News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Why Germans pay cash for almost everything by 317070 on Tuesday August 08, 2017 @12:01PM (#14959216)
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E.g. about China: "According to schedule, by late 2015, the serial number of every Rmb100 note withdrawn from banks by members of the public can be traced."

Re:Why Germans pay cash for almost everything by jhasse on Tuesday August 08, 2017 @02:44PM (#14961127)
> 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?).