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There are lots of really poor people who don't have bank accounts and going cashless everywhere freezes them out of being able to buy things
I mean it’s clearly not easier for a homeless person. Which I guess is the point. Note that I’m not really for the new law but there’s a pretty clear purpose behind it
Millions of Americans don't have a bank account. Also, many businesses charge you less when you pay cash; cash is king still
Besides the access issue others have mentioned, for those who lack good credit history or financial stability, digital payments add burdensome extra cost to their lives. Examples:
- paying by debit almost always entails an extra charge
- paying by debit or credit often has a transaction minimum
- general use gift cards (the ones with credit card logos) almost always have significant activation fees, usage fees, and ongoing monthly fees if you don’t use it up in the month it first gets used
- exchanging cash for gift cards takes time, which poorer people very often do not have because **everything** takes longer when you are poor
- the only financial institutions available to you or operating in your neighborhood are often extremely predatory in the products the offer (think payday loan operations)
- debit cards lack fraud protection like credit cards do, so someone’s bank account can very easily get drained and incur them many other problems for being overdrawn
- bank accounts require minimum balances to avoid monthly fees
- account lockouts prevent you from participating in society when you don’t have other accounts and cards
So even if we are heading towards a cashless society, the US lacks all the protections we see in other countries that would enable poorer people to use it because we based it on the credit card system. For very different approaches, see India’s digital payment system designed to be extremely secure and cost nothing (allowing transactions valued at pennies) or the mobile carrier-based payment systems popular in Africa, the “universal app”-based system in China, or the metro card system of Hong Kong.
am i misunderstanding or is this a motion to just ALSO carry and accept cash payments in order to be more inclusive (while still accepting all digital forms)?
Yes, it’s to allow cash ALSO. Some places have said no to cash, citing crime, so they don’t want cash on premises, but that excludes many who don’t have a credit card (bad credit, bankruptcy, etc) or debit card (don’t have bank account).
Everyone already wrote what I was thinking so…. Ditto
It’s the same sentiment with the governor pushing for electric only vehicle sales by 2035. I think resale will be fine for some time what’s going to happen in the future? How long til gas stations are phased out? How long are electric batteries going to last? Will car companies be able to lower the price point enough for lower income people? What about accessibility to electricity for low income areas? There will be no more tinkering on old cars to get them to work for low income people at some point and there will most likely be a black market for batteries. The divide between high income, middle income, and low income will grow even more.