How many people still use cash

[Hans Tucker]

I will put my hand up for being a devotee of using Cash particularly for transactions below $20. I find it annoying that places like Woolies are pushing a cashless society through limiting the number of Cash self serve checkouts.

Now before anyone uses the argument that Cashless transactions are cleaner given the current climate just think about the fact that a lot of people use their phones for cashless transactions and a study showed that a lot of people take their phones into the toilet with them.

[TrevorW]

I do and the reason being is that we do not have flawless internet (and the COVID excuse is just bull****e) ;)

[FlashDrive]

Prefer cash payment, but will use card if no option. :(

Everything is ' traceable ' when using a card ....they know your movements where ever you go....if I went to another town and bought Petrol or stopped at a Cafe for lunch ...institutions like my Bank know I was in that town....and if the Cops were after me ;) , it would be easy as pie to locate my latest location or whereabouts ....!!

If just cash, who knows where I am ....:whistle:

Col...

[Hans Tucker]

So Agent C ... are you going to put on the last suit you'll ever wear?

https://youtu.be/nK5VqPm8uWE

[xelasnave]

Does not worry me...but funny only last week I had to buy some slippers as the ones I had on were getting too tight as my feet kept swelling...nothing fitted the bill until I found the perfect pair for my situation...$2-00...reach in my pocket but no change..no cash in my wallet..so I bought it on my card..the up side was the salesperson asked if I would like a bag after I had paid with the card...I said yes and offerred my card..they said ..just have it.

Alex

[glend]

It will not be long until you will be charged a premium for paying with cash. Cash required handling, banking etc. and these have costs associated with them. For a business, electronic is a better choice. Cash is also a haven for criminals, looking to escape scrutiny, but even there the Cash Transaction Reporting Act requires banks and businesses to report all transactions above $10,000.
There are stories that the Reserve Bank is concerned about the disappearance of $50 and $100 notes, with a common theory that retirees are hording them to escape Centrelink scrutiny of their bank accounts. Anyone on a pension or part-pension knows all to well the level of disclosure required.
Cash will be phased out eventually, and just as with our old currency, eventually they will cease being legal tender.

[GrahamL]

I was stubborn for a long while about switching to waving the card ...looking back having and getting cash on hand was a royal pain in the butt.. now i never use cash unless i have to.. I have a friend who still refuses to have a card and only uses his passbook to make cash withdrawls.

[Bart]

You are being paranoid, Col! :rofl:

Whether you use cash or card, it is very easy to trace where you are and where you have been. CCTV is another big one and so is your mobile phone. Detective work is far more advanced these days than ever. You cannot hide forever. :eyepop:

[xelasnave]

Talk of paranoid..someone I wont name or tell the relationship because I am embarrassed..says..no way I am putting in the census form ..I dont want them knowing this and that... Honestly does he really think they care and if they really were interested in his affairs etc they would not use a census form but other "methods"...heck just the tax man knows more about you than you know about yourself..I said to a tax guy one day.." I bet I could leave my tax form blank and you could fill it in better than I could"..he said " yes but dont tell anyone"...

Heck if someone in Government wants to know about me I would be flattered and no doubt bore them senseless as i told them all.

The cops paid me a visit once to look at my guns..I wouldnt let them leave ..chat chat...and you could tell they wanted out..and sadly they never ever came back...
Alex

[Hans Tucker]

Whilst filling up at the BP station today I saw a sign saying they know exactly what oil my car should be using based on my registration ... spooky ... the Government knows everything :P

[astroron]

I went to buy a car of a private sale he other week.
The guy wouldn't wait till the money cleared the banking system
to go into his account even though it would be in his account at 3 O'clock that afternoon.
I could have done the transfer in front of his face but he wanted cash or no sale.
Who carries thousands of dollars in cash around in their pocket ?
I was over a hundred kilometres from home
I drove away empty handed.
I know someone will say why not pay with a bank check?
I didn't know if the car was suitable so was not going to get a bank cheque
made out in his name and not buy it.
I was not a happy chappie.:mad2:
Cheers:thumbsup:

[xelasnave]

Ron if he wanted cash he probably would not take a bank cheque ... It sounds as if he did not want it to go into his bank account..mmm there are many reasons why....anyways look on the bright side you got to have a drive and you saved a lot of money.
Alex

[glend]

You did the right thing. That seems like a dodgy deal.

[FlashDrive]

Ah Yes ..CCTV ....I'll just wear a hoodie and my MIB dark sun glasses.

As for my Mobile ....I'll just wrap it up in tin foil ....:D

[xelasnave]

Agreed..but take from him one thing..he wanted it a certain way and did not compromise..we can all learn from that...we can critize his attitude and behaviour but he is doing what he wants.

