Do You Support A Cashless Society?

Trying2SaveABuck on 04/09/2024 - 07:16
Last edited 04/09/2024 - 23:41 by 2 other users

Gloria Jeans is starting to drop cash, I've noticed other shops have 'card only' signs.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/gloria-jeans-cafes-cashles…

As someone who pretty much exclusively pays card/PayPal/Bpay for stuff in 2024 I'm interested to hear on if OzBargain would support a 100% cashless society.

I'll try to be balanced. The three main argument against a cashless society are;

  1. Card surcharges the only way for businesses/consumers to 100% avoid this is via paying cash.
  2. Many 'businesses' (cough) tradies tend to do the side cash jobs giving a decent discount, anyone who has owned a house for longer then a few years would have experience with this.
  3. Some people mostly older generation just like paying in cash or do not trust the banks/government etc to use card.

The arguments for cashless are obvious it is quicker, more efficient, better for the environment, safer for businesses and consumers etc.

Do you support a cashless society?

My answer is 100% support but the government bank account guarantee needs to be set an unlimited level or much higher level (opposed to the 250k it is at now) as you essentially have no choice but to keep your money in the banks - for the record my bank account is sitting on $112 at time of posting but others might be richer then I.

Poll Options expired

  • 377
    Yes, I support a cashless society.
  • 920
    No, I do not support a cashless society.
Financial

Comments

  • R4 on 05/09/2024 - 10:22

    I fully cashless society would be, effectively, the end of democracy as we know it.

    • Thaos on 05/09/2024 - 12:49

      How so?

  • 2esc on 05/09/2024 - 10:23
    +1

    People argue cashless is good because it stops tax avoidance but how many people actually do cash jobs?

    The last time i did a cash job was maybe 15 or 17 years ago and that was just a couple hours wheel barrowing concrete for a mate that was short handed for a job he had on. In my working life ive 99.9999999% of the time its been taxed all legit. Lots of business cant even be bothered now doing cash jobs and want to do it all by the books.

    If we go cashless how will that affect just selling that household item you no longer need?

    Where is the real big dollar tax evasion actually occurring?

    If it was a person on low income struggling sure technically they are avoiding tax but are they the ones the tax man should be chasing?

    • eek on 05/09/2024 - 14:30

      It's changed a lot in the last 20years. I have a close family friend who runs a small convenience store for just over 20 years. It's small, no bigger than 30 square meters of actual shop space. Sell basic groceries, packaged goods, cigarettes etc in the middle of suburbia. I've never actually seen it busy, but somehow they put 3 of their kids through 12yrs of private schools ($100k/yr on tuition fees alone in high school). On top of that they currently own 4 properties ($6M+ net) and 3 more properties overseas about ($3M net). A lot of their groceries for home was purchased as store stock, etc etc. Expensive feeding 3 teenage boys! They have mentioned they used to run their accounting based on un-reported cash income and getting much harder to do these days.

    • ProlapsedHeinous on 10/09/2024 - 04:51

      Its all smoke and mirrors to herd the last lot of cash users into the trapezoid so they have the ultimate levers to pull and full financial surveillance of everything you do, as if they don't already have more than enough.

  • shoomacca on 05/09/2024 - 10:32

    If we support cashless, big corp will demote staff such as managers whose responsibility is to complete till at the end of the day. They will also always forward further fees that they are responsible to pay.

  • LFO on 05/09/2024 - 10:40
    +3

    The three main argument against a cashless society are;

    My main arguments against a cashless society are:

    1. Fees could change anytime and without any reason. Higher fees and charges that is. Older/studious forum members might remember that the old and original credit card Bankcard was fee free.

    2. Paying cash might accelerate small transactions (amounts). It is practical and cheaper. Nobody will pay thousand of dollars, for "trade work", on cash with no invoice nor warranty (other than verbal). Is a fallacy to think otherwise.

