efforts of companies like PayPal.)

Yet since that trip to London, Mr. Banga’s words have been rattling around my head, and sure enough, I’ve found myself relying less and less on cash.

A big reason for my increasing reliance on digital payments is that if you sign up for the right card and don’t carry a balance, credit cards can be a great deal. Last year, I got the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, which caused a frenzy when it was released. Yes, it costs $450 a year, but it quickly delivered $1,500 worth of travel credits.

Then last month, I signed up for the Amazon Prime Rewards card, which gives me 5 percent back on all purchases on Amazon and at Whole Foods, two major cost centers for our household. These aren’t exactly life-changing windfalls, but the benefits accrue over time, something cash can’t offer.

To be sure, there have been some downsides along the way. Chief among them: Tipping isn’t easy.

As I checked out of a hotel in Charleston, S.C., I didn’t have anything to offer the valet, which made me look — and feel — cheap. The next week I got a haircut. I paid for the trim with my card, but my barber accepted tips only in cash. Again I felt miserly.

And when I got an overpriced drink with some New York Times colleagues at the steakhouse below our newsroom, I had to add my tip to the credit card bill, a decidedly less satisfying experience than leaving a few singles on the bar.

There were other instances when I missed cash, too. When panhandlers asked me for spare change, I had nothing to offer and felt a pang of guilt. One day, I was late to pick up my toddlers from day care, and the school demanded $50 in cash. Rather than consent, I fought the charge and got away with a warning, but it was a close call.

Photo

 

One day I went to get some vegetarian tacos at Dos Toros and discovered that the fast casual chain was one of those restaurants that have stopped accepting cash altogether. Credit David Gelles/The New York Times

Another time, I took the kids to a carousel only to discover it was cash only. Luckily my cousin was with us and lent me $4, narrowly averting a very public temper tantrum.

My wife saved the day more than once, tipping hotel cleaners and paying the occasional babysitter and cleaning lady with cash. And some studies show that using credit cards encourages people to spend more than they otherwise would.

For the most part, however, I realized I’d be totally fine if cash went the way of the fax machine.

Recently, I got back in touch with Mr. Banga of Mastercard, wanting to compare notes. He said that while he didn’t see cash disappearing entirely anytime soon, he — no surprise — had mostly let it go.

“I use very little cash in the course of a month,” he said. “Mostly just for tipping.”

Like Mr. Banga, I’m not saying I’ll never use cash again. I will give it out to the homeless and tip hardworking service employees. But if the day comes when cash disappears altogether, you won’t hear me complaining.

In February, I set out on a trip to Southern California, my wallet still empty. I Ubered to the airport in New York, Ubered to the hotel in Los Angeles and used the usual variety of digital payments to get around, eat and shop. Cash didn’t just seem nonessential; it was practically invisible.

Then one night in Ojai, Calif., my own cashless streak came to an end. I was out for dinner with my family and some old friends, and I picked up the bill, putting it on my Sapphire Reserve card. I was planning to treat the table, but before I noticed what was happening, my friend tossed two $20 bills on top of my wallet and said thanks.

That was that. I picked up the bills, briefly enjoying their familiar crinkle, and slipped them in my wallet.

The next morning, I dropped by a coffee shop in downtown Ojai and ordered a black coffee and blueberry bran muffin. The bill was $7.38.

I paid in cash and put $1 in the tip jar.[/spoiler]

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/30/business/going-cashless-.html

 

Edited April 4, 2018 by RDCanecutter

[RDCanecutter 26246]

I was curious why restaurants paying NYC rent would turn away any form of money. Visa is offering them 10K to quit taking cash.

They give all sorts of reasons besides that, but don't mention that it probably cuts out lots of stealing.

stealing, stealing, stealing, thieving little clerks.

Edited April 4, 2018 by RDCanecutter

[Buzzrock 14870]

the move to cashless economy is very similar to the move to driverless cars.  we seem utterly compelled to throw ourselves at the mercy of completely digital systems at the same moment that we realize we can't really secure anything that is digital.  when future generations look at us -- assuming there are future generations -- they are going to be at a loss to comprehend how stupid we are . . . right now, today.

Security is always in balance vs user experience and convenience. The risk is worth the reward.