These days I get it all my way or bail out and do something else.

Like that red car.. absolutely everything was right and if only one thing was outta place I would have walked away..well hobbled away.
Alex

[xelasnave]

I wear this so as not to be noticed.
Alex

[DJT]

Have drawn cash out of the ATM once since June and that was to pay the beer fairy who brings me the occasional slab of beer from our local brewer

Even the busker in the Domain car park walkway uses “square” for tapping donations. I only know his name because it pops up each week on my credit card statement…

[AdamJL]

What is cash?

[xelasnave]

It is cheaper to get a five cent coin and drill a hole in it to make a washer than to buy a washer at Bunnings of the same size which costs 17 cents.
So sure there is an incentive to use cash.
Alex

[glend]

This is timely, the ABC had a story about cash hoarders today:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-18/rba-hoarders-record-amount-cash-covid-pandemic/100628486

Hmm, now the crims know where to look.

[DeWynter]

Believe it or not, but you are traceable even with a cash. Coles/Wollies can identify a person even with a cash purchase. Your groceries shopping cart is quite unique to you (even if you are purchasing different items from time to time). Person identification rate at big chain stores is about 80% accuracy (and obviously 100% if you are using card or loyalty card). This is called Big Data and to be fair it's quite scary what can be done with these "anonymous" data.

What else is unique to you? Your movement within a city. Person identification rate for that is almost 100% accuracy - it's almost like your fingerprint. So even if you buy a clean mobile phone with a fake ID your mobile device movement within the city is recorded by mobile service provider and they can identify a person. Not sure if they actually using it and keeping all that data, but it can be done if required.

So, let's put tinfoil caps on... ;)

As for me... I was working in a bank for many years and I'm not using cash. I do have it, but it's only for "emergency".

[xelasnave]

I read the article ..thank you...people read this stuff and buy it with no questions asked but I have a question in relation to this part of the article...which says...

The problem is, they're mostly stuffed between mattresses or hidden in the nation's sock drawers.

How do they know this? If one were to insist on the truth it would tell you they dont know and any statement is at best speculation at worst an out right lie.

Why could it not be that people are buying stuff like telescopes secondhand...or any number of things really...but such unsupported assertions are just so typical of journalism it seems and always point to putting original ideas into the minds of all those who make up the market place..

How could they know and so we know that this is a mere guess to pad the article and support an already predetermined conclusion.

And really what is the purpose...no doubt to tarnish cash and make you feel guilty if you look in your wallet and find a couple of fifties...why do they manipulate our thinking?...because we let them.

So after a while the " informed" person will have all the answers and reasoning to support the propaganda telling us that cash is bad .... Follow the money? Who could benefit and instigate such a campaigne to change your thinking..."THEM" thats who...


Alex

[TrevorW]

My mum buried it all in the backyard never under the mattress, we had fun digging up the garden after she passed ;

[glend]

I noticed this morning, when I went to a Woolies self serve checkout, that my image appeared in a small window on the scanner screen as I put my bag on the shelf. So it is very likely Woolies is photographing all customers that use self service. This seems to be a very recent step, and one that maybe they hope goes un-noticed. Loyalty cards I would never have, they are just marketing tools and of no value to the customer, and allow your activity to be tracked. I have never "opted in" on anything at Woolies that could be used to ID my buying habits, and am pretty concerned if they are now tracking me. I can imagine they have access to the scanned QR code data (Thanks Covid) and can tie my phone to the image obtained at the scanner.

I will be checking out what Coles is doing in this regard as well. I suspect I will end up driving to IGA in the future, as they seem pretty old school in regard to this sort of thing.

[multiweb]

THis is how it's done. My Woolies check out glasses.

[DeWynter]

Yes, but that's irrelevant to what I'm talking about. This one is more for shoplifters and have a record of what happens at the counter.

What I'm talking about is that "what you buy at a shop" is your "fingerprint". It's totally independent from face recognition and photographing.

[Hemi]

I rarely use cash now, but have an emergency $50 in my wallet.
Otherwise all my cards are loaded on my phone, and I use tap and pay almost always.

[xelasnave]

But how much under the mattress and in the sock draw?
Alex

[TrevorW]

Cash will be useless when the Zombie apocalypse hits :)

[Spyrith]

As a non-American, one thing I found extremely disturbing when talking to Canadians and Americans is the whole credit score thing. So many people I talked to were so concerned about their credit score rating and trying to pay everything on time.

I honestly found it very disturbing and Orwellian. It's as if the banks judge everything you do and and assign you a score as to how much of a responsible person you are.

