If you don't pay cash, add $140 a year to your purchases in charges (as at February 2024). The people and organisations who don't want you to use cash are raking in $4 billion a year from from people who are marching like zombies to a totally cashless society.

It's not just government surveillance and government ability to freeze your bank accounts, or decide what you can spend your own money on. All traders and government departments will add a surcharge if cash goes and, like all charges, they will go up rather than down.

Thank you Ttbn.

In addition, other forms of financial transactions depend on the stability of computers and their networks, which are vulnerable to hacking and many other forms of both natural and human-made disasters.

Those thinking only of fun and immediate convenience would not find it convenient or funny when they are left with no means of transacting and after losing all their hard-earned savings due to electronic failures, that are bound to happen sooner or later.

Yuyutsu

We have already had the Optus failure and other outrages. ATMs are being withdrawn by banks and credit unions, sometimes replaced by independent businesses that have to charge $3 a pop for withdrawals.

There was a recent report of a countryman travelling a 139 kilometres round trip to his nearest bank to get $300, only to be told by the bank teller that they don't do cash anymore.

How about the surcharges on cards: a percentage of amount you spend, not a flat rate. I would not have thought that it would cost anymore to process $500, say, than it would $50.

These are things that we need to grill our so-called representatives on; getting them to realise that it is us, not the government that they are supposed to answer to.

Pay to play.

You mean I won't be able to buy a toilet roll to wipe my bum with, without paying western foreign bankers like VISA a small transaction fee?

It's not just a cashless society, it's a forced tax paid to private enterprise, and I'm not even going to start with the fact that western governments can't be trusted with this level of power.

You see them cutting off other peoples access to money and trade?
You see them stealing the private assets of foreign individuals (Russian)?
Next it will be us, you can absolutely count on it.
They will say 'We have a responsibility to your safety and the environment'.
You can only purchase meat once per week.
You can't have 2 and a half sugars in your coffee.
They will make new rules for us dictating every aspect of our lives, but exempt themselves.

This is the ultimate powergrab by the elite and sellout of individual liberties.
They will get richer, we will become slaves.

Boycott the Big 4 banks.
Always use cash wherever possible.

Dear Ttbn,

Sorry, I have no idea about these surcharges because I just don't use these things.

All I know is that there are certain shops I can no longer buy in and certain places I can no longer go to because I am not allowed to park there any more.

Recently my orchestra gave a concert in a city-centre location where there is no street parking around, only an underground parking that would not accept my money: we were told that as performers we can then present our parking slips and receive a full refund, but that couldn't help. As this concert was important enough, I had to ask for a lift there instead and come earlier, walk the remaining distance with all my gear (fortunately it did not rain) then later ask one of my friends in the orchestra for a lift back.

Life gets more and more difficult as we grow old...

This is the digital centralisation of everything.
Banking, buying, internet posts, all in one place to get your social credit score.

Yuyutsu,

“Life gets more and more difficult as we grow old…”

It certainly does. Unfortunately, as has always been the case, you have to get old yourself before you realise it; and the people making all the changes don't have a clue what it is like to be old. At 80, I now cringe at some of the things that I expected my mother to take on when she was in her 90s; so I understand that the younger ones today are just the same. I hope they make the most of everything before they get old.

About the surcharges: I have an email drafted to send to my MP tomorrow hoping to get some enlightenment. There is a percentage of the sale amount charged reportedly to cover the cost transactions, but I can't see how a larger sale would cost more than a smaller sale to deal with at the Big Bank. If there has to be a charge, it should be a flat one.

Not all traders add the charge - being competitive - but, with no cash, they will all be at it.

I do use a debit card, not a credit card: I use my own money - when it suits me. If any business demands ‘cash only’, I will not deal with them. But you are a strict cash only man, as you are entitled to be, and as many other older people are. The puppeteers and tyrants don't seem to care.

I've heard the RBA woman and a couple of politicians say ‘we are not going to phase cash out altogether’. I don't believe them. No cash gives governments more control over us, and it enriches banks and other financial institutions, plus businesses flogging card/phone tapping machines to traders. And, the scammers will be delighted.

As usual, the big losers will be us if there is a cashless society,

I have two credit cards one on a mutual society bank and the other a
mainstream bank.
The charges I make on either appear in the account as the same on the
product, on the printed receipt and in the on line accounts.
So it seems that the shop must be adding on the network charges to the goods.
If this is so you cannot escape the cashless charges whether you use cash or not !

Bezza,

Sorry. I don't follow.

I assume "charges" are the amounts you pay. But "account" and "online accounts" ?

And there are no charges if you pay cash.

