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from the i-bet-the-last-$10-in-my-wallet dept.
The New York Times is reporting that Sweden is getting close to eliminating cash as a method of payment:
Parishioners text tithes to their churches. Homeless street vendors carry mobile credit-card readers. Even the Abba Museum, despite being a shrine to the 1970s pop group that wrote "Money, Money, Money," considers cash so last-century that it does not accept bills and coins.
Few places are tilting toward a cashless future as quickly as Sweden, which has become hooked on the convenience of paying by app and plastic.
This tech-forward country, home to the music streaming service Spotify and the maker of the Candy Crush mobile games, has been lured by the innovations that make digital payments easier. It is also a practical matter, as many of the country's banks no longer accept or dispense cash. [...]
Bills and coins now represent just 2 percent of Sweden's economy, compared with 7.7 percent in the United States and 10 percent in the euro area.
But, as anyone with a brain can predict:
Not everyone is cheering. Sweden's embrace of electronic payments has alarmed consumer organizations and critics who warn of a rising threat to privacy and increased vulnerability to sophisticated Internet crimes. Last year, the number of electronic fraud cases surged to 140,000, more than double the amount a decade ago, according to Sweden's Ministry of Justice.
My take: With cash, identify theft and credit card fraud becomes more difficult. But more importantly, I like the anonymity of cash. It lets those of us who pay too much in taxes cheat on sales tax by buying expensive things in a tax-free state when we visit. I also like using cash to tip underpaid servers at restaurants so they don't have to report that portion of their gratuity. But there is a civil liberties element to it as well. The government has no business knowing or being able to know where I spend my money or how much I spend.
(Score: 3, Disagree) by PizzaRollPlinkett on Sunday December 27 2015, @03:28PM
The people who steal your cash also like the anonymity of cash. Carrying wads of cash always makes me nervous. At least with a CC, you can challenge fraud and have some recourse. I've never understood why people want to hoard gold for a crisis. People would just steal it at gunpoint if you walked around with it. What would you do with a bar of gold, anyway? Exchange it for a loaf of bread?
(E-mail me if you want a pizza roll!)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 27 2015, @04:30PM
You can take some simple steps to protect your wad of cash.
(1) Carry a decoy wallet with just a couple of bills, your credit cards, etc in it.
(2) In the home don't keep your horde in the bedroom no matter how well concealed - everybody keeps their valuables in the bedroom so that's where the thieves go first. Put it in an old cardbord box full of junk in the basement or the garage.
(Score: 4, Funny) by isostatic on Sunday December 27 2015, @05:52PM
Carry a decoy wallet with just a couple of bills, your credit cards, etc in it.
Ahh yes, like the scam going on in car parks over the last few months
Two very good-looking 20-21 year-old girls of eastern European origin come over to your car as you are packing your shopping into the boot. They both start cleaning your windscreen, their breasts almost falling out of their skimpy T- shirts. When you thank them and offer them a tip, they'll say 'No' and instead they ask you for a lift to another supermarket. You agree and they both get in the back seat.
On the way there, they start undressing, until both are completely naked. Then, when you pull over to remonstrate, one of them climbs over into the front seat and starts crawling all over your lap, kissing you, touching you intimately and thrusting herself against you, while the other one steals your wallet!
I had my wallet stolen on September 4th, 9th,10th, twice on the 15th, 17th, 20th, 24th and 29th. Also on October 1st, 4th, 6th, 9th and 10th and twice yesterday.So please warn all the older men you know to be on the lookout for this scam.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 27 2015, @07:51PM
That does sound horrible!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 28 2015, @02:34AM
Will these prostitutes stop at nothing?
The answer, of course, is: Yes.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday December 27 2015, @06:44PM
Don't put your money in Mason jars, and bury them out beside the barn, either. Father in law did that very thing, and we'll never know if we found all of his jars. Some of his jars didn't seal very well, either, and the currency was useless. Steel pennies were also useless, when the jars didn't seal. In all the time I knew the old man, I never had a bad word to say about him, but I could have kicked him in the arse when I found a Mason jar full of rotten, crumbling paper currency.
R.I.P, Edward - the money wasn't all that important.
(Score: 2) by GungnirSniper on Monday December 28 2015, @03:29AM
This would be a swell topic for a submission along with Imgur uploads of any photos you took.
Tips for better submissions to help our site grow. [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday December 28 2015, @05:06AM
No, I didn't take any pictures. It's possible that a sister-in-law took some, but if so, they've never made mention of them. I guess I should have taken pictures though. Years to late for that now!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 28 2015, @04:25AM
...don't keep your wealth as paper money.
Northern California couple find $10M worth of rare gold coins buried on their property [ocregister.com]
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1, Redundant) by isostatic on Sunday December 27 2015, @05:50PM
People who hoard gold seem to think they'll be able to defend themselves as they have a few guns. The bad guys who are organised, have more guns, catching you by surprise, and have fewer moral qualms over shooting people, and only have to win once, will always be vanquished. Those that simply defend their property, don't accidentally shoot the neighbour who's coming to trade some clean water for a little ammo, etc, will win, time and time again, and in this distopian future they're hoping for, everyone will be enthralled by a metal that's only real use is in modern electronics (which of course will no longer exist)
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anal Pumpernickel on Sunday December 27 2015, @06:30PM
The possibility of having your money stolen is far less worrying than a society where everything you buy is tracked.
(Score: 2) by Nuke on Sunday December 27 2015, @10:34PM
Carrying wads of cash always makes me nervous.
So only carry what you need for the day. You must have a very expensive lifestyle if you would need to carry "wads" of cash for your day. By all means use a CC for the bigger purchases however. It's horses for courses - cash is the best for smaller purchases or ones you don't want your wife to know about.
At least with a CC, you can challenge fraud
Challenge the fraud as much as you like, and good luck with that. There is no such thing as fraud with cash itself - theft maybe, but not fraud. There are fraudulent transactions of course, such as buying wine and finding water, but whether it was bought with cash or a CC would be irrellevant to the case.
I've never understood why people want to hoard gold for a crisis.
Because it is one of the few things recognised as having value by all societies at all times in recorded history. After the nuclear holocaust or bank-crash their bits of gold will still be currency but your CCs and dollar bills will not.