    3. Electronic payments do fail or are unavailable. That is a fact and happen at least twice in the last 6 months. Also remember last(?) year bush fires when paying cash for fuel was the only alternative.

    4. Lack of constitutional guarantee you'll always have unrestricted and unlimited access to your own funds.

    We are very far away from a trustworthy and reliable cashless society. Not just yet.

  • ddilrat on 05/09/2024 - 11:13
    +2

    I don't get why so many people bitch and moan about credit card fees. If they just included it in their prices you'd be none the wiser. So who cares if it's visible?

    Everything has a cost, even handling cash.

    • neoleo on 06/09/2024 - 09:38

      Someone mentioned below from previous page:

      Name: In Europe/UK and some states in the USA, passing on cc fees/surcharges is banned.

      So, banning card surcharge is possible.

      • ddilrat on 06/09/2024 - 10:40

        Not really, they'll just increase their prices to cover their operating costs.

        • UNO on 10/09/2024 - 18:10

          I'd rather just know the total amount I am paying is the price that was on the tag. Not knowing how much the surcharge is going to be until after you've tapped is annoying for me.

          Next there will be a surcharge for paying cash, as that also has a cost.

          • ddilrat on 10/09/2024 - 21:33

            @UNO: I agree I prefer it's just one tag price and that's it. I'm just saying either way, you're still paying for it

  • I like freestuff on 05/09/2024 - 11:37
    +1

    Need age bracket answers on the poll as well…

  • affable on 05/09/2024 - 11:43
    +1

    Hamilton Island has been cashless for a while now, plenty of people there when I was a couple of weeks ago for HIRW. Strangely not many of them looked like tradies?

    https://www.hamiltonisland.com.au/destination/frequently-ask…

  • trapper on 05/09/2024 - 12:19
    +2

    Banks are private businesses and have the right to refuse service, including denying someone an account.

    We've already seen examples where banks have denied services for political reasons.

    • ProlapsedHeinous on 10/09/2024 - 04:53

      Absolutely, the potential for abuse is massive. especially if the banks share the same lists the insurance companies have on people to deny coverage to.

  • Zondor on 05/09/2024 - 12:44
    +1

    I do not carry cash, however, cash needs to exist to keep card fees in line. If we went cashless card fees would instantly surge to 4%+

    • Trying2SaveABuck on 05/09/2024 - 12:45

      or you could easily have a 'law' all CC fees are built into the price getting rid of any surcharges

  • eek on 05/09/2024 - 13:21
    +1

    People who deal in cash (tradies, public facing businesses, drug dealers etc) would obviously want cash to stick around for whatever their reasons are - to avoid paying taxes and under report income, keep transactions off the record etc etc.

    Main downside as others have mentioned is when the internet, device and or service glitches out and nobody can pay or accept payments.

  • cfuse on 05/09/2024 - 13:51
    +11

    I'll agree to cashless on conditions that the government can't and won't provide:

    1. Banking doesn't exist as an arm of the law or politics. They don't get to screw with people's money without recourse when there's no alternative to dealing with them.

      If electronic banking becomes the standard then that standard must be available to all. Even people we might not like, doing things we don't approve of. Who you do business with or what you buy is none of the government's or financial institution's business. We have the police and courts to deal with verboten transactions.

    2. Banking is to be a compelled service. You cannot be 'debanked' entirely. All banks are to be compelled to provide a minimum banking service (sans credit) to anyone that wants it.

    3. Domestic and international money transfer services are to be a compelled service. Interbank services and the credit card networks are to be forbidden from declining any legal transaction.

    4. P2P transactions must be facilitated and honoured. If I want to hand some rando 'money' on the street then that's my business. The anonymity of that has to be preserved to the same extent it would be with physical cash.

      Money mixers are to be legal.

    5. Under no circumstances is money to be made 'programmable'. The government nor any other third party should never be allowed to expire money or forbid certain legal transactions.

      There must be one law for all. Money's value must be uniform to everyone.

