Would a cashless society mean the end of illegal drugs and other crime ?

crooked cockney villain

I should probably add- I have absolutely no idea what the point in Revolout is, despite everyone and their dog trying to convince me to get it.

You owe me 20 quid? Hand me 20 quid, not have me checking my balance for a transfer. Ain't nobody got time for that etc etc.

Varik

Doesn't matter if stolen or for a tax free cash in hand job, you can take that money and pick up the weekly shop but you're not doing that with any crypto.

If you're paid in crypto if you want to use it for most things you've to sell it, and then it'll go into your not very traceable cash free future account. There'll be money laundering of course but I doubt the CAB will have any problem when someone sells you a 100k car for a €5.

ShatterAlan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117688666#Comment_117688666

This is priceless. You don't like handling cash for fear of getting a disease yet you have no problem punching in your PIN code into a keypad that hundreds of people have also touched that day. If viruses can adhere to cash so easily they can adhere to any damn surface you touch in the course of your daily activities. Door handles, counter tops, a book/magazine in a bookshop, items of clothing in a shop that have been picked up and put down again, every fcuking item in the supermarket that has been, you know, put on the shelves BY HAND. A super spreader of viruses 🤣

riclad

in china most items are bought using wepay or other apps , it is the leading country regarding digital surveillance ,it has advanced face recognition camera,s and standard camera,s in every city .people still illegal buy drugs, theres still smuggling and criminal gangs .say i wanted to buy drugs without using cash,drug dealers would accept a pack of cigarettes or other high value items instead of cash.if cash disappeared crime would still happen, drug dealers would still get paid .

even in sweden or other countrys 10 per cent of items are bought with cash.i cant see a european country making cash illegal in the next 20 years .not everyone uses apps or uses a smartphone .some people use basic phones with txt or to make calls.

Cards & PIN pads are rapidly becoming quaint tech at this stage.

Most of my electronic payments are made by mobile or watch, which aren’t subject to a €50 limit as they’re authenticated by the mobile using a pin, biometrics or pattern.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117694515#Comment_117694515

Why was this comment flagged?! Makes absolutely no sense. New boards sucks.

I got some weird notification about it.

Sorry I bothered commenting.

Varik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117697658#Comment_117697658

Mostly every post on this page of the thread is flagged, any random can do it.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117697661#Comment_117697661

A bit of a joke of a system.

Varik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117697665#Comment_117697665

I've accidentally done it when the site started back up, I though it'd be like the mod cards and it'd link to a whiny mod post but nope I just accidentally added a second spam flag to someone who's post didn't seem like there was anything wrong with it.

Can't even tell who's a mod anymore.

I got a notification in my control panel about it. Assumed I'd been infracted.

johnmcdnl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117688792#Comment_117688792

I had to have my car towed to s garage about 5 years ago. The driver texted me a secure link that I could follow to pay online.I showed him the confirmation code and he happily towed my car.

This was years ago so in a cashless society even more payments apps and solution will exist for exactly this type of situation.

Unless of course you live on the back of a mountain with no coverage of any kind but then I could argue that today what happens if you call a trade out and you have no cash in person.

riclad

Many small local shops only deal in cash as they do not want to pay credit card fees

Even before money was invented before banks existed. There was crime

Even north Korea has drug dealers and smugglers

Crime is part of human nature eg it exists in every country in the world

Bitcoin is used by rich people to transfer money and avoid paying taxs it's also being used by people where the local currency is falling in value

andy6

Its the kids I feel sorry for, the few bob in the communion cards, birthday money etc.

Mister Vain

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117695259#Comment_117695259

Surely you'd know how much you're paying before you tap? Prices are clearly displayed in most places and the person serving you will tell you how much it costs before giving you the device to tap. Not exactly rocket science.

mariaalice

Absolutely not, one of mine works in anti-money laundering the criminals always find a way the best we can hope for is making it harder for them and maybe putting the stupider ones out of business,

whisky_galore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117697729#Comment_117697729

Someone has not thought of the children in this new cashless society.

ShatterAlan

Can someone explain to me how a cashless society would eliminate drug-dealing. If I and countless others need to pay via card for a haircut or a palm reading sessions or a box of oranges at the fruit market (the end product doesn't show up in the transaction) then what's to prevent me doing the same for drugs?

ShatterAlan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117697252#Comment_117697252

So you're saving money by dropping several hundred euros on a smartphone or smart watch that you need to conduct your payments.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117700493#Comment_117700493

Nope, I have one anyway for other purposes, pretty much in the same way as I didn't buy a pen exclusively for writing cheques.

Well over 90% of Irish mobile phones are smart phones and over 95% of the adult population has a mobile phone.

RulesOfNature

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117700452#Comment_117700452

Removing cash is not for anyone's safety LOL. Its to make sure they have stricter control of currency, that's all it is. The government does not give a flying f*ck about the wellbeing of individual citizens. But what they're good at is using abstractions to justify tighter control of the population.

Big Gerry

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117700452#Comment_117700452

I don't think the average drug dealer will accept visa or mastercard.

user_account_1

People might just go back to trading things.

whisky_galore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117701652#Comment_117701652

Loads of people sell stuff online and don't need to accept either.

MarkY91

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117700493#Comment_117700493

Wait, you don't own a smart phone? 🤣🤣🤣

jrmb

I lost my contactless card last night. Luckily it was only a spare one, but someone emptied the account at physical points of sale within hours. I'll probably get the money back and the person would be easy to find, but the chances are that nothing will happen to them.

Potatoeman

If you remove cash, the first thing the banks would do is increase the service charge. What’s your alternative them?

Potential-Monke

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117696309#Comment_117696309

True, which is why most purchases under €50 is tap and go (and by tap, I mean hover over it, no need to actually tap it). If I have to use the pin, I use a tissue. Same at petrol pumps, I cover the handle these days. And for shop doors, handles, if they don't require me to use the handle, I'll just push the glass/whatever with my shoulder. Doing that for years in fairness. But, I can take solace in knowning that at least the chip and pin machines aren't being held in Jacintas bra or Johnno's socks/jocks. And I've often seen staff cleaning them, unlike money which never gets cleaned... You also seem to assume that like a lot of people, I touch stuff I've no intention of buying. I don't. I understand a lot do, but I don't.

"Paper money can reportedly carry more germs than a household toilet. And bills are a hospitable environment for gross microbes: viruses and bacteria can live on most surfaces for about 48 hours, but paper money can reportedly transport a live flu virus for up to 17 days. It's enough to make you switch to credit."

mariaalice

How many have a Revelout card? even children and teens so they are growing up with the idea of now having money.

whisky_galore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117707813#Comment_117707813

Handling large numbers of coins your fingers would be black after them, what after nestling in all sorts of places next to god knows what you don't want to think about.

murpho999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117696309#Comment_117696309

You don't have to touch the pad in anyway. Have bank card loaded on your phone and use Apple/Google/Android pay and the transaction is completely contactless.

I don't think that cash is a dangerous for viruses as some make out but using phone is definitely the safest.

murpho999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117695259#Comment_117695259

Tap and go does not take longer.

No looking for notes and coins. No counting, placing in drawer, extracting and counting out change. Putting change back in wallet.

Also using a phone is quick, easy and secure and offers more privacy as vendor does not get your card details. I'm using Apple Pay for about 4 years now and only has 2-3 failed transactions that you mention.

The convenience outweighs anything that cash offers,

As for businesses not accepting cash it's the logical future and being a luddite about it is only going to make you suffer, better off to embrace it and see the advantages.

JimmyVik

Went to Glenveigh national park a while ago.

Went out with €2 after paying for the dinner the night before in a place that would only take cash.

And sure I hadnt used cash in months anyway so i didnt even think about it running low.

There were 2 kids and 2 adults.

So we walked the 4km from the car park to the castle. Went around the lake for about 3 hours.

Ah great, who wants something to eat? All were starving.

So into the cafe in the castle and they say sorry, cash only, phone lines are down and we have no card readers working.

