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

Yeah, not a hope. If society goes cashless, the likes to Revolut will cover payments and other apps will come out to ensure privacy of transactions. I wouldn't mind it tbh, cash is a super spreader of viruses, hate using anything but new notes.

The only people in the main who want cashless society are businesses and business people... they want to save money by...

not having handling charges on cash.

less cash on premises equals cheaper insurance.

having to pay less staff to process and count cash.

having less security.

having less staff in general.

i don’t know any regular Joe soap guy or girl whose ever said... “you know what would be great, if there wasn’t cash anymore”... it’s as stupid as it sounds...

you have money accessible, at home, in your pocket, work drawer, car....you won’t go hungry, in an emergency you need to get to a hospital, you’ll get there, card gets stolen, damaged, at home or on holiday, no biggie, in fact no problem, you got cash ? You got food to eat, a way to travel and security.

every holiday I’ve ever gone on I’m bringing xx hundred in cash, plus my card, most of the cash goes in the room safe and I take what I need for the day, I run out of cash or see some big expensive purchase, my card, perfect..

i get mugged on day 2...

scenario cashless crap society : I’ve no card, no phone and no ability to pay.

society now : I go back to my hotel, sad at loosing my phone, card and 200 euros but I have 800 euros left in the safe, I can cover my remaining expenses... food, transportation, hotel, gifts, few drinks etc etc..

cashless wont end drugs trade or any crime.

No

I'd be of the opinion that cashless would be cheaper, less overheard, less staff to pay. Now, whether those savings would be passed on to the consumer is a different thing. Re: losing the card on holidays/being robbed, that's also covered, this is from AIB:

Emergency Cash

In emergency situations, if your credit card is lost or stolen when abroad, we can, on approval, provide you with emergency Cash up to US$5,000.00 (subject to available credit, Cash Advance and Currency Conversion fees & charges may apply).

Plus, with more banks and financial institutions allowing NFC payments with your phone, there are more options to pay. If you're really, really worried about something like that happened, go mad and install the chip into your arm, no one will rob your arm!

Trying to compare a cashless society to todays standards will never work. If societies move towards cashless, then you can be sure there will be plenty of tech to iron over these potential issues. And I'm also very wary of leaving cash in a safe in a hotel. It's not 100% secure.

They don't accept Traveller's Cheques?

I doubt the government is going to look at every transaction. Tradesmen can still accept transactions and if asked they sold a couch or something.

I live in a society that's basically cashless now and it's handy, everything is done by your phone, no big chunky wallet and a ton of coins.

how do you know its sub standard? i have had work done by travellers over the years with no problem...

I live in Finland. Although cash is still available. It's almost never used. I remember about 2 years ago using a paper note. I don't think I've seen cash being used in a shop for over a year.

Many shops don't accept it or it's socially arranged not to use it.

It works quite well. There is a high level of trust in the government n authorities.. this helps alot.

I think cashless society is definitely happening.. just gradually. It's impossible to pay for things like gyms with cash already. Definitely harder for crime on a low-level to happen.

I trust they're licenced to collect refuse? They don't fcuk it into the first forestry they come across?

If they're clever enough to upload call out videos I'm sure they can work out how to PayPal.

That's the silliest reason I've seen yet to get rid of cash, because a few travelers won't be able make a living ffs

A licence is not insurance.

In my case it's two cards for two accounts: current account and credit card. When I travel I keep them in separate pockets and they generally back each other up. These days both cards are basically the same in terms of usability, since they both work wherever VISA is accepted.

As for the original question: I have no qualms about the end of cash itself - it was always a pain - and I'm not really concerned about the government or crime. If you commit a crime, you are infringing on the civil liberties of other people, so you forfeit your own civil liberties.

I am more concerned about commercial interests using your financial data, since they stand to benefit. For example, imagine if an insurance company could access your shopping receipts, and knew whether you bought cigarettes or ice cream. They could offer this as a choice to give you lower rates, like car insurance where you can agree to have your driving habits monitored by a black box. Money talks, as always.

Im old fashioned as well as old and I prefer to use cash except for large transactions. Using card I find it is more difficult to have a feeling for what you are spending overall or even the cost of individual items. I think cashless is increasingly/will become increasingly the norm.