    Or we can just skip all that and keep the cash around, because that's going to be way easier than figuring out how to stop all the usual suspects from going full on Chinese social credit like they're gagging to.

    • neoleo on 09/09/2024 - 15:54

      No. 4 is impossible because of KYC and anti money laundering regulations …

      Monero and other privacy friendly cryptocurrency …

      No. 2 … Look at sex workers … They cannot open bank accounts (in the news).

      • cfuse on 10/09/2024 - 17:08

        Fishing trips annoy me. No, you don't get to intrude on my business just because some other people are doing wrong. Maybe get the lazy cops to do their damn jobs instead of going through everyone's transaction history? Get a warrant or get lost.

        As it stands the government has the most paper thin excuse to allow debanking today exactly because it does issue physical currency that can be used without reference to the banking industry. The second they stop doing that then that flimsy excuse is gone. A government doesn't get to shut individuals out of being able to live equally in their own country for no crime on their part. That is wholly unreasonable.

  • Herbse on 05/09/2024 - 14:12
    -4

    Only boomers and crooks want to keep cash around

    • mapax on 05/09/2024 - 14:28
      +8

      Only perma-children and the ignorant want to go 100% cashless

    • R4 on 05/09/2024 - 14:52
      +3

      But what's wrong with cash?

      Cash is everywhere, we all have some and it works, it also has a certain level of anonymity - which is a good thing IMO. The government and financial institutions don't need to know about every single monetary transaction that you make.

    • ProlapsedHeinous on 10/09/2024 - 04:56

      I see you have been influenced by the propaganda….

  • BradH13 on 05/09/2024 - 15:36
    +1

    I don't care personally. There's pros and cons with everything, including cash only, card only, or both accepted.

    I personally use card/phone 100% of the time. If someone pays me back in cash, it goes straight to AusPost to deal with, or smaller amounts, I funnel the whole lot into the machine at Coles for groceries and pay the remainder with my card.

    What I can tell you, I work and reconcile funds at a petrol station/convenience store and daily, we're lucky to hit 5% of total sales in cash a day. Mostly around 2.5/3%. There have started to be days where we end the day with considerably less cash in the till than we started with (cash-outs). This had never been a thing we ever experienced, until a few months ago. It's getting hard just to make a reasonable float for the next morning.

    If our business is anything to go by, cash is already on life-support.

    Another thing to note, is just how many oldies are onto NFC payments with their phones these days, and don't struggle doing so. I think the point about elderly people being left behind is shaky. They can learn. I've seen it so much, I'd actually say that has become commonplace.

    Also, with how many places that can't/won't even accept cash when the internet/power goes down, I don't think it matters at this point if we go full digital.

  • serbpie on 05/09/2024 - 16:07
    +2

    There are costs to businesses for using cash, the likes of Armaguard and formerly prosegur charge for the secure money handling services, at least where a business has enough turnover to require this. But no business passes the cost at the till, many will offer a discount if you pay in cash, but Visa/MasterCard/Amex they will happily pass charges onto the customer.

  • skillet on 05/09/2024 - 16:49

    If cashless society could stop all the traffic light windscreen cleaning entrepreneurs. I fully support cashless society for the love of my car.

    • eek on 05/09/2024 - 17:10
      +2

      They can just turn the NFC function on the back of their phone into an eftpos terminal for the privilege of scratching up your windscreen, leaving dirty water marks and a weird greasy finish on the glass.

    • Ghost47 on 05/09/2024 - 21:25
      +2

      It's been a while since I've run into a windscreen cleaner person at the traffic lights, but in the past I normally either just ignore them or shake my head and they won't touch my car.

  • wyw113 on 05/09/2024 - 17:42
    +2

    There is no point arguing about if you prefer cashless society or not as whether we like it or not the society is moving into that direction. The number 1 priority is for the government to limit/rid of the CC surcharge which I believe is the main reason people against cashless society. At a yum cha place near my house ( Footscray ) the owners are trying all they could by limiting the payment of card by customers either due to avoiding paying card surcharge or tax avoidance purpose or both. The result? Sales drop significantly simply because no one really carry cash anymore. You simply can’t beat the benefits of paying card by living in the past. Try waiting behind the line of elderly customers trying to find the correct coins/notes for the purchase, its painfully time wasting ( not their fault of course ).