Ok, we will go to the ice cream van and get something. Same story.

So then I said lets get the bus back. Cash only again.

So we had top walk 4km back again, all cranky and starving.

Lesson learned. Always have cash on me in future.

JimmyVik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117688715#Comment_117688715

Imagine you were out after getting the train to 50km away from where you were staying and your cards got stolen and you have no cash.

There is a lead time of about 24hrs min for your bank to get a new card to you, so you will be sitting on the kerb, starving for 24hrs befoire you can get the train back or feed yourself :)

BattleCorp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117709775#Comment_117709775

My cousin in California has an emergency survival pack prepared in case of an earthquake, fires etc. She always has cash in it. Her reasoning was that if there is an emergency and the power goes out, what good is your credit card going to be to you then.

irelandrover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117709796#Comment_117709796

In this scenario, my phone, my watch, my wallet and my backup card I keep in a seperate pocket will all need to be lost or stolen. If that happens then how am i getting any cash anyway?

If someone is going to steal my cards then they are definitely going to steal my cash.

Palmach

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117709804#Comment_117709804

Exactly. Plus if things are cashless the banks can charge you for suing your money. The state can see everything you do as can hackers. And that's before we get to a scenario where Mr. Xi or Mr. Putin don't like the cut of our jib and attack the card system leaving a cashless society high and dry. A cashless society is one of the dumbest ideas I have ever heard.

Palmach

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/sweden-cashless-society

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117692783#Comment_117692783

You have the choice... where that choice is removed...unsatisfactory...

JimmyVik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117709840#Comment_117709840

You should have been in Glenveigh with me a few weeks ago :)

We had 6 cards and 2 phone between the adults and do you think we could get even a sandwich or a bus. Nope.

JimmyVik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117709888#Comment_117709888

As a former Ulsterbank customer I totally agree with you :)

But at least at the time I could borrow cash from someone. Couldnt borrow their phone or card for the week I was without access to my money though.

irelandrover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117710361#Comment_117710361

But my post was entirely about cards being stolen.

How would the phones lines being down affect the ability of the icecream van or the bus to take cards. And thats a very extreme example anyway. If electricity was gone you probably wouldnt be able to get food either.

enricoh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117708804#Comment_117708804

The last time I was in croker for a match I went to get pints at half time. Some fella in front of me was holding up the show trying to tap , then putting his pin in etc with no joy. Then looking for his mate for his card etc. I thought he was gonna get a slap from some of the lads in the queue!

JimmyVik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117710410#Comment_117710410

Electricity doesnt tend to be down for days at a time though.

All im saying is i have experienced several occasions in the last few years where electronic money has broken down.

Ive never experienced a time when the cash system has broken down.

3d4life

JimmyVik "All im saying is i have experienced several occasions in the last few years where electronic money has broken down.

Ive never experienced a time when the cash system has broken down."

Exactly !

When it comes to hampering the narcotics business this is a good start

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX8ilcr7aWU

murpho999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117710815#Comment_117710815

If there's no electricity then the cash registers don't work so larger shops will not ring in sales. Imagine a scanner not working in a busy supermarket.

The whole what if thing is bogus.

If we were to not use things because things may go wrong time to time then we'd never fly, get in a car or use a computer.

Cash is on its way out no doubt about it and people should just embrace the change.

murpho999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117710575#Comment_117710575

Have you never been delayed by someone looking for money or claiming they'd been given wrong change?

What about all the other transactions that went through without a hitch?

Grab All Association

Cashless society :D and when FF wreck the economy in let say 2031 having 50%+ of your digital money seized. It happened in Cyprus with bank deposits.

3d4life

Why do I sense that Murpho has never been to a post office on a Thursday morning ?

murpho999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117711538#Comment_117711538

No but those that do like cash are also on the way out. 😀

JimmyVik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117711446#Comment_117711446

Ive been in places where the electricity went, rarely to be fair. One was a Spar and they used a pen and paper and a calculator to accept cash.

One was in a pub and they did the same thing. What neither of them did was accept card payments with no electricity.