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

Another step toward tyeanny

[ChrisMaple]

Make money worthless, make every transaction traceable.

Re:Another step toward tyeanny

[thegarbz]

That's like pissing in the ocean to contribute to the rising sea level. We are being traced far more than money ever could already, yet there are very few tyrants around.

Actually if anything tyrants seem to prefer USD as a primary currency.

Re: Another step toward tyeanny

[orlanz]

What are you talking about?

USD is more accepted than ANY other currency globally. The top global commodities are traded in dollar. Just by sheer population volumes in the native countries, the Rupee and Renminbi are probably used a lot. But both those countries keep far more USD debt than any other foreign currency. Euro comes in second, but never replaced the USD in any of the global commodity trades. UK even prices their commodities in USD since the 90s.

Re:Another step toward tyeanny

[amiga3D]

You know, if they're really out to screw you, it's not paranoia.

Re:Another step toward tyeanny

[rtb61]

It is not so much about anonymity in purchases, it is all about control. With a card they do most emphatically control you, you no longer buy stuff, you ask permission to have stuff and that can be denied for what ever reason they choose, in a capitalist society via that card, they can turn you into a non-citizen instantly.

Once you card is blocked you are done, no public transport, all services linked to the card shut down ie no phone calls, no taxi, no food, no drink, you can try walking home.

Via that card, they will be able to control you, your politics, your life and via their cards, your family. It is extremely dangerous stuff, cash in a capitalist society is freedom, no cash and you become a slave, always asking permission from your masters.

Top down decision

[Anonymous Coward]

Nobody wants a cashless society except the people who stand to skim a percent off every financial transaction and the government, who wants to be able to trace every credit and debit ever made.

Re:Top down decision

[mark-t]

Direct payment is a huge deal here in Canada, and since it became the prominent means of paying for goods here about decade and a half ago, I've actually enjoyed the freedom of not needing to carry cash everywhere I go.... plus, I can also honestly tell people accosting me for money near where I work downtown or at the subway that I do not have any to give them and they'll have every reason to believe me (so it benefits people who don't use direct payment that much but want to lie about carrying cash too).

Re:Top down decision

[Obfuscant]

My point is that this assertion is false.

The assertion is quite true. The fact that you enjoy the convenience of paying by card doesn't mean you want a cashless society, does it? You just want to be able to pay by card. As we can all pretty much see for ourselves, being able to pay with plastic doesn't require a cashless society. It's not an either/or situation.

Unless you do, as you imply by using yourself as an example of someone who wants a cashless society, actually want everyone else to lose the ability to pay by cash, in which case the answer to the question:

Whose life are you suggesting that I am sabotaging exactly?

is "everyone who values their money and privacy more than your convenience."

Ah .. .The War On Cash Continues

[Anonymous Coward]

The short short version of this rant:
          - Banks want to get rid of cash so you CANNOT withdraw from the banking system. Currently, if you really don't want to deal with banks, you can pull your money out in the form of cash, and transact WITHOUT them. They don't like this. They want COMPLETE CONTROL of your money. This way they can charge whatever fees or negative interest rates they want.
          - Governments want the cashless society so they can MONITOR EVERY TRANSACTION. This gives them more control, and greater tax revenue at the expensive of privacy and freedom. Also, piss off the wrong bureaucrat or policeman, and poof, they push a button and all your money is frozen. You can't buy food, pay your rent, or pay a lawyer to get the money unfrozen.

Oppose the cashless society.

Cashless Society

[ELCouz]

IRS wet dream!

USE CAUTION

[Dutchmaan]

When cash is no longer "in your hand" then it's no longer in your control. A cashless society is a VERY slippery slope and needs to be treated as such.

Small moves are necessary to ensure that there are adequate solutions to the fears and doubts that people will inevitably have about such a move.

A cashless society means you are at the financial mercy of whomever is in control of the little 1s and 0s in the financial sector.... and it won't be you!

This will work magnificently....

[sconeu]

Until Kim Jong Un decides to EMP the south.

Well...

[XSportSeeker]

still shortsighted, but I guess a billion times better than what India is going through right now.

Make no mistake people. All this crap around cashless society has absolutely zero to do with the costs of production, and all to do about population control, bank power, and the end of privacy. Once cash stops existing, that's it... you have zero independent financial control. All your earnings will be at banks hands. All the more reason for banks to exploit clients, toy with their money, and hold a get out of jail free card if they f*ck things up.

I guess one could say that we're already too deep into the whole sh*t swamp to go back, specially in cases like South Korea, but this is kinda the equivalent in economy terms of solving poverty by killing all the poor people.

Cash, in all countries, is the type of revenue that all the poorest, excluded from society, in the most fragile parts, minority conditions and whatnot depends on. Killing cash won't solve their problems, it'll only aggravate things.

But I don't need to talk much about it. We'll soon see the resulting catastrophe that will happen in India if they don't revert the decision. It'll be a huge shitshow. I don't even know if there will be anything recognizable left of the country a year from now if they continue going that way, mark my words.

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