  • FareEvader on 05/09/2024 - 18:30

    Never.

  • Hippy on 05/09/2024 - 22:29
    +2

    cash is king; best option for gumtree and buying pint at the local; I'd rather not show a whole bunch of $7.99 charges with increasing urgency the close it gets to end of the cheap beers.

    semi-seriously; if you ever want to buy 'sex, drugs, rock and roll' it would be nice to have a cash on delivery option and not have to expose bank account details.

  • yamahamoto on 05/09/2024 - 23:54

    Most of the time I have cash with me and I sometime give money to beggar sitting in front of shopping centre. The other day I went to super market and forgot to bring my wallet and I was going to pay by phone anyway. Then I saw a homeless sitting there and didn’t have cash to give. So that really made me think about going cashless.

  • connorlo on 06/09/2024 - 09:14

    I try to pay cash at the little places (coffee shops, restaurants etc) though several times I've had to swap to card as they didn't have change (mainly restaurants). Bit of a bummer.

  • DavidH68 on 06/09/2024 - 09:23

    Pfft , I haven't used or carried cash in about 5 years now so I am already cashless , it has never been a problem , I have even been to a car rally event in the middle of the bush and there was a food van there that took card.

    • neoleo on 09/09/2024 - 15:47
      +1

      Wait until you see signs of Cash Only in supermarket, other stores, etc. when there is payment network problem, electricity problem, etc.

      Imagine you are about to pay grocery but there is payment network problem that only cash can solve your problem … Whether you abandon the grocery or find cash … This has happened previously in Australia in the news…

  • shortgum on 06/09/2024 - 10:47
    +2

    Full support for more use of card service in society.

    but definitely no support of complete cashless. baby boomers will struggle and more so we already seen surcharges happy all round merchants everywhere. I pay cash whenever see card surcharge by merchants

  • Widget on 06/09/2024 - 11:01
    +5

    Banks will have absolute power over your finances in a cashless society. Negative interest (pay to keep money in banks), increased fees, banks blocking money transfers etc… Be careful what you wish for.

    • skidexa on 07/09/2024 - 20:22
      +1

      But most people who use cash still keep money in the banks. No way i would be keeping a large chunk of my money in cash at home…

      • neoleo on 09/09/2024 - 15:42

        You mean cash under your bed?
        Gold etc. at home, hidden in rooftop/under the floor etc.

        My parents used to hide small gold bars hidden on rooftop …

        Drug lords keep huge amount of cash at home etc.

  • dealsucker on 06/09/2024 - 15:22
    +2

    I dont want to but I want to because of scummy business who operate in cash to avoid taxes if they can. Leeches.

  • CommuterPolluter on 06/09/2024 - 15:36
    +2

    Gloria Jeans has the worst burnt-tasting coffee in Australia. I wish them a very merry bankruptcy.

  • BuddhaBoy on 06/09/2024 - 20:40

    Yes. I support cashless society as I prefer taping the card or using the digital pay (Apple pay) but I hate paying the additional cents on every transactions. It adds up. I would prefer Australia adopts a tech similar to India and China where you can pay for anything, anywhere scanning a QR code for instant payments (send and receive) without paying additional fees.

  • trapper on 06/09/2024 - 22:46
    +3

    There is also a privacy element. People should be able to go about their lives without their every transaction being recorded in a database.

    • neoleo on 09/09/2024 - 15:37

      Impossible because of KYC and anti money laundering regulations …

      Monero and other privacy friendly cryptocurrency …

      • trapper on 09/09/2024 - 17:41

        All crypto transactions are recorded also though, on the blockchain.

