The Pros and Cons of a Cashless Society
Published / Last Updated on 07/07/2020
A card payment only and online banking only cashless society means exactly that, no cash. It means no cash, cashless. Cashless means fully digital, fully traceable.
Some extracts from social media comments on becoming cashless and then our own reality check.
A cashless society means:
* If you are struggling with your mortgage on a particular month, you cannot do an odd job to get you through.
* Your child cannot go and help tidy up a pensioner’s garden to earn a bit of summer cash. ‘Bob A Job Week’ is gone.
* No more cash slipped into the hands of a child as a good luck charm or from their grandparent when going on holidays.
* No more money in birthday cards.
* No more piggy banks for your child to collect pocket money and to learn about the value of earning.
* No more cash for a rainy day fund or for that something special you have been putting €20 a week away for.
* No more charity collections.
* No more selling unwanted items from your home that you no longer want/need for a bit of cash in return.
* No more cash gifts from relatives or loved ones.
What a cashless society does guarantee:
* No more ‘foreigners’ on the side because your wages barely cover the bills or put food on your table (that’s tax evasion anyway, so it is unlawful unless you disclose the same for income tax purposes)
* You will have no choice but to declare and be taxed on every pound in your possession – which is the law so it should be declared anyway.
* Banks have full control of every single pound you own.
* Every transaction you make is recorded.
* All your movements and actions are traceable.
* Access to your money can be blocked at the click of a button when/if banks need ‘clarification’ from you which may take around 3 weeks, a thousand questions answered and five thousand passwords.
* The government will eventually have control and decide what you can and cannot purchase.
* If your transactions are deemed in any way questionable, by those who create the questions, your money will be frozen, ‘for your own good’.
Some may say: “Cash has been around for a very long time and it gives you control over how you trade with the world. It gives you independence.”
Benefits to a cashless society:
* No money under the bed, it is in a safer, secure place.
* No fake money, you cannot be caught out by forgers.
* People are forced to pay taxes that they should be as all money becomes traceable.
* It becomes easier for governments and law enforcement agencies to tackle organised crime.
* Open banking already means that both you and your advisers can better understand how you spend your money and where you could save money. That said, it will not be too long before your personal online tax account from HMRC will have ‘open banking’ access to your accounts. Again, this will mean less fraud.
Reality check:
A bank note from the Bank of England is little more than a ‘debt’ promise anyway. The Bank of England promises to pay the bearer the sum of 20 pounds sterling. This does not mean you can walk into the Bank of England with your £20 note and demand 20 lbs in weight of Saxon silver coins called ‘Sterlings’. The dollar, the pound, the euro et al is already little more than a ‘crypto’ coin. We are moving towards a cashless society whether we like it or not.
