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Cashless society

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Telamelo said:
Thinking only a matter of time till they phase out cheques.. and my 'ol man terribly frustrated as he's old school only believes in cash & cheques so life becoming more difficult for him nowadays
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Your Dad is probably not alone @Telamelo. Unfortunately, the move to eliminate cheques and then cash will not stop. Both types of transactions come with a cost and when usage drops below a certain level it no longer is viable. For sure businesses impose a fee for EFTPOS but overall this is less than the cost of dealing in cash which the business pays and then passes on to the consumer in some form. Change is difficult for many at the best of times and this is one of those times I'm sorry to say. The last time I wrote a cheque was over a decade ago and while I still carry cash, it's for smaller transactions (coffees and the like) and eventually will also go the way of the Dodo at some point. I'm pretty confident the issues of downtime with the availability of electronic access will be resolved as technology advances.

The argument we should wait for older people to die before introducing these measures isn't a goer either. It didn't fly when decimal currency was introduced and it won't fly now.
 
A local asian takeaway foody gives everyone a 5% discount for cash, he reckons it is better for his customers

It is a very busy buffet style, self serve, with a queue up from 11.15am to 2.30 everyday, cards are so slow to process, they are a pain to him.

Might help the funny money as well but he sure has great business
 
It happens sometimes. Went for a coffee and EFTPOS was down. A couple of other people there who, like me, had cash on them. Only 10 minutes or so of waiting time but quite a number of people, I estimate a dozen as I didn't actually count, turned around and walked out. Some income for the business lost and not just on coffees as I'll assume a number wanted to eat there as well.
 
Moral of this story
Always carry some cash for emergencies.
 
The town I live in has a population of around 4,200 people.
As of September, the one remaining bank branch, which was already on reduced hours, will close down.
Ten years ago the town was served by three of the big four banks, plus the Bendigo Bank agency.
As of September, all will be gone.
The nearest bank is about 15 kms away, the other majors about 20 kms away.
The poor power supply in the area give regular power outages in the area bring the EFTPOS systems down regularly.
It is essential to carry cash.

Mick
 
I think it will be a long time before we go cashless and even then there will probably still be cash, just small denominations.
With regard small country towns, I expect over time some will get bigger as they become regional centers and some will disappear, it is already happening in W.A.
The larger towns with a hospital are generally becoming the hub of the area and the smaller towns that had relevance years ago when they were on the narrow gauge railway line, are now slowly dying as the services fold.
Just the way things go as transport changes, so do logistics and the small towns that were needed 100 years ago aren't today, it's a sad reality.
 

I have to go 20kms to a bank, but I haven't been in in one for about 3 years.

The local PO/pharmacy could give cash if needed. Fortunately there have been few EFTPOS failures.

All the bills are paid online.

Maybe it's dangerous relying on the internet for these things, but it's worked so far.
 

Where possible, I have set up direct debits for those bills which occur on a regular basis. It includes payment for rates, electricity and water. As a result, I don't concern myself if the internet goes down as it's the biller which has to resolve it.

I have, however, listed which bills are subject to direct debit and that list is with my Will (in a strong box which can withstand heat from fire for one hour or being submerged for 24 hours) along with access details and passwords for share registries, broker, along with details on how to access Google Drive, synched with folders on the PC's hard drive - and which is also backed up to multiple sources including an external SSD I can throw into my bug out bag just in case - and holds all share transactions, tax records and the like. I have let my Executors know about it. They are on board with it and have done a similar thing I understand. Sounds complicated by once set up it's less than five minutes of my time for each transaction and there are relatively very few of those.

I cannot remember the last time I went to a physical bank. Have to be over a decade at least as my wife has been deceased longer than that.
 
Belli said:
I cannot remember the last time I went to a physical bank. Have to be over a decade at least as my wife has been deceased longer than that.
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Like you, as many of my bills are automated, but there are occasions when you have to go visit a bank.
Recently I recieved two cheques , one from the State Government, and one from RACV.
Why they had to send cheques and not to an EFT is beyond me, both orgs have every detail of my life including my bank details and size of my d***.
So I had to go to a bank to deposit the cheques.
When my credit card was hacked, I had to go to a branch to sort it out and prove my identity.
Sometimes you just get no choice.
mick
 

One of my debit cards is with NAB. Should I receive a cheque, which is doubtful, I'll use this facility if possible. Electronic cheque deposit.


Mobile Cheque Deposit

Deposit cheques under $5,000 quickly and easily with your smart phone and the NAB app. Save time travelling to a branch. Find out more.
www.nab.com.au
 
Just for a bit of alarmism....

Our world is getting ever closer to WW3. The US is now openly sending cluster bombs to the Ukraine to use on Russians, there open discussion of Ukraine joining NATO, and there skirting around the issue of US boots-on-the-ground.

The lunatics running the show are escalating this to potentially catastrophic levels

In the event of a wider conflagration erupting, it will be sudden and without notice, as first order attack world be EMP weapons which will disabled the entire electronics systems.

Because we in Australia part of the five eyes network, there is no way that we will be immune from such an attack, even if we do not suffer direct nuclear strikes.

Therefore, the possibility that the entire EFT system being disabled, country word is very real and perhaps imminent. Consider the possibility of everything being down, no access to any of your funds for an indeterminate period of time, if ever, and not even a lousy $20 bill in your wallet.

Not this little black duck.

EFT is used only if unavoidable and all those who tut and sigh when I pull cash out of my wallet to pay for shyt, might test give me as one of their best customers in the future.

I pray this never happens, but in my opinion one must not ignore the possibility.
 
If that ever happens Wayne, you would be better off owning a gun, plenty of ammo, and living a long way from "civilisation".
Mick
 
mullokintyre said:
If that ever happens Wayne, you would be better off owning a gun, plenty of ammo, and living a long way from "civilisation".
Mick
Click to expand...
Agreeeeeed!!!!!

But that is pretty nigh on impossible in Western Australia in any practical sense now (re gun ownership). I consider that in itself very suspicious.
 
wayneL said:
he US is now openly sending cluster bombs to the Ukraine to use on Russians,
Click to expand...

Both sides have been using Soviet cluster munitions since the beginning of the conflict so additional munitions of that type isn't an escalation. It's been that way from the very start.
 
Belli said:
Both sides have been using Soviet cluster munitions since the beginning of the conflict so additional munitions of that type isn't an escalation. It's been that way from the very start.
Click to expand...
Plus Turkïye, a NATO member, has supplied to Ukraine.

Oh, and welcome Sweden to NATO.
 
Dona Ferentes said:
Plus Turkïye, a NATO member, has supplied to Ukraine.

Oh, and welcome Sweden to NATO.
Click to expand...
Sweden will deserve what they get ... bankruptcy , NATO is just a gun-running money-pit even before Obama was elected the first time

they ( Sweden ) choose that path no sympathy here
 
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