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The Cashless Society? It's Already Coming

Posted by samzenpus on from the your-money-is-no-good-here dept.

HughPickens.com writes Damon Darlin writes in the NYT that Apple pay is revolutionary but not for the reason you think. It isn't going to replace the credit card but it's going to replace the wallet — the actual physical thing crammed with cards, cash, photos and receipts. According to Darlin, when you are out shopping, it's the wallet, not the credit card, that is the annoyance. It's bulky. It can be forgotten, or lost. "I've learned while traipsing about buying stuff with my ApplePay that I can whittle down wallet items that I need to carry to three": A single credit card, for places that have not embraced, but soon will, some form of smartphone payment; a driver's license; and about $20 in cash. Analysts at Forrester Research estimate that over the next five years, US mobile payments will grow to $142 billion, from $3.7 billion this year. "If I were to make a bet, I'd say that 10 years from now the most popular answer from young shoppers about how they make small payments would be: thumbprint. And you'll get a dull shrug when you ask what a wallet is."

17 of 375 comments (clear)

  1. so why is ApplePay required by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    > earned while traipsing about buying stuff with my ApplePay that I can whittle down wallet items that I need to carry to three": A single credit card, for places that have not embraced, but soon will, some form of smartphone payment; a driver's license; and about $20 in cash.

    Okay... so why is ApplePay required to get down to those 3 items? Surely he can do with just the 3 and no apple pay....

    1. Re:so why is ApplePay required by rtb61 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Apart from of course getting to mind your own business when paying cash as does the seller and of course no credit fraud which is not blamed on the victim, the seller allowing credit but on an innocent party and of course very simple budgeting based upon what you can afford to spend rather than what you can afford to borrow and pay a ton of interest on. There are also all those middle men who inevitably demand more and more of the transaction as they become more essential and more of a monopoly. 1% so becomes 5% and with content even 15% or 30%, just look at games consoles, you pay without ever leaving home and exactly how much do Sony, M$ and Nintendo charge, well, we really never know because most customers would spit if they knew how much of their money was being syphoned off. Cash as it turns out is much cheaper especially when cartel monopolies kick in, adding fees, charges, interests and just out and out greed to the cost of doing business. Give me cash any day.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    2. Re:so why is ApplePay required by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Cash as it turns out is much cheaper especially when cartel monopolies kick in, adding fees, charges, interests and just out and out greed to the cost of doing business. Give me cash any day.

      The moment we become a "cashless society" is the moment you can kiss Freedom's sweet ass goodbye.

      Not only is a cashless society more difficult than most people think, it's about the last thing in the world I'd identify as a worthy goal.

  2. Lost!? by darkain · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "It's bulky. It can be forgotten, or lost"

    My wallet is on a chain which links to my belt loop on my pants. My wallet will not be lost. However, my phone doesn't have this same protection.

    And seriously, how is a phone any less likely to be lost than a wallet? One of the two is out and about of the pocket a hell of a lot more often than the other.

    1. Re:Lost!? by Jarik+C-Bol · · Score: 2, Insightful

      There are two kinds of people in the world. One of those kinds constantly looses its phone, wallet, keys, iPad, etc. The other kind never does, because it knows better than to put valuable items down in random places.

      Seriously, its the old 'spectacles testicles wallet and watch' only now its more like, 'keys, phone, wallet and X' where X is whatever else you carry. They go back in the same pocket every time, they go back on the same place on the desk when you get home, and you never wonder where they are.
      Would you take 300$ out of your pocket, set it down in a restaurant, and just wander off, and later wonder where the hell your money is? Then why would yo do that with your phone, or your wallet full of credit cards, or anything else of value? People boggle my mind.

      --
      I've decided to Diversify my Holdings. I've divided my cash between my left and right pockets, instead of all in one.
    2. Re:Lost!? by labnet · · Score: 1, Insightful

      The book of Revelation has the ultimate answer for "It's bulky. It can be forgotten, or lost" and "My wallet is on a chain"

      It forced all people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to have a mark on the right hand or forehead.
      Without the mark of the name of the Beast or the number of its name, it was impossible to buy or sell anything.
      Solve a riddle: Put your heads together and figure out the meaning of the number of the Beast. It's a human number: six hundred sixty-six. (Revelation 13:15-18 MSG)

      --
      46137
    3. Re:Lost!? by mjwx · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "It's bulky. It can be forgotten, or lost"

      Sounds exactly like a phone.

      Society will never go cashless because cash is such a useful medium for trade. If I want to buy an air compressor off the trading post, I'm going to rock up with cash because the guy selling it wont have an EFTPOS machine. If I want to buy a coffee, I'll use cash because merchant fees kill small cafes and force prices up at chain stores.

