Re:Libra, 2 Weeks In
by unwrap on Tuesday July 09, 2019 @02:35AM
(#20389467)
I am confused. I live in a country with "banking services", but almost nobody here uses them. We get paid on debit cards, and then we immediately withdraw the sum in cash. We pay for everything in cash, why would we ever switch to something different? I can only see the negative consequences: the usual privacy implications (some guy can see what I spend my money on); the danger of not being able to spend money at all if they decide so (like the famous Visa/MasterCard WikiLeaks fiasco); fees (2-3% on every purchase? No, thank you.)
[ Parent
| on HN ]
"Banking services" does not mean just bank accounts, it means any services that depend on money being elsewhere, not in your hands.
That debit card you use, it's backed by a bank. Most credit cards are backed by banks.
Economic censorship is certainly a valid concern, I think that's the kind of stuff we should be talking about with Libra. Fees on Libra would be way way cheaper than fees on credit cards, I don't think that's a huge concern. (most of the fees on credit cards come from the underlying banks, not the payment networks themselves)
So you can participate in the digital economy, like using (the local equivalent of) Amazon or Spotify.
Both of those don’t seem super essential if you don’t even have a bank account. maybe get a bank account first and then think about a subscription music service, also both amazon and Spotify sell prepaid gift cards for this purpose, which you can buy in any super market here.