Cash Replaced?

Will cash be completely replaced by credit, debit, smart cards and checks. Or with electonic money. I mean if cash is gonna be replaced how will we know how much we have, like if you pay someone with a smart card he only gets a number of how much you paid him, he can't later go to a bank and replace that number with cash, the only think he'll have is a number. And crackers will sure find a way how to steal that "electonic money". I mean these days paper money is not worth anything bevause it's not backed up with gold anymore like it used to be. It's only paper. Money can be any form. So is cash gonna be replaced by electonic money or are we just gonna have another form of money which is used frequently, besides cash ?

MemorY,

Sorry to have to be the first to tell you that "cash" already is history. AFAIK the British East India Company ceased trading some time ago :)

The term "cash" refers to the private company tokens issued by the EIC. I actually have an 8 cash copper coin recovered from the wreck of the Admiral Gardner (an East Indiaman.....sort of heavily armed merchant ship) that sank off Ramsgate in the early 1700's.

On a more modern note (pun intended :) ) I would suggest that cash will continue to be used for a long time, particularly for small and frequent transactions, if only because of the overhead that electronic money carries. I do not know what it is like for members from other countries, but in the UK an electronic transaction cost the vendor about 1.5% of the total transaction value....and this could be much higher depending on the type of goods and the floor limit of the vendor.

Cheers

I have been working on a stored value card implementation for a while now. It's not meant to replace cash though, but save money on payroll - however and unsuspecting customer has come up within the last few weeks.

all I can say is that I hope cheques are replaced bloody soon. It's actually a major hassle for me to get to a bank to cash a cheque these days... I'm either working or the bank is shut (no banks near where I work so I can't nip out at lunch time). I find either actual cash or plastic to be much more convenient... and paying the bills over the net is really useful (especially as more often than not such 'payments' are insured againt fraud)

Z

You don't have the option of electronic direct deposit of paycheck?

I know I'm going to sound like a Luddite but you'll never replace cash. Cash is anonymous. How do I pay the kid who mows my lawn or babysits my kids with a debit card. I just read on CNN that Walmart is going to stop accepting Mastercard debit cards.

My paycheck is electronically deposited. When I make an ATM withdrawal and take out cash I become an unknown entity. Monica Lewinsky bought a book for Bill Clinton at Borders, she used a charge card and the special prosecuter tried to get that record. If she bought it with cash noone would have known.

I'll stick with cash (until Patriot Act 5 outlaws it)

I think that eventually YES...not any time in the near future, But you will see more and more Smart cards..They have started testing it in Europe a while back..here in the States not so much..But what will happen is all your digital money will be in the bank and you will carry a Smart Card that will basically take care of larger transactions..your gas,dinner,grocery,shopping,atm, most everything..Now also on these cards is going to be all your personal info..SS#, address,allergies,perscriptions and so on...Then comes the problem with security..Well that will all be done by Biometrics..Using Iris scans, facial recognition and finger prints..The real scary part is that If these cards are lost which they ran into during the testing, thats becomes expensive..So what is there solution you ask? The scariest damn thing in the WORLD and if it ever gets to this point there should be an Uprising against the Goverment...But you guessed it a chip in the body...They have already implemented it into dogs for tracking purposes...My vet asked me if I wanted it put into my dog...I swear I almost Socked him in the face....This is a real threat to all Humans on this planet and I think something needs to be done...but they are making the changes so slow that the SHEEPEOPLE don't relize whats going on all they see is things are easier.....WAKE UP!!!!!

More to come later!!!!

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You don't have the option of electronic direct deposit of paycheck?

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not sure if this was directed to me but I'll answer anyway... fourdc yes we do have electronic deposits of pay cheques... I wasn't actually talking about pay cheques I was talking about personal cheques e.g. from my mother or from her friends (all are over 50 and don't really 'do' the internet). The banks are closed (and the deposit boxes are situated inside the bank) when I finish work... and frequently I don't get up early enough on Saturday to go into the nearest town and make the deposit (being as I'm usually up until 4-5am).

everything else I have deposited into my account e.g. pay cheque, misc payments, are normally by electronic means

Z

Ps

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But you guessed it a chip in the body...

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Thats called the mark of the beast (of revelation) also known as Satan (Shaitan in hebrew) by the way Alienboy :D

I hope they don't take away my greenbacks, I've grown quite fond of them. :p


`pw

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Thats called the mark of the beast (of revelation) also known as Satan (Shaitan in hebrew) by the way Alienboy

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I was involved in the same argument back in the 70s when they installed an ominous little ATM at the local bank. A man I knew swore up and down it was the end of us all.

Why would Wall-Mart get rid of MasterCard debit cards?
I happen to have one and happen to love the hell out of it.

Cash or some form of physical currency might never go away but as any of you who have traveled abroad may know, you get better exchange rates using electronic methods.

Now if you are prone to visits with a local "Gentlemans" club or "Bankok Massage" then I could see the desire to put away the plastic. :D

PS. I am not endorsing such activities in anyway. :eek:

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Originally posted here by RoadClosed
I was involved in the same argument back in the 70s when they installed an ominous little ATM at the local bank. A man I knew swore up and down it was the end of us all.

Why would Wall-Mart get rid of MasterCard debit cards?
I happen to have one and happen to love the hell out of it.

Cash or some form of physical currency might never go away but as any of you who have traveled abroad may know, you get better exchange rates using electronic methods.

