Re:The Secret API of Banks
by matthewmacleod on Wednesday August 08, 2018 @06:59PM
(#17720362)
What do you mean by "personal cash services"?
A new-ish bank like Monzo mentioned above still allows you to withdraw cash like any other bank. You can't yet pay it into the account, but my understanding is that this will be provided pretty soon (based on their public roadmap https://trello.com/c/k2zy6WyU/98-cash-deposits-)
Cash is important, but I don't think it's going away any time soon.
I guess that's the target for anonymous cryptocurrencies like Monero and ZCash?
I'm skeptical of any tender that is rendered worthless by something as simple and common as an electrical outage.
Re:The Secret API of Banks
by VonGallifrey on Thursday August 09, 2018 @08:04AM
(#17723405)
And by "electrical outage" you mean more of a end of the world scenario? Because a normal electrical outage is not going to make your Monero worthless. It will have the exact same value before, during and after the outage. You need electricity to use Monero, but that can be also said about any credit or debit card.
I mean that I can promise to the merchant that I have monero I intend to pay them with but unless I can provide proof of this intention, by producing e.g. an IOU -- which will serve a purpose suspiciously similar to an official bank note -- they are worthless in the moments transaction.
Re:The Secret API of Banks
by VonGallifrey on Sunday August 12, 2018 @11:28AM
(#17744747)
What you are describing is also a limitation of Credit Cards and Apple Pay and Google Wallet. That does not make these things worthless either. Just wait a minute until power is restored.
Or pay in cash off course, but that only works if you remembered to go to an ATM first and that ATM had power.
Off course you could also write an IOU to the merchant about the amount of government IOUs that you will withdraw later.
I guess that means that your bank notes are worthless in the moments transaction if they are stored in a bank?
fine. bottle caps it is.
Could you elaborate on the risks of not using cash for you?
Re:The Secret API of Banks
by mandelbrotwurst on Thursday August 09, 2018 @03:24AM
(#17722222)
Transaction fees, tracking, reliance on third-party controlled network that could go down or decide to exclude you.
I always phrase this badly the first time around. I don't mind not using cash. I mind when I don't even have the option to use cash.
Re:The Secret API of Banks
by germainelol on Wednesday August 08, 2018 @10:12PM
(#17721242)
I guess ending up in a situation where you need cash to pay for something.
Re:The Secret API of Banks
by benbristow on Thursday August 09, 2018 @04:07AM
(#17722411)
That's what ATMs are for
What I failed to realise at the time was how exposed I became to the vulnerabilities associated with being cashless. Cash is not just an ancient relic. Cash is an ancient relic and a fundamental component of a free society.
My country has, in practise, become nearly cashless and I used to be proud to be one of the very early adopters of that mindset. Now I lament how hard it is to deal in cash.
I am planning to switch to the only bank left in my country still providing personal cash services. The only one. That should be scary, not relieving.