[FondrenRoad 4378]

49 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

I was curious why restaurants paying NYC rent would turn away any form of money. Visa is offering them 10K to quit taking cash.

They give all sorts of reasons besides that, but don't mention that it probably cuts out lots of stealing.

stealing, stealing, stealing, thieving little clerks.

That's easy.  A restaurant can't hide a credit card payment from the taxman. 

[FondrenRoad 4378]

4 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

It's difficult to tuck a bitcoin or credit card in a stripper's g-string.  And it's even harder to keep your wife from finding out about those transactions when she reviews your monthly statement.

Cash will survive if for no reason other than that.

All they have to do is set up an ATM where you buy stripper bucks.  Some strip clubs already do this anyway because they don't want you to be able to spend your withdrawal anywhere else.

And overall, private companies would try to do something similar.  I could see Amazon gift cards becoming pseudo-cash, and could even see Amazon issuing certificates in small denominations for trading.

There will always be something to replace cash.  Look at the Tide black market.

[SmokeyBear1861 107]

4 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

It's difficult to tuck a bitcoin or credit card in a stripper's g-string.  And it's even harder to keep your wife from finding out about those transactions when she reviews your monthly statement.

Cash will survive if for no reason other than that.

Bitcoin is like digital cash, you can keep your wallet on a zip drive and all of your transactions are anonymous. 

Sure you can't physically hold any, but that tech is coming, it will be pretty simple as the technology catches up. The time for transactions will be really tiny, the price of chips really tiny. Then,  you go to a bitcoinATM and can convert your bitcoin from your wallet to smaller individual wallets, each worth 15k satoshi ($1) or whatever it ends up evolving to by then. These smaller individual wallets can look like a coin or bill with the chip embedded. 

[Elvis Presto 21]

I like cash.  I will always have cash and i doubt it goes away in my lifetime.  

[RDCanecutter 26246]

I went cashless for a few years a while back. I wasn't all high-tech, I just used my debit card everywhere. There's a local bar that all the cooler-than-Canecutter guys would rave about, the bar was 100% cash, and I'd throw a little fit because i didn't carry cash.

Then I got hacked in a way that really put me in a bind. I didn't end up losing money, but my ass was a cheese-sandwich-eating motherfucker with a donated 20 dollar bill until my credit union got it sorted out.

Now I love me some cash. Never had my identity stolen using a 5 dollar bill.

Plus, if I were to eat Vegetarian Tacos at Dos Toros in NYC, I wouldn't want something like that on my permanent record.

[bernorange 8348]

Quote

All over the western world banks are shutting down cash machines and branches. They are trying to push you into using their digital payments and digital banking infrastructure. ...
...
A cashless society brings dangers. People without bank accounts will find themselves further marginalised, disenfranchised from the cash infrastructure that previously supported them. There are also poorly understood psychological implications about cash encouraging self-control while paying by card or a mobile phone can encourage spending. And a cashless society has major surveillance implications.

Despite this, we see an alignment between government and financial institutions. The Treasury recently held a public consultation on cash and digital payments in the new economy. It presented itself as attempting to strike a balance, noting that cash was still important. But years of subtle lobbying by the financial industry have clearly paid off. The call for evidence repeatedly notes the negative elements of cash – associating it with crime and tax evasion – but barely mentions the negative implications of digital payments.

The UK government has chosen to champion the digital financial services industry. This is irresponsible and disingenuous. We need to stop accepting stories about the cashless society and hyper-digital banking being “natural progress”. We must recognise every cash machine that is shut down as another step in financial institutions’ campaign to nudge you into their digital enclosures.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/19/cashless-society-con-big-finance-banks-closing-atms

[RDCanecutter 26246]

I have upped my cash game. Lately I have been paying with handfuls of quarters. I may start deliberately choosing the youngest cashiers, because they realize the pestilential filth I am putting in their hands.

[shnsajax 3589]

So am I going to have to stick my chip in a stripper to get a lap dance?