Now if you are prone to visits with a local "Gentlemans" club or "Bankok Massage" then I could see the desire to put away the plastic. :D

PS. I am not endorsing such activities in anyway. :eek:

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on the walmart issue, the roumer I heard from the finacials is that walmart tired to paly hardball with MC t oget them to lower their card usage fees. MC wouldn't budge so no more debit....this is probably not a good decsiion on the part of walmart, but they are trying to get their own credit card busniess started so they may be looking at this as a way to jump start it.

I don't think cash will diappear for some time yet, for a number of reasons:

a) It's not economical for shops to accept cards for small transactions, as they would barely cover the cost (something like 8p/transaction or 2.5%, it varies - which is why most shops won't accept credit cards for orders less than £5) of the charges levied by the card companies.

b) There's still a lot of cash (we're talking billions of pounds here) in circulation. It would take a long time to make a complete changeover - at the moment it takes months for the Bank of England to issue a new £5 note, never mind abolishing them altogether!

c) As some people have already pointed out, cash is anonymous (hence why it's often requested in ransoms - it would make it a lot easier for the police in such cases if all transactions were electronic) and people like this for various reasons, including paying builders and getting "a cash-in-hand discount" (i.e. the builders don't claim it as income). Okay, so that's not a legitimate example, but you get the idea.

d) Cash is a lot simpler to deal with than cards. Not only can anyone accept it (you don't need a special machine or anything like that) but it's a lot easier to spend as well (seeing as you don't have to mess around with signiatures). Also, could you imagine giving your card to someone selling items without a shop (e.g. the Big Issue)? Unless they had a wireless card machine (which could bring about all manner of new security issues), they'd have to take your word for it that the card was genuine and that your account was in credit.

e) Finally, cash helps you budget. If you have £100 in your wallet, you can't spend more than that, no matter how tempting it might be. With cards, you can easily build up a mountain of debt whilst remaining totally unaware of the situation you are getting yourself into.

Thanks Bballad, I used it yesterday and when and if they stop I will stop using WallMart. They suck for the most part anyway. I just like saving a few cents a product but I hate the lines. HATE THEM! That's why I go at 11pm at night. The only cool think about Wal is you can order McDonalds right at the register. "Yeah and give me a number 1 value meal with my 10 dollars back please...."

No debit card, no customer. The largest retail corporation in the world and they take away a nice conveniece to save a few cents that, arguably could end up saving them alot. Well they would need to rack up thousands of transactions to equate what I have bought there in the last few years in terms of money spent vs. their cost in transactions. See ya Wally.

T oclear up wallmart further (or cloud it), you should still be able to use your debit card as a debit, you would jsut need to enter your pin number into their littel machine, you can no longer sign for it......roumer is that MC may pull their credit card from wallmart also, but that is not confirmed by anyone yet.

Interesting. What the hell is wall mart thinking Master Card is a huge market.

//Edit

Ok now I am really confused. Wal Mart dropped Interlink which would not effect cards that are accepted but would limit how the transaction is processed. As for MasterCard, wal-mart offers a Wal-Mart card through Chase?????


http://www.walmartmastercard.com/

Maybe they are changing provider for their own card or the whole story is BS?

There was a case that wal-mart fought along with others that gives them the ability to accept other cars. Visa and Master Card are monopolys and there are consequences when accepting competing cards. In 2004 Wal-Mart and others have a legal option to say NO to Visa or Master Card. Does that mean they will do it? Nope, I doubt it but it lets them have greater flexibility in their choices. For instance if they could drop some of the connections like and ATM link and choose not to give cash back or choose another transport and VISA or MasterCard can't do **** about it.

In fact this case makes it illegal for wal-mart to accept a visa card and not a Mastercard?

Here are some links.

http://takomagroup.com/walmart_settlement_reshap.html


The only other suite was related to walmart pulling interlink out, which is the mechanism for VISA.

I think this is the main suit and it's both not just one.


rueters: The retailers claim that Visa and MasterCard force them to accept their debit cards by requiring their acceptance as a condition for continued use of their credit card systems. The debit cards issued by MasterCard and Visa have higher transaction fees, and therefore, the argument goes, they cost the retailer and the consumer more money.

The routers link hit on it, walmart is palying a very dicey game with mastercard/visa not sure wich corp to cheer for in this one.

Whatever you do, don't try to hand an angry American a Euro! If you do, I'll piss on it and mail it back to you with no love attached!

Funny that this thread came up the same day that I read:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/28/34346.html

about subdermal RFID chips. Like a smart card, but the size of a grain of rice and imbedded in your tricepts.

Now, that is just..., STUPID.

Things like this make my head hurt. Much like remote keys/starters for cars, all it takes is some clever chap and stealing your car is as easy as pushing a button on a special kind of box.

Atleast with Credit Cards and Debit Cards, there is something physical to steal, unless of course some miscreant sniffs your number or browses a DB.

But, an RFID, to steal your info, would be like war-driving, except more lucrative. Just walk around in crowded areas and log all the data your special little scanner picks up, and presto, the ultimate pick-pocket, you don't even have to touch them. Not to mention the privacy issues, of being able to track your exact location within the exactness of the most recent scan.


I like cash. I like knowing that there isn't an exact digital trail of my spending habits. And not even for paranoia issues, but just HUMAN issues. I'd like to think of myself as something more than a few number transactions at specific locals.

I also like my debit card, it makes purchasing that much easier. Checks are nice too, but then you have to wonder how long it will take for the check to get cashed, debit is usually instantaneous.

I doubt that cash will ever disappear completely, after all, then the clandestine would have to resort to bartering. What do you trade for a quarter ounce of pot? Gift certificates to borders? I mean really.

Peace,
Dhej

Both cases have been settled. In 2004 Wal-Mart can do what they wish. They won't drop either, they just save a **** load of money.