        Cash is anonymous.

        • neoleo on 09/09/2024 - 18:02

          Monero and P2P = anonymous?
          Use only Monero from start to finish, but yeah not easy to get people to accept Monero. Also fee …

          Cash is still King.

        • ProlapsedHeinous on 10/09/2024 - 05:01

          Monero is a different beast to the other cryptos, good luck analysing those transactions. Theres a reason you can't buy it on the kyc exchanges. Have to buy something else and use swapping services to get it…

  • zaprct on 07/09/2024 - 01:28
    +2

    I hazard a guess the people supporting cashless are the same who are early adopters for Digital ID.

    Personally I do everything online, so I know my spending is fully recorded, but should I wish to use cash I don't like the idea of a new dystopian Australia where we will likely not be able to function without Digital ID logging our movements, buildings we enter and exit etc on top of all spending being tracked.

    Perhaps consider the possibility that our ever expanding government is moving us into an authoritarian/totalitarian dystopia. Social credit scores like the Black Mirror episode/China is only one step removed from Digital ID.

    I used to be ignorant to jump on board anything technologically progressive, but when it comes to the government, their reach into your personal life is already beyond what most would think is acceptable if they even knew what laws were waved through (bipartisan) in 2021.

  • Cluster on 07/09/2024 - 10:40
    +4

    My bank sent me an SMS last night saying my debit card was being "restrained" and to call them. After 20 minutes on the phone I discovered my card's details were leaked somewhere online, but no transactions made, so well done to the bank being proactive.

    But my card had to be canceled and I get a new one in five to ten days. I have multiple cards and this won't affect me, but it goes to show it's always a good idea to have a backup. And one of the ways of achieving that is having cash.

    • umoddbro on 08/09/2024 - 12:54
      +1

      That's not even an issue anymore since banks let you use your digital card before the physical one arrives…

      • ProlapsedHeinous on 10/09/2024 - 05:03

        Had that happen to me recently. I thought that was a cool way to solve that issue.

  • kogi on 07/09/2024 - 10:43
    +1

    Our bank is making it more expensive to cash or cheque

    $10 monthly fee entitles you to 25 staff-assisted transactions a month.
    Additional transactions will cost:
    Cheques - deposited or collected (additional deposit fee may apply) $3.00 per cheque
    Withdrawal or deposit at branch $3.00

  • apple2016 on 07/09/2024 - 13:29

    Not utill alternative payment is free

  • samfisher5986 on 07/09/2024 - 14:16
    +2

    Using cash to avoid tax is so common that I think moving to a cashless society would be beneficial.

    • Hugh G Rection on 07/09/2024 - 21:50
      +1

      yea, that is why chinatown always want cash only. they are crazy busy and making tons of money, but on the books they are "struggling" and get paid free money from centrelink.

      • monky on 09/09/2024 - 18:28

        lol I like the way you put words in quotes like SKY news does, hehe x)

  • Dack Smith on 07/09/2024 - 14:46
    +2

    I support cashless, it’s much easier to scam people

  • nil01 on 07/09/2024 - 14:59

    Puts on tinfoil hat

    It may seem convenient to go cashless but be careful what you wish for. You’re handing over all control to the government / banks. Surveillance of every transaction, bank account can be frozen easily. You don’t want to take the vaccine for the next pandemic? Sorry, you’re a threat to national health and we’re now going to freeze your accounts until you get in line. It’s a slippery slope.

    • R4 on 07/09/2024 - 23:08
      -1

      Exactly. A cashless society would be the end of democracy as we know it.

    • interlocal on 09/09/2024 - 09:09
      +1

      steals tinfoil hat

      Government can use their emergency powers in non-cashless society in the same way. You don’t want to take the vaccine for the next pandemic? Sorry, you’re a threat to national health andwe revoke your QR code which you need to go outside. Good luck doing cash transactions without leaving the house.

