It should be illegal for any business to refuse cash payment, full stop.
I've heard some cities have already passed laws in this vein, it should be made universal. Homeless people or otherwise marginalized groups are often limited to cash only transactions, that shouldn't mean they can't participate in commerce. Hell even just victims of identity theft can find themselves unable to get a bank account or credit card, cash should always be an option.
No. We should just have legislation ensuring that anyone can go to any post office or bank and exchange cash for a prepaid card. The same way you've been able to exchange cash for a money order at the post office for... well, as long as I've been alive, that's for sure.
Managing physical cash and registers is a huge headache that costs businesses a lot of money (not to mention risk of violent crime), and just doesn't make any sense when less than 5% of your customers want to use it. Not to mention cash is unhygienic, takes energy and carbon to make, transport, and process, and constantly needs to be replenished.
Let's not impede the future. Instead, let's help it along but make sure it works for everyone.
cash is concrete. People can count how much they have. They know how much they spend. They can give it to someone in the middle of nowhere away from computers. If we had cards, all kinds of tracking and tracing would be added. Civil forfeiture could happen while the cash card was in your pocket.
There is just so much society would lose for the business convenience you're asking for.
"“Cash is contraband, but people have got cash,” the former prisoner explained, “but it is not cash like cash in hand. It is untraceable. It is all based on numbers. People pay each other with dots.”"
Economies and mediums of exchange will find a way where they are needed.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/30/prison-econo...
places that do a lot of cash business will naturally continue to accept cash as long as it exists. several business I patronize only accept cash. it's not some colossal injustice if the fancy coffee shop is plastic-only.
But to be clear, I never once suggested abolishing cash. And I'm not suggesting that now. I'm saying that cash continues to exist, we allow businesses that want to go card-only to do so, but make sure that everyone can easily get a card.
Have you noticed that the amount of middlemen is steadily increasing in every area of life?
Once cash is abolished, our oligarchy can finally implement negative interest rates for everyone.
If one did not already know online payments originated and was perfected from adult content consumption just as many technologies were but history shuns the stigma - the stories I have. Worth the watch > en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Men_(film)
Maybe we just go back to trading farm animals? j/k
All I said is to have a right to be able to exchange cash for prepaid cards, for places that only accept cards. And to be clear, that should be a right that doesn't require any third-party "blessing".
Obviously, if you can exchange cash for a card, then cash still exists as legal tender.
Obviously, if businesses refuse to accept cash to save themselves some hassle, they'll also refuse to pay salaries in cash, to save themselves further hassle.
The incentives are there, and it's clear to me that if you simulate it forward a couple cycles, cash will be all but gone - with the remaining few businesses and people using physical money automatically considered suspicious.
What businesses pay salaries in cash?
My entire life, I've gotten nearly all my cash from the bank, except for tips when I worked in the service industry.
Again, this isn't about abolishing cash. It's just about enabling businesses to go card-only if they so choose.
This thing you're proposing is an end to transaction privacy.
It should be illegal to not accept into your possession a physical object that people will use violence to get from you? Do you know the fear a shift manager has when having to manage an onsite safe? You've seen the armored trucks rolling around transporting the stuff right?
Businesses don't want to accept cash because its a liability and the burden of a card's surcharge just isn't enough of a pain anymore.
I can easily imagine there are some businesses in some areas where the clientele almost always uses electronic forms of payment, where it doesn’t make business sense to deal with the minority using cash.
In this way they can avoid people paying in cash by never taking orders that might use cash.
You can also just get a second credit card and give it to your kid and have your kid make purchases in your name since the ice cream shop isn’t likely to care.
You could also load a card onto her phone and have her pay with that.
Every 11 year old in my neighborhood in the US solved this problem, so I wish you the best of luck with your struggle.
My bank doesn't issue cards to anyone under the age of 18, but in terms of customer service my bank is 1000% better than any of the ilk of Wells Fargo/BofA/etc., so I'm not going to change my bank just because the ice cream shop requires a bank card.
Rather, she can use a FamZoo or Greenlight card if we feel like paying a monthly fee for the privilege of being able to buy ice cream from that one shop. But I'm starting to think it's not worth it, since there's a Trader Joe's around the corner that sells a better product and accepts cash.
Sorry your bank is so feature poor but glad you like it. USAA is an awesome bank so would love to learn more about a bank that’s 10x better. Also, my local credit unions offer this common feature.
But it seems like you’re blaming your the ice cream store for your own and your bank’s shortcomings.
I know this comment doesn't address your absolutely legit larger concerns, but for anyone else in this situation: I'm having a good experience using Greenlight (https://www.greenlightcard.com/) as a solution for my pre-teen kids.
https://wsvn.com/news/us-world/coinstar-helps-out-georgia-ma...
The store would need to require that you pay before the scooping began to avoid this, IMO.
Yes. And?
If enough people do this, perhaps they'll change their policy.
If you order the ice cream but don't take possession of it until you pay, the store is free to reject your cash payment and not give you the ice cream. End result: no ice cream. If this occurs frequently enough, the waste from the store having to prepare and throw out ice cream might prompt them to change their policy, but that's not an immediate solution.
Europe is also pretty good about cash, at least the parts that aren't the uk and fennoscandia.
I was almost about to empathize but this is hilariously poor problem solving skills
Sorry your experience leads you to this path
The common denominator is your crappy bank
For the record, I know how to get her plastic. There's literally one store right now where this is an issue for her, and I'm not going to jump through any hoops at all (like continuing to pay the monthly fee for a FamZoo card or switch banks) just to accommodate that store.
And said "crappy bank" is a well-known investment bank. Supporting minor accounts isn't profitable for them.
Opening a retail bank account isn’t much of a hoop to me
Even in Europe there is progress over the USA. Chip and Pin is all some people have known, the idea that you should have a signature or a cheque is just unimaginable, only old people could remember that.
Cash is not without its costs. Bitcoin isn't the answer. The credit cards take a slice of everything, what we really need is a government that can make a payment system work for everyone, the customer and the retailer, with nobody taking their slice or selling your data. It just needs will.
I tried getting her a card, but none of the local banks would do it, and even the prepaid cards that you buy at supermarkets will not allow you to activate in your name unless you are a certain age. I finally found a card with FamZoo that worked for her, but it was way more difficult than it should have been finding a way for her to legally buy ice cream from that store.
I am paying closer attention when I go to a brick and mortar store these days, and I am seeing more and more signs advising customers that their cash is no good there.
This is a scourge that is starting to get out of control. My HOA advised me that I would only be able to pay them using a money transfer app. When I tried using it, it rejected my bank account information for some reason. I sent them a check with a letter explaining that their required method of payment didn't work for me. They didn't deposit the check, and then they tried charging me late fees. I had to go out of my way to escalate to resolve that.
This is getting to the point that we will need some regulation to protect the right to pay for ordinary things like ice cream and HOA dues with cash and checks.