I agree though that cash handling is more of a hassle for the ones accepting cash than for the ones paying with it, and that's probably one of the drivers in getting rid of it...
I pay for almost all of my expenses with a credit card though, which does not give me the option to withdraw cash, so yes I would have to go out of my way still. It does however give me 5% back at the grocery store in points redeemable for cash at the end of the statement period, so for every $100 I’m spending I’m getting $5 back at the end of the month. Neat for things I was going to buy anyway, like food.
This also has the added benefit of never having to give out my debit card # to anyone. I would much rather deal with CC fraud than debit card fraud.
That works in Germany but not in the US. Euro bills are easy to distinguish by color and size and start at 5. With dollars you have a stack of greenish paper, many of which are $1 bills. Manageable, but definitely more inconvenient than Euros.
They do this in lots of other countries too (UK, AU, NZ to name a few).
Doesn’t work for me anymore as I shop online, including groceries.
I’m with you. Australia had been on this trajectory for a while and it accelerated in the early days of the pandemic. It’s incredibly convenient to _never_ have to plan ahead with how much cash I need to have, how much I need to withdrawal from the bank/while at the supermarket, if I need to make a special trip to either because I’m short for whatever my plans are later. I can leave my house with just my iPhone or Garmin watch and I know I’m covered for whatever my plans are. Even if that ends up being an evening of unexpected plans. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve needed to have cash on me at this point.
People that haven’t experienced it seem unconvinced. Those that have don’t need convincing.
Cashless seems more important to benefit merchants than buyers
I'm talking about customers, not merchants. It's interesting how enthusiastically some on HN push cashlessness, as if they have some vested interest. Why is it so important.
> it would require me to go out of my way to an ATM
Or stop when you pass one for a couple minutes. Which saves some time paying credit card bills and dealing with fraud alerts, etc.
It’s not important to me, but I did take exception to your rhetoric:
1. That people on HN can’t figure out cash.
2. That it can’t just be about convenience. (This also just sounds conspiratorial.)
I have no vested interest in telling people not to use cash because I don’t spend my time telling people not to use cash. I no longer work in jobs where I have to handle it either, but what you have up there is an explanation as to why one person out in meatspace would just go cashless, and I don’t think I’m the exception here.
Apple Pay (and it’s related services) is just such a massive QoL improvement for those who choose to adopt it that for most that try it (I know at least one person that doesn’t like it), it does not take much convincing. I recently had the strange experience of my own mother thanking me for setting her phone up to use Apple Pay for her cards when previously she was against it (doesn’t trust new technology, thinks it’s spying on her, probably wouldn’t have the phone if I didn’t buy it and put her on my plan).
I dunno. Feels like an electric kettle. I didn't forget how to boil water on the stove but pressing a button is more convenient and now I cannot forget to turn a heating element off.
There's no argument or reason here, just an emotional outlet. I start to think there is no reason ...
> I did take exception to your rhetoric
This is really intense!
Win for cashless. (I’m not anti-cash but I certainly favour using cashless options wherever possible. Safer, plus you get loyalty points and in the UK there is no cash discount price so if you aren’t getting loyalty points on your card you are throwing money away / paying a premium for the privacy of cash)
>
> Whatever is going on, it's not about convenience.
Why not? I’ve worked in jobs in my life where I dealt with cash, had to count a register down to the last coin, check receipts, do cash runs to a bank and give the correct change. I even received cash tips.
I choose not to use cash because it would require me to go out of my way to an ATM and use it, then keep track of the amount of cash I have on me and make subsequent trips to the ATM as necessary. I could, and I used to do that, but it’s not something I did because I enjoyed my trips to the ATM. I did it so I could get a medium of exchange for my daily necessities, and now I don’t do that.