    • smartazz104 on 09/09/2024 - 14:26

      They could do most of that right now…

      • xslasherzz on 09/09/2024 - 15:26
        +2

        Because they already can, we should agree to make it even easier and expand their power?

  • whatgift on 08/09/2024 - 14:06
    +1

    Absolutely - cashless is going to happen, the only question is when.

    What we need is for the infrastructure to support redundancy so that one part of the chain doesn’t bring the whole payment system down. Also it’s time to get rid of card surcharges - if 90%+ of your customers are paying by card, that should be built into your pricing, just like the processing and handing of cash is.

    For those saying it means conceding control to the government or banks, that’s kinda ridiculous (mainly because it’s already happened).

    • neoleo on 08/09/2024 - 22:37

      Cashless is not the same with banning cash 100% (no cash/fully digital). No man made is perfect. Nobody can guarantee electricity, internet, payment network, computer system will never go down … Remember events like CrowdStrike, natural disaster, etc.

      • whatgift on 09/09/2024 - 14:49

        Yeah but in a cashless society bank branches and ATMs will not be available in reasonable numbers for people to obtain cash. There needs to be some other option rather than having cash as the fallback.

        • neoleo on 09/09/2024 - 15:20

          • cryptocurrency but don't know if there is any without fee …

          • Gold, etc.

          • Disposable gift card without fee if possible … Imagine when no electricity, payment network not available but you have a single use gift card that is accepted …

  • Davo1111 on 09/09/2024 - 07:53

    I respect a companies right to choose.

  • whitepuma on 09/09/2024 - 10:28
    +2

    I would only support cashless with a couple of criteria
    1. Nobody can charge additional fees for card payments….Banks can't charge merchants, and merchants can't charge customers
    2. There needs to be a way to store or transact your money without the involvement of a bank. Perhaps gov needs to step in to have some sort of "bank like account", with no fees and no interest that you can get a debit card for….You shouldn't be forced to be tied to a bank.
    3. collection of data of your transactions should be opt-in only.
    4. Have a robust offline solution….If servers go offline, or internet is out, there needs to be a way to still transact.

    I know all of the above is incredibly unlikely, but that's the only way i would support completely cashless. As it currently stands probably 75%+ of my purchases are cashless, but every now and then you reach a situation where cash is just easier.

    • neoleo on 09/09/2024 - 15:10

      No. 3 is impossible because of KYC and anti money laundering regulations …

      • whitepuma on 09/09/2024 - 15:11
        +1

        well, i guess we know where i stand then for going completely cashless…

    • monky on 09/09/2024 - 18:26

      Comrade I like the way you think, but it's unlikely: Many of those changes set an… 'unhealthy' precedent against the ideologies of both major parties of our humble capitalist democracy.

      Your finances will be monitored and scrutinized with or without your vaguely-stipulated consent, pretty much in the exact same way they are now.

  • Flying owl on 09/09/2024 - 11:43

    Definitely Pro Cashless,
    I rarely carry cash these days.

    But I don't mind doing cash for the asian foods.
    I won't say no to 5% off the listed price.

    • neoleo on 09/09/2024 - 15:08

      How about 10% discount by cash in a Thai restaurant in Sydney City ;-)

      • Flying owl on 09/09/2024 - 17:46

        Yea man, absolutely :)

        We are Ozbargainers after all

  • knk on 09/09/2024 - 12:44
    +2

    Doesn't have to be cash but it's reasonable to have a means of moving money around that doesn't involve a third party, ie a bank.

    • techno2000 on 09/09/2024 - 13:52
      -1

      yes,remove Mastercard/Visa/Amex and Banks out of the equation.China and India have their own digital payment network which is government provided and has minimum fees.

      • knk on 09/09/2024 - 14:47

        I meant more a right to privacy.

