Not German, but I simply don't want to leave my trail of what I am spending and where.

I also think/thought like that.

But if banks wanted, they could actually track the serial codes on the bills around. And since often cash is used in only 1 hop (so ATM -> you -> shop -> bank) they could know pretty well where you spent your money.

A quick reference: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9948081

E.g. about China: "According to schedule, by late 2015, the serial number of every Rmb100 note withdrawn from banks by members of the public can be traced."

> But if banks wanted, they could actually track the serial codes on the bills around. And since often cash is used in only 1 hop (so ATM -> you -> shop -> bank) they could know pretty well where you spent your money.

That doesn't include how much you spend exactly. And it only works most of the time (what if my money gets used as change for another customer?).

Was waiting for this comment. I often ask myself, "Do I want any entity to have a copy of the exact dates and amounts of my entire daily consumer activity?". Whether anonymized or not there is a tremendous amount of knowledge that can be gleaned from non-itemized debit card ledgers.

Same here.

Also, been a couple of times in the situation where either the shop's card terminal was malfunctioning, or the bank had some issues, and the card payment was impossible. Without cash you'd be helpless in such a situation, whereas cash = power & independence.

And what of purchases made on websites?

As very few Germans even have credit cards, most Germans pay online (if they don’t use PayPal) via SEPA wire transfer or SEPA ELV. And even PayPal and Amazon support using SEPA ELV to pay for stuff.

Opt for money order, cheques?

In 4 party schemes, most of the transaction fees don't actually go to Visa/MC.

Handling cash is not free either, it also comes with transaction costs.

But it's money spent on my government and not some American companies. Huge difference IMO

No, the companies pay the cost of handling cash as well.

There's the labor costs of handling cash - counting it, moving it, organizing it, accounting for it, making sure there's enough change to run a shift; the cost of storing and transporting it - safes, cash draws, key management, money transport/money transport companies; and the cost of loss due to theft, mistakes, and mismanagement.

I'm not saying that the cost of cash is more than the cost of card, I'm simply saying its not anywhere near free.

https://qz.com/123642/physical-money-costs-americans-more-th...

>But new research from Tufts University aims to highlight the pain points of cash, where digital currency can break in. The use of physical bills costs US consumers, businesses and the government at least $200 billion each year—about $1,739 per household. Here are the main reasons why:

>Small businesses don’t lose much money by operating cash-only. But larger businesses spend a significant amount of money dealing with cash—collecting it, sorting it and getting it to the bank without it being stolen. US businesses lose $40 billion a year to cash theft and loss, about 1% of total revenues.

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2017/02/02/cashless-coffee-sho...

(There's also a potential to increase sales by accepting card.)

Nope.

Yep.

https://qz.com/123642/physical-money-costs-americans-more-th...

>larger businesses spend a significant amount of money dealing with cash—collecting it, sorting it and getting it to the bank without it being stolen. US businesses lose $40 billion a year to cash theft and loss, about 1% of total revenues.