Re:Sweden's cashless society is no longer a utopia
by yxhuvud on Saturday November 10, 2018 @05:00PM
(#18423754)
In practice, similar fees are attached to businesses that move their cash to their bank account. Many companies (including public ones - many buses don't accept cash anymore) actively stop accepting cash because it increases the risk of getting robbed, and that is an increasing pressure as fewer and fewer handle cash.
Even if you believe that, allowing private for-profit businesses (banks, credit card companies) to skim a percentage off of every single monetary transaction to line the pockets of their shareholders is utterly grotesque. It amounts to a mandatory tax, except none of the tax is going to the benefit of the taxed.
At a minimum, a reasonable cashless society would require monetary transactions to be done at zero profit and with strong regulation requiring financial institutions to minimize the cost to the seller and buyer.