[xelasnave]

How many people did you speak to?

Canada has a population of approximately 30 million and USA 330 million approximately so you may not have spoken to a number large enough to be representative or sufficient to indicate that there is anything to be concerned about.

And perhaps your assessment of what you think the banks are doing is somewhat firing from the hip.

Can you relate a specific situation that evidences your concerns that banks are acting as you suggest otherwise we are dealing with supposition ...wouldnt you agree?

Alex

[Hans Tucker]

Apparently Australia has the third-highest rate of crypto ownership with nearly 1 in 5 adults in Australia owning some form of crypto, Bitcoin being the most favored. Bitcoin is the most popular in Nigeria with 1 in 4 adults in Nigeria owning some form of cryptocurrency .. go figure.

[wavelandscott]

A couple of comments…

With respect to credit scores, they do impact your ability to borrow and in some cases (before recent legislation) your likelihood of being hired for some jobs.

With respect to shopping data, collection and use of this has gone on for decades and is quite sophisticated. The more recent ability to more specifically tag an individual is quite remarkable and while the potential for this to be used in a nefarious way is real, there is also the benefit of giving you a more customized experience as well. Many people like and expect this “royal treatment”…

I think the expectation of privacy is different from generation to generation and ebbs and flow over time. Often the luxury of anonymity is reserved for the few while the many toil through life transparently.

I think the idea of true privacy is a relatively new and will be a short lived concept and is likely not sustainable or compatible with “modern life”. Not an advocate for this position and no moral judgement on it just more of an observation.

[DarkArts]

I didn't know that. Interesting. Maybe the gains in crypto flow through to people being able to bid up house prices more than they would otherwise?

As for cash ...

They can have my cash when they pry it from my cold, dead hands. :fight:

[raymo]

I am in the fortunate position of owing nothing, and not likely to need to
get credit, so I don't care about my credit score, but plenty of Aussies do keep an eye on their score, hence the TV ads on the subject.
I generally pay cash for small purchases.
raymo

[Camelopardalis]

I mean no disrespect to any poster in this thread, but I do find this kind of theme amusing.

“The only thing to fear is fear itself”

This is kinda true about a lot of things at the moment ;)

I’m not worried about government knowing my business, to be honest. I know they’re not organised enough to use it offensively except in real edge cases.

And if Woolies wants to offer me a discount occasionally on stuff they know I buy, good on ‘em.

Working in IT security, I have an appreciation of the lengths some organisations go to to protect your information, but it also tells you who not to bank with :lol:

I’d be more concerned about the more nefarious organisations that many voluntarily give their person data away to. It’s mostly their desire to sell your profile with advertisers so they can try to convince you to buy more stuff, but if you don’t bite, you could say what’s the harm? This is where their sloppy practices come into play, since they’re more interested in sharing the data the collect on you rather than protecting it.

[Sunfish]

I read that only 9 percent of people in Sweden use cash and that by 2023 the aim is to eliminate cash. Not sure it will work but it is permitted that retailers charge only by card.

One reason is to reduce organised crime and robbery. So no more sending people into a bank with bags of cash to transfer funds out of the country as happened over years in Sydney

As for privacy from regulatory agencies . Forget it. Too late.

[FlashDrive]

Me to ...I own everything I have....threw the credit card away 12years ago.

Only bills I have are for everyday living expenses ... of which Astro stuff takes most of the hobby part of it ;)

Col...

[Hans Tucker]

Sorry but I find that rather amusing .. organised crime will just move to the new trend.

[Sunfish]

I suppose you are right about the crime. I wonder how Sweden will work that out.

A lot more work for the forensic accountants , as there is here, but the same old game.

[Renato1]

People who use cash or non-point earning credit cards are subsidizing the local and international travel and accommodation of people who use points earning credit cards.

While the amounts involved are small, they add up to something substantial and useful for the point earners.

I've used those points to pay for many hotel rooms and some flights.

As for Sweden, I found it weird back there in 2018, where some small places like cafes refused to take any cash whatsoever and insisted on cards. Luckily my credit cards worked, but there have been cases of people visiting there who's foreign cards didn't work. Usually, I try avoid using credit cards in small shops when overseas, and didn't like it at all being forced to use them.
Regards,
Renato

[michaellxv]

I was on holiday last week in a country town and there was a power failure in the afternoon. Most shops just closed. The pubs fired up generators to stay open. I had to go to said pub to use an ATM for a fee to get cash to buy takeaway at a shop cooking with gas by candlelight.

Cash still has its place but my wallet is usually devoid of it.

Michael

[Culford]

I love cash, so old school and traditional. Sadly I become lazy and use plastic for everything.