The ticket prices of the goods I buy are the same as in my bank account
I only get any charges on foreign transactions.

Hi AC,

"You mean I won't be able to buy a toilet roll to wipe my bum with" Nah, you just use $50 notes. Tried it with the plastic too small, too hard, 50's are better!

Sorry for the kid on my local group page, left his wallet in KFC, returned a few minutes later, wallet gone. Store no help, suggested that the store CCTV be looked at, maybe a customer, maybe staff. I'm no saint, but in recent years I've found 3 wallets and through a bit of detective work managed to return them to their owners

Bezza

OK. You are not copping a surcharge from whoever you are dealing with. You would see the charge on the receipt if there is one. Some traders don't charge it; some do. They are all required by law to put a notice with their scanners that a surcharge applies. My most recent use of a Visa card for petrol, a carpet, a lounge suite, a new microwave, have had NO surcharge added. A restaurant is the only one that stung me. They “prefered ” card payments, but still took cash.

We can save cash by using it.

I saw a program on TV last night with a ‘jury’ that voted on whether they wanted a cashless society or not. Although most of them used electronic payments - never used cash - they ALL said NO to scrapping cash.

More often than not I use cash, probably 80 - 90% of the time. Occasionally I use VISA debit, but online purchases are usually Paypal or VISA debit if paying for the item at the point of sale.
I also use afterpay, but I only use it in a manner where I'm not paying any fees.
Sometimes I think 'why pay now if I can pay later, if it doesn't cost me any more', but it must have a significant cost to the seller as my mechanic charges an extra 20% if using afterpay, so I usually pay cash, but I paid on card when I had the car serviced last week.
I also have Zip-pay, but I always pay any outstanding amount by the end of the month, because they do charge a monthly fee.
I have a $3000 limit on afterpay, and a $1000 limit on zip-pay.
- A lot of young people have problems paying these kinds of alternate payment methods on time, there's quite a few of them to exploit if you're a young person struggling to make ends meet.
Some people use them for week to week essentials, which I do not.

Buying beer across the counter is cashless around here. I think it's the way to go and will go. The govt will be in for a gigantic windfall when every transaction can be seen. That will put a lot of persons off side. How much saved by not printing notes and coins.
Not all will be happy for self reasons but good all round.

Riely

Good all round, you reckon?

.You are OK paying more?
.Having your spending visible to government?
.The possibility in the future of having what you spend on certain
goods limited to "save the planet", e.g?
.The possibility of having your money frozen because you do or say
something the government doesn't like?
.Travel, holidays, recreational activities limited.

These things are already happening in places like Communist China. There is no guarantee that they wouldn't occur here.

Perhaps you would be happy with that sort of existence. I'm not sure that many other people would be.

Hi Riely,
I think 'good all round' would be better defined as 'people get to choose cash or card'.
Cashless only benefits the government and the bankers.
- It reduces the citizens choices, so it's actually not 'good all round' at all.

The TBt bloke has got spiders jumping out of walls. Where does he get that sort of information from. 75 % now are cashless. At least 75% of people have nothing to hide. Protesting will not save the day maybe some constructive thoughts may have more benefit.

Hi AC,

I have the best of both worlds, I'm cashless and cardless. I just say; "Put it on account....on a count me's got no money." and the nice person at the check says; "That's fine sir, if you could possibly, maybe, only at your convenience, pop in sometime in the future and make a small down payment for those groceries you are about to wheel out the door, hummm! With that, I wish them a fond farewell and never return!

Please remember the motto of the big banks and big supermarkets and Gerry Harvey is "we would rather make friends than make money" I sing out; "Hi Gerry" every time I pass a Harvey Norman Store Gerry always yells back; "Hi Paul, have a nice day."

Ttbn- Nigel Farage had his account closed in the UK because they didn't like his politics- even though it is legal- and couldn't get at his pay. Others in Australia seem to have had their accounts closed for political reasons- in some cases there seems to be some sort of activism similar to the woke group the "Sleeping Giants" that forced the closure of Newscorps TV Channel "My Money".
http://mumbrella.com.au/nine-and-news-corp-close-your-money-joint-venture-577981
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_Giants

The Riely bloke can't spell his own name nor mine - ttbn not TBt. Spiders? 75%? We are actually about 87% cashless.

Where do I get this “sort of information from”. From books, sunshine. You have probably never opened one.

Where do you get the “75%” of people who have “nothing to hide”? Google? ABC?

You need to be aware of what the government wants to know before you decide whether or not you have anything to hide. You haven't the reading ability to take in the list I gave you above. You seem to lack any awareness of what governments are up to. Like many Australians with no awareness, no imagination, no knowