Cash or Credit Cards?
By M.-L.
@MALUSE (69373)
Germany
January 15, 2018 12:06pm CST
Today I bought something in a small shop. When I had to pay, I fished nearly the exact amount of money out of my wallet. I gave the shop-keeper two banknotes and all the necessary coins and she gave me back one small banknote. She was glad to get coins from me because they're often missing in the tills.
I felt like chatting with her because I was the only customer and I thought she might be bored. I told her that this morning I had heard a moderator on the radio say that he hoped cash would soon disappear as it was really not convenient. I understood from her facial expression that she thought this was a silly idea - just what I feel, too. He mentioned Sweden where people were already much more 'advanced' than they were in Germany. Who says that paying with credit cards means advancement? Maybe it does mean advancement. The question is, however, for whom?
I do have a credit card with me when I go shopping but use it only in case of emergency, i.e., when I haven't got enough cash with me. I only use it regularly when I buy big items. I wouldn't pay for, say, a piece of furniture or a car(!) with bank notes. My usual way of paying is cash.
My argument against credit cards is that one can easily forget when to stop buying things. When my cash is gone and my wallet is empty, my shopping trip is over. Many people own several credit cards! How silly can one get? If one card isn't backed by money in the bank account anymore, one switches over to another card? Does this automatically fill the bank account again?
The shop-keeper was listening to me nodding her head. So she agreed with me. Nice, who doesn't like such a reaction. Then she said something that I found very funny! I told her that she had won the first prize with her remark. She said, "If we don't have cash anymore, what do we give beggars?" Indeedy! Would beggars sit on the pavement with a battery run gadget into which we put our credit cards, would I press buttons and type my personal identification number into it in order to transfer my donated 1 Euro into their bank accounts?
The mind boggles.
48 people like this
50 responses
@vandana7 (100220)
• India
15 Jan 18
Aw...what an innocently sweet remark. The girl must have a kind heart. And you have been on my thoughts today though I hardly came here. I think credit card is a huge responsibility. It can be hacked, and forgotten as you said. In countries like India, it won't work for the next 100 odd years. I doubt if god will let me live that long.
5 people like this
@MALUSE (69373)
• Germany
15 Jan 18
Credit cars can be copied. Did you know that? An attentive bank clerk asked my friend's son if he had been to Prague recently because a big amount of money had been taken out of a bank there with his credit card. He had never been to Prague. Someone must have stolen his credit card, copied it and given it back. He didn't notice anything. I don't know how this is possible but it is possible.
5 people like this
@JudyEv (339433)
• Rockingham, Australia
15 Jan 18
I'd never thought about beggars and lack of cash. We use a credit card as much as possible as we get Frequent Flyer points on it. We always pay the amount in full when it is due. We are not people to make impulse purchases for no reason so our method works for us.
5 people like this
@JudyEv (339433)
• Rockingham, Australia
16 Jan 18
@lnillerman I know many people get badly into debt through cards.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (160611)
• United States
16 Jan 18
I use a debit card as it comes directly from my checking account. Not credit. I would be hard pressed to carry enough cash for a big shopping day at several stores. I have picked cash off the floor at stores or in parking lots. $20 one time, $50 another and no way to find the owner. I knew a kid that found a $100 bill. Up to a certain amount though, I do use cash.
2 people like this
@allknowing (135931)
• India
15 Jan 18
India thinks it is fashionable to go digital when there are so many illiterates who would be at sea having to deal with credit or debit cards. Small shops here prefer cash.
1 person likes this
@xFiacre (12970)
• Ireland
15 Jan 18
@maluse It’s also difficult to leave a tip in a café or restaurant if you just use a card. I prefer real money, although I do wish all other cash users would wash their hands properly before handling notes and coins that I’m going to be using afterwards.
1 person likes this
@MALUSE (69373)
• Germany
16 Jan 18
In Germany, coins are occasionally washed and old bank notes destroyed and substituted by new ones for hygienic reasons. We found the most repulsive banknotes in Egypt. Understandably, we had no gloves with us when we travelled there as tourists, so we had to touch them. Arrgh!
1 person likes this
@jillybean1222 (6407)
•
15 Jan 18
the whole electronic money thing does have a slight fear factor for me.... yes, i mostly use it (debit, not credit), but i have had it stolen from my account as well... TWICE! thankfully, both times the bank reimbursed me. But who ends up eventually paying for it? the consumer....
1 person likes this
@Traceyjayne (1784)
• United Kingdom
2 Mar 18
I never would have thought about the beggar situation ....I only pay cash if its a small amount...usually I use my card ...only because I get points and money off vouchers if I use my card.
1 person likes this
@silvermist (19702)
• India
22 Jan 18
This is a topic of discussion in India too.Our PM wants us to be a ''cashless''(!) country.Every body should be using cards.Anyway,I now have only cash and Debit card.I have closed all my credit cards. I use cash most of the time.
@garymarsh6 (23404)
• United Kingdom
14 Feb 18
I pay mostly by debit card and although I usually have a small amount of cash on me get irritated when I run out of cash, You know in London there is no way to get on the bus without having an oyster card which you put money on it in order to use the bus,.We are increasingly becoming a cashless society. Of course you have to have a load of coins in the car for parking but even that can be paid for by card or via your phone!
@garymarsh6 (23404)
• United Kingdom
14 Feb 18
@MALUSE It's pay back time that's why there are so many! Just catching up with posts!
@Fleura (30338)
• United Kingdom
15 Jan 18
Nowadays you can use your smart phone to transfer money, and the beggars often have the latest gadgets (I don't though).
I often use cash but my partner often uses a card (not a credit card, but a debit card). Cash is definitely less common though; some young cashiers have real trouble working out how to give change!
@nanette64 (20364)
• Fairfield, Texas
16 Jan 18
And a good example of the credit card problem is that in the US alone, there is $1 TRILLION in credit card debt @MALUSE .
@MALUSE (69373)
• Germany
16 Jan 18
@nanette64 My mother never even paid by instalments. When we came from the GDR (German Democratic Republic) to West Germany and lived with orange crates and borrowed furniture, she only bought another 'real' piece of furniture when she had saved the money. We travelled by train to the nearest big city to a furniture shop. There was a nice shop-assistant who knew us and was happy for us when we could afford another cupboard or a sofa, etc.
1 person likes this
@nanette64 (20364)
• Fairfield, Texas
16 Jan 18
@MALUSE I'm from the old school. Mom and Dad always said, "If you don't have the cash to buy it; you ain't gettin' it."
