Attention Economy


Monday, September 18, 2023

The Downside of a Cashless Society

Paper checks are dead. Cash is dying. Who still uses them?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/09/15/paper-checks-who-uses/
 
A note of caution about the withdrawal of cash
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/sep/17/a-note-of-caution-about-the-withdrawal-of-cash
 
How a Cashless Society Could Embolden Big Brother – The Atlantic
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/04/cashless-society/477411/
“In a cashless society, the cash has been converted into numbers, into signals, into electronic currents. In short: Information replaces cash.
Information is lightning-quick. It crosses cities, states, and national borders in the twinkle of an eye. It passes through many kinds of devices, flowing from phone to phone, and computer to computer, rather than being sealed away in those silent marble temples we used to call banks. Information never jangles uncomfortably in your pocket.
But wherever information gathers and flows, two predators follow closely behind it: censorship and surveillance. The case of digital money is no exception. Where money becomes a series of signals, it can be censored; where money becomes information, it will inform on you.”
 
The Cost of Going Cashless
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/13/opinion/cashless-pay-problem.html
PAMELA PAUL correctly notes:
Consumers also pay in terms of privacy. Do you want your payment app or credit card company to share exactly how many beers or Big Macs you’ve bought in the past week with its data partners, or to know every item you picked up at the pharmacy? And while a cash system is subject to crime, like employee theft and robbery, digital payments aren’t without their own risks, including double charges and identity theft.
But the most significant objection to a cashless system is whom it shuts out. Whereas cash enables everyone, no matter their age, credit history, immigration status or income, to pay directly for goods or services rather than use an intermediary, credit cards generally require a bank account.