South Korea To Kill the Coin in Path Towards 'Cashless Society' (cnbc.com)

The central bank in South Korea, one of the world's most technologically advanced and integrated nations, is taking a major step in getting rid of coins in the nation in what is an attempt to become a cashless society. The first step is to get rid of the metal, a feat authorities hope to achieve by 2020. From a report on FT: The Bank of Korea on Thursday announced it will step up its efforts to reduce the circulation of coins, the highest denomination of which is worth less than $0.50. As part of the plan it wants consumers to deposit loose change on to Korea's ubiquitous "T Money" cards -- electronic travel passes that can be used to pay for metro fares, taxi rides and even purchases in 30,000 convenience stores. The proposals are just the latest step for a nation at the forefront of harnessing technology to make citizens' lives more convenient. Online shopping is the norm, as are mobile payments for the country's tech-savvy millennials. South Korea is already one of the least cash-dependent nations in the world. It has among the highest rates of credit card ownership -- about 1.9 per citizen -- and only about 20 percent of Korean payments are made using paper money, according to the BoK. But while convenience is at the crux of the central bank's plan, there are other considerations. The BoK spends more than $40m a year minting coins. There are also costs involved for financial institutions that collect, manage and circulate them.

Comments

Re:Another step toward tyeanny

[Marxist Hacker 42]

There's good reason for that. If your army fails and you need to run, USD is accepted everywhere.

Re:Another step toward tyeanny

[x0ra]

cisgender: sisjendr/, adjective, denoting or relating to a person whose self-identity conforms with the gender that corresponds to their biological sex; not transgender.

India just tried to go almost completely cashless

[Nova Express]

Overnight and without warning, the government banned bills worth more than about $1.50. The result has been an absolute disaster:

97% of the Indian economy is cash-based. With 88% of all outstanding currency no longer usable, the economy is coming to a standstill. The daily-wage laborer, who leads a hand-to-mouth existence in a country with GDP per capita of a mere $1,600, no longer has work, as his employer has no cash to pay his wages. His life is in utter chaos. He is not as smart as Modi — despite the fact that Modi has no real life experience except as a bully and perhaps in his early days as a tea-seller at a train-station. He has no clue where his life is headed from here.

These people are going hungry, and some have begun to raid food shops. People are dying for lack of treatment at hospitals. Old people are dying in the endless queues. Some are killing themselves, as they are unable to comprehend the situation and simply don’t know what to do. There are now hundreds of such stories in the media.

Small businesses are in shambles, and many will probably never recover. The Hindu wedding season has just started and people are left with unusable banknotes. Their personal and family lives are now an utter disaster.

Banks and ATMs are running out of what little cash their is shortly after they open.

Think of the children ...

[taniwha]

Seriously think about how kids learn how to use and appreciate money - using an ATM card is just not the same as holding coins, counting them, feeling the weight in your pocket.

And (USA I'm looking at you) start including sales tax in advertised prices - explaining to a 5 year old that yes he has enough for that ice cream, but he has to calculate 6% in his head and add that to the price, is just insane