      People trying to eliminate cash from their life are cutting off their nose in spite of their face. In the end, they pay more because they have to give money to the middle man (Visa/MasterCard/AMEX) via the merchant (he has to pay them to accept your card). Only a fool rejects a form of payment because of a restrictive and misguided ideology, only the heir to the throne of the kingdom of fools rejects all but one form of payment.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  3. Less bulky? by pdhenry · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Without a smartphone, it seems that you'd get by with a single credit card, a driver's license; and about $20 in cash.

  4. More than cash and cc by Rigel47 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Let's see.. things that won't be digitized anytime soon:
    - drivers license
    - gym card
    - business card
    - all those proximity reader entry cards for everything from zipcar to work
    - work ID card
    - subway / bus card
    - discount / membership cards


    Not to mention that my wallet never runs out of power or is otherwise rendered inoperable. Nor is my wallet susceptible to malware. As a bonus I can keep a stash of backup meds in my wallet in a little plastic container. It has a pleasant all-natural leather makeup that wears beautifully with time. And frankly it's a lot more dignified to have your amex clatter onto the bill at a fancy restaurant than it is to pull out your phone and beep-boop-beep up some app. As a side bonus at least some part of my life isn't under the NSA's review when I use cash.

    1. Re:More than cash and cc by Rigel47 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You're absolutely right. The e-ticket thing for airline travel is a great example. Everyone with a paper ticket just breezes by while those with their tickets on their phones usually have to fiddle around with the size of the image before it can be read.

  5. Cash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I choose to use cash because most of my transactions are one where I do not wish to enter into a relationship with the other party.

    Since I don't know how they will use my information, where there will upload it, what third party services they use and since nearly all do not have these answers when I ask, the only way for me to OPT OUT is cash.

  6. You people don't get it by anarkhos · · Score: 4, Insightful

    At least I OWN this wallet!

    I don't own this phone (and yes, I did pay for it and don't have a contract, but it can be switched off and the NSA can tap it willy nilly). You people want an e-wallet that can be shut off like your phone? Tapped like your phone?

    What this is leading to is anybody politically undesirable will be shut out of the economy at the push of a button.

    Fuck you technophiles

    --
    >80 column hard wrapped e-mail is not a sign of intelligent
    >life
  7. Re:You can pry my wallet from my... by mythosaz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The credit card company loves people like you who evangelize the idea of using your credit card for everything and then paying it off immediately and then earning cashback on it.

    Why? Because most of the people you reach with your message will fail to do so correctly, and ultimately will owe the credit card company fees. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

    It's just too tempting for most people to say, "Well, this ONE month, I'll pay it late and then get that JetSki I've had my eyes on."

  8. And...? by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 4, Insightful

    According to Darlin, when you are out shopping, it's the wallet, not the credit card, that is the annoyance. It's bulky. It can be forgotten, or lost.

    A cell phone is bulky and can be forgotten or lost. In addition, my wallet isn't big or bulky and contains my ID - which I'm required to carry, at least to drive, and won't be electronic for quite some time, if ever.

    "If I were to make a bet, I'd say that 10 years from now the most popular answer from young shoppers about how they make small payments would be: thumbprint. And you'll get a dull shrug when you ask what a wallet is.

    Merchants can have my thumbprint when they pry it from my cold dead hand. P.S. Cash and CC work even when my cell phone has no bars or is dead - if I carried a cell phone, which I don't.

    Besides, aren't things like Apple Pay simply a credit-card proxy with, you know, Apple (or whoever) watching/tracking in between?

    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
  9. Solution Searching For a Problem by Greyfox · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Oh, we're in the universe of the made-for-TV infomercial, aren't we? You know, that universe where everyone has stupid made-up problems that no one actually has? All that's missing from the summary is the crappy acting of all the D-List wannabe actors having problems with their bulky wallets.

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

  10. Re:Not in Spain by turbidostato · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "This said, going cashless, if this happens, will probably be one of the strongest blows to the back-market economy. Suppressing large US banknotes would also make drug and weapons traficking a bit harder."

    So what? Paper money has another very desirable property that electronic money lacks of: anonymity.

    It's nobody business where and how I expend my money. Full stop.

  11. Drop test by HockeyPuck · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Take your wallet, with whatever it is, and throw it down the stairs. Pick a nice long flight of stairs.

    Now, take your smart phone with whatever protective cover you typically use and toss the phone down the same flight of stairs.

    I'm guessing the wallet is a bit dirty, maybe a tad scuffed up, but the cash inside is still good and worst case a credit card is cracked, but I would bet that all the numbers on it are still perfectly legible.

    I wouldn't make the same bet for the phone.

    Bottom line: Wallets will always do better in a "drop test" than a smart phone.