        • neoleo on 09/09/2024 - 15:07

          You mean Monero cryptocurrency or others …

          • knk on 09/09/2024 - 17:23

            @neoleo: Those are not practical though

  • Ruckmauler on 09/09/2024 - 13:24
    +2

    I may have missed it - but something not mentioned is that cash prevents negative interest rates on balances for retail customers. It was only a very short time ago when this was considered. Why interest rates are zero rate bound is because of cash - i.e. if you're going to start deducting interest on my bank balance I will just withdraw into cash.

    • neoleo on 09/09/2024 - 15:06
      +1

      Look at Japan … That's why they use a lot of cash.

  • hamsammich on 09/09/2024 - 13:27

    I can't wait until every cafe requires me to pay by card, forces me to order via a terminal instead of a person and applies a 10% tip "option" by default.

    • neoleo on 09/09/2024 - 15:05

      You mean 10% discount by cash :P

    • monky on 09/09/2024 - 18:11

      You'd probably start brewing your own at home long before that… You should be doing it already even…

  • Stevo on 09/09/2024 - 16:22

    I support not giving Gloria Jeans cash in general

  • kungfuman on 09/09/2024 - 16:56
    -2

    To be honest I haven’t carried cash in 7 years cash is inconvenient we need to move forward

  • PerthMan96 on 09/09/2024 - 17:55
    -2

    if cashless society = safer streets I'm all for it. half of those online against it look like pot heads so i think what they think is irrelevant

    • monky on 09/09/2024 - 18:08

      Well if you smoke enough pot, eventually you come full circle on cashless society (money is the root of all evil that enables unimaginable pain and suffering upon humanity daily)

      So maybe you should listen to them? … Or not?… Or do we smoke weed? … I don't know sorry, what was the question again?

      • hamsammich on 09/09/2024 - 18:33

        Nah, my weed dealer charges me a 0.15% surcharge. Too expensive to get high.

  • AngusD on 10/09/2024 - 08:51

    I tend to use a mix of cash and card. Cash mostly for small purchases (lunches, coffees, etc). I get a bit out each week and that's my budget for those little discrectionary things - much easier to keep an eye on those little bits and pieces going out when I'm actually watching them go out rather than just tapping my card.

    On top of that, I always have a couple hundred dollars of emergency cash tucked away in my wallet. If the electronic payment system goes down for whatever reason, having cash on you is the only way to get anything done. I don't want to get stuck with no petrol or unable to buy food etc just because of some kind of IT glitch.

    There's also the issue of just basic freedom to do what you want with your own money. I read a news article a while back (I think it was ABC) that was talking about how a bunch of sex workers in Sydney had been basically kicked out by all the banks and refused service. Now, leaving aside how you personally may feel about the morality or otherwise of that business, the fact is that it is not illegal (in that state at least) but the banks were just arbitrarily deciding to refuse to provide them credit card facilities and then closed their accounts and refused to provide them any banking services. If they will do that to one legal business, what's to stop them doing it with any other? With cash, the banks don't get to be the arbiters of what I do with my own money.

    • mapax on 10/09/2024 - 10:24

      what's to stop them doing it with any other?

      They also did it with firearm shops for a while, of course the smug pearl clutching types were celebrating that one.

  • hokonfan on 10/09/2024 - 10:38

    While cashless systems sound appealing, they can lead to chaos during catastrophic events or power outages.
    Without cash, those who control the system can charge whatever they want, creating a monopolistic scenario.

    Cashless supporters want a single system with no alternatives, while cash supporters support both options. Which one sounds more selfish or gaslighted by the government?

    Supporters of cashless transactions often cite convenience and the desire for everyone to pay their fair share of taxes.
    However, they may overlook the fact that the amount of tax we pay is exorbitant and often unjust.
    Many stands behind this movement, not realizing that the government treats them as disposable voters.

  • SuperGreen on 10/09/2024 - 13:07
    +1

    Just tried to go to my local Woolies and their card payments were down, so couldn’t do my shopping. Stopped carrying cash, but this is the second time in a couple months this happened so looks like I’ll start carrying cash again.
    Ridiculous that anyone would support removing cash altogether.

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