[elfenix 34169]

1 hour ago, RDCanecutter said:

I have upped my cash game. Lately I have been paying with handfuls of quarters. I may start deliberately choosing the youngest cashiers, because they realize the pestilential filth I am putting in their hands.

like they'll know what to do with it.  i bought a drink at mcdonalds yesterday, $1.08.  i didn't have any 1s, so i handed over a 5 and a dime.  cashier counted out three 1s, looked at the register, got another 1, squinted at the register again, put a 1 back, got 2 pennies, squinted at the register again, her hand hovered over the 1, then she asked another cashier about it, got the explanation, looked puzzled, but gave me my $4.02. 

[RDCanecutter 26246]

Was a time I was dropping 50 cent pieces on young cashiers. Time would slow down for a minute.

[F250 28674]

3 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

Was a time I was dropping 50 cent pieces on young cashiers. Time would slow down for a minute.

My kids freaked out the other day when I paid in change at the convenience store. It's like kids these days don't realize that coins are money too.

 

 

[RDCanecutter 26246]

1 minute ago, F250 said:

My kids freaked out the other day when I paid in change at the convenience store. It's like kids these days don't realize that coins are money too.

 

 

Next time, write a check in the drive through.

[F250 28674]

2 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

Next time, write a check in the drive through.

Come on bro, I'm old but not that old.

 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13406]

Was at CVS over lunch.  Credit card machines were down.  Several people had to walk out without their intended purchase because they didn't have cash.   Always good to carry up to $100 on you.  

[woohorn 1131]

Sorta on topic-

Offshore book 5dimes was accepting deposits in Amazon gift cards (purchased with cash-required receipt) for a whlie and I always wondered how they could convert those any easier than other gcs (approx 15% haircut).

I understand thst they are cutoff from ccs and US banking system, but didn't understand the Amazon deal.

[XR4ticlone 122]

On ‎4‎/‎4‎/‎2018 at 2:30 PM, RDCanecutter said:

I was curious why restaurants paying NYC rent would turn away any form of money. Visa is offering them 10K to quit taking cash.

They give all sorts of reasons besides that, but don't mention that it probably cuts out lots of stealing.

stealing, stealing, stealing, thieving little clerks. 

No...it doesn't stop stealing...it just moves it from the restaurant to the customers.

Instead they just take your CC information and use / sell it.  

[Guest Lobo]

Next time you’re at a mall in Texas, even a “higher end” one...without knocking off, watch how many people in line pay cash.  It’s way more than you’d think and the clientele doing it are much older than you’d first think.  There’s a shadow economy and then there’s the underbanked.  They are in actuality, exclusive for the most part.  

[MaybeACoordinator 8349]

Recently lost my debit card and then had my credit card potentially hacked at a gas station while I was waiting for the debit card replacement. So I was back to withdrawal slips at the drive-thru, 1978-style. There's never a line these days, y'all. Worth it for the fake human interaction in talking to the little squawkbox and watching that plastic tube go zoom. 

[CooterBrown 17901]

Recently lost my debit card and then had my credit card potentially hacked at a gas station while I was waiting for the debit card replacement. So I was back to withdrawal slips at the drive-thru, 1978-style. There's never a line these days, y'all. Worth it for the fake human interaction in talking to the little squawkbox and watching that plastic tube go zoom. 

Shit. I don’t even know if my bank has a drive through. I have only been inside so my kids can use the coin counter to deposit their piggy bank loot.

[MaybeACoordinator 8349]

25 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

 

Shit. I don’t even know if my bank has a drive through. I have only been inside so my kids can use the coin counter to deposit their piggy bank loot.

 

I was proud that I remembered the Way of the Ancients and was able to survive. 

[blackmarketbaby 118]

So have some cash?

[WBT 20410]

8 minutes ago, blackmarketbaby said:

So have some cash?

Nice user name/post agreement

[FondrenRoad 4378]

6 hours ago, XR4ticlone said:

No...it doesn't stop stealing...it just moves it from the restaurant to the customers.

Instead they just take your CC information and use / sell it.  

That's not the reason that NYC restaurants are cash only. The primary reason is tax evasion. The secondary reason is credit card fees. 

[XR4ticlone 122]

13 hours ago, FondrenRoad said:

That's not the reason that NYC restaurants are cash only. The primary reason is tax evasion. The secondary reason is credit card fees.  

I thought he said they STOPPED taking cash?  Did I misread that? 

My buddy went to Padre during spring break...said that lots of places were very cheap...but cash only.  VIP rooms, parking, bars...

NONE of the college kids had any cash.  So $5 VIP room was empty.  Parking $10 CASH was open.  

['stache 21744]

Newsflash:  We're already at the mercy of electronic systems.  If they were to collapse, the entire system is fucked.  Cash is only valuable because we've agreed to its value as a medium of exchange.  If the electronic systems crash, a few bills still in circulation won't have the same value as we ascribe to it currently.  A completely cashless society really isn't all that much riskier.  If the system fails, we all basically go back to zero.  It's pretty fucking scary.  I play by the rules knowing that it could all fall apart because there's literally nothing I can do to prevent it except maybe starting a doomsday bunker and I really don't want to do that.  If we end up in MadMax, so be it.  

[Guest]

20 hours ago, Lobo said:

Next time you’re at a mall in Texas, even a “higher end” one...without knocking off, watch how many people in line pay cash.  It’s way more than you’d think and the clientele doing it are much older than you’d first think.  There’s a shadow economy and then there’s the underbanked.  They are in actuality, exclusive for the most part.  

Wouldn't it be the expectation that younger folks would be more inclined to use electronic/ alternative forms of currency?

[Guest Lobo]

My point was that there is a held stereotype among white Texans that Mexico shoppers are younger and cash based and brand/fashion centric.  Or at least that's been the notion expressed by most white Texans I know.  

But good question.  I was implying that it's an older clientele that's just here to shop in cash for staples.  There is still the other element, but not in the droves many Texans would expect.  At least, that's what we're banking on.  

[Michael Knight 12878]

21 hours ago, Lobo said:

Next time you’re at a mall in Texas, even a “higher end” one...without knocking off, watch how many people in line pay cash.  It’s way more than you’d think and the clientele doing it are much older than you’d first think.  There’s a shadow economy and then there’s the underbanked.  They are in actuality, exclusive for the most part.  

only people who still go to malls pay cash

[Guest]

19 minutes ago, Lobo said:

My point was that there is a held stereotype among white Texans that Mexico shoppers are younger and cash based and brand/fashion centric.  Or at least that's been the notion expressed by most white Texans I know.  

But good question.  I was implying that it's an older clientele that's just here to shop in cash for staples.  There is still the other element, but not in the droves many Texans would expect.  At least, that's what we're banking on.  

Of all the stereotypes I hear towards "those people, " I have never heard cash tied to race  or age.   It HAS been tied to the individual's comfort with changing technologies.

 

That, and others have said, the primary driver is tax evasion in receiving payment for goods & services, as well as paying for them.

Edited July 22, 2018 by slorch

[MaybeACoordinator 8349]

Much rather be in line behind a cash-paying abuela than Meemaw not pulling out her checkbook until the total comes out on the register, then her scrawling her payment into her balance sheet, then her showing off her 1940s penmanship on her check, then checking it over to make sure there's no mistakes, then slowly tearing it out of her checkbook, then squabbling over something she should have seen before, and so on....If I see an old lady in one line, and two or three younger people in another, I will get in the longer line cause ol' Aunt Hattie is gonna take 15 minutes up there. 

[Guest Lobo]

5 hours ago, slorch said:

Of all the stereotypes I hear towards "those people, " I have never heard cash tied to race  or age.   It HAS been tied to the individual's comfort with changing technologies.

 

That, and others have said, the primary driver is tax evasion in receiving payment for goods & services, as well as paying for them.

Very true.  I’m just a Hispanic trying to offer services to the underbanked hispanic Populations of central Texas.  There are obviously nuances to it all. 

[FondrenRoad 4378]

14 hours ago, MaybeACoordinator said:

Much rather be in line behind a cash-paying abuela than Meemaw not pulling out her checkbook until the total comes out on the register, then her scrawling her payment into her balance sheet, then her showing off her 1940s penmanship on her check, then checking it over to make sure there's no mistakes, then slowly tearing it out of her checkbook, then squabbling over something she should have seen before, and so on....If I see an old lady in one line, and two or three younger people in another, I will get in the longer line cause ol' Aunt Hattie is gonna take 15 minutes up there. 

Wait, I'm sure the sign said that potatoes are 45 cents a pound. You charged me 46 cents a pound. Get your manager over here now so I can bitch about it for 10 minutes, then send him over to the vegetable aisle for another 10 minutes before he comes back and proves that they were 46 cents. Screw all these people in line behind me.

[CooterBrown 17901]

Just read a short interview with Illinois Rep Bill Foster and there was this blurb...You know the EU is going to forge ahead, and for this reason, we will too.

If the U.S. started issuing digital cash [meaning virtual currency that would pass between individuals with no transaction fee], immediately people would use that instead of credit cards. That would affect a huge source of revenue for banks large and small. Other countries are already moving in that direction. And if we just say, “No, we’re going to stick with our way of doing things”—and the European Union starts issuing digital euros, for example—you would find that the whole world will just walk away from the U.S. dollar. I don’t think that’s a recipe for making American finance great again.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-conversation-with-the-only-scientist-in-congress/

 

[bernorange 8348]

Just imagine how awesome this dynamic plays out in a cashless society!

Quote

A Florida candidate for agriculture commissioner says Wells Fargo terminated her campaign account because she supports medical marijuana.

Democrat Nikki Fried said Monday that the banking giant started asking questions about her platform after she joined the statewide race: Does she advocate more access to medical marijuana? Would she accept contributions from medical marijuana lobbyists?

Fried responded in July that she herself had lobbied for medical marijuana companies, and received contributions from lobbyists. Then, just weeks before the Aug. 28 primary, Wells Fargo said it was shutting down her account, based on a review of its banking risks.

...

More:  https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Wells-Fargo-Terminates-Campaign-Account-of-Florida-Candidate-Who-Supports-Pot-491269981.html

[bernorange 8348]

For posterity, I posted a news story in the SPLC thread showing a real world example of a problem with monopoly control over financial transactions:

http://www.surlyhorns.com/board/index.php?/topic/3863-splc-on-the-wane/&do=findComment&comment=444977

Now, here's a twist on the cashless society topic recently promoted by CBS News:

 

Quote

CBS News
Published on Aug 26, 2018
"According to the Federal Reserve, Americans still use cash more frequently than any other payment method, but could the rise of cryptocurrencies change that? Duke University finance professor Campbell Harvey argues that the United States should ditch paper currency for fully trackable national version of Bitcoin.

Who is professor Harvey (ie. why do his comments matter)?

Quote

Campbell R. Harvey is Professor of Finance at the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts {d21: Home of MIT, where much of the deep state tech is developed under DARPA grants}. He served as President of the American Finance Association in 2016.

Professor Harvey obtained his doctorate at the University of Chicago in business finance. He has served on the faculties of the Stockholm School of Economics, the Helsinki School of Economics, and the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. He has also been a visiting scholar at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Svenska Handelshögskolan in Helsinki. He is a Fellow of the American Finance Association.
...
Over the past four years, Professor Harvey has taught “Innovation and Cryptoventures” at Duke University. The course focuses on blockchain technology covering both the mechanics of blockchains as well as practical applications of both public and private implementations.

https://www.fuqua.duke.edu/faculty/campbell-harvey

In the video from CBS News, Professor Harvey dismisses critics of his idea as irrational dinosaurs essentially.  He completely dismisses very valid concerns over the tyranny of monopoly control over economic transactions.  smh.

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Sweden’s competition and financial watchdogs both opposed a proposal made by lawmakers to force the country’s largest banks to handle cash as they try to limit a rapid development into a cashless society.
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More:  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-22/swedish-atm-operator-says-cash-provision-is-state-responsibility?srnd=premium

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For the last couple of years, Sweden’s central bank, the Riksbank, has been mulling over the idea of issuing a digital currency, in order to adapt to the needs of the increasingly cashless society.

Last year, the Riksbank—the world’s oldest central bank—issued a report describing what the “e-krona” might look like, and on Friday it called for the design of the electronic currency to move forward, so it can be tested.
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More:  http://www.fortune.com/2018/10/26/sweden-riksbank-e-krona/

Looks like the central bank doesn't care about public sentiment (see article posted in OP).