• Oliver Lowe
    link
    fedilink
    62 years ago

    “Australia’s transition to a cashless society”. Misleading headline; the article is reporting on a relative decline in the number of cash transactions. Don’t think there’s been any policy or legislation on phasing out cash.

    • ⸻ Ban DHMO 🇦🇺 ⸻OP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      52 years ago

      We can become a cashless society without legislation; the headline is merely the reporter’s commentary on the current state

        • ⸻ Ban DHMO 🇦🇺 ⸻OP
          link
          fedilink
          English
          62 years ago

          Nice share! While it is from a US perspective some of those issues certainly apply here, however, in Australia at least we have banks such as Macquarie which offer free savings and transaction (debit card) accounts so there isn’t so much of a cost (apart from having an address I suppose) to opening an account. But the question is should we have to have a bank account?

          I don’t think we should have to have bank accounts to interact with society. However, the economics professor in the video did make some good points about how cash fuels crime

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      22 years ago

      This is a common argument, but with 93% of people not really using cash would anyone be bothered surveilling the other 7% ?

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          12 years ago

          I know that. I’m saying I don’t see the point in capturing that last few percent.

          Anyone with nefarious intent will use crypto anyway.

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        English
        142 years ago

        Should be. There are many reasons you may not want a transaction to be public knowledge, or even known by governmental bodies. Apart from the actual illegal/grey area stuff, there are things that can be deemed “suspicious” which are actually completely harmless.

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    32 years ago

    I’ve started using cash again this year after like a decade using cards (and even a stint with my phone). Unfortunately crypto has failed as a realistic alternative so cash needs to survive until something else comes along.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      32 years ago

      My colleague was very big into crypto; he ended up with a VISA linked to his crypto wallet and was very proud that it “couldn’t be tracked”.

      I think I broke his heart when I pointed out that the specific card number could be tracked every time he used it. The bank of the seller could see every time he used that card.

  • AutoTL;DRB
    link
    fedilink
    English
    52 years ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Cash payments plummeted during the first two years of the coronavirus pandemic, when online shopping spiked, and they show little sign of bouncing back.

    While the benefits of phasing out cash include increased convenience, transparency and safety, the transition to a wholly digital economy risks excluding some sections of society.

    The transition away from cash disproportionately affects disadvantaged groups, such as people with disabilities and those who live in remote and regional Australia who have difficulty accessing digital financial services.

    In Sweden, one of the first nations in the world to embrace a cash-free economy, concerns about financial exclusion among marginalised communities saw a backlash against the shift to cashlessness, particularly when many bank branches removed cash-handling facilities altogether.

    Five local credit unions arranged for a helicopter to deliver a cash-filled ATM to the flood-ravaged town, where blackouts lasted for weeks.

    The onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 saw a run on cash as bank customers withdrew funds, fearful of a stock market crash.


    The original article contains 820 words, the summary contains 164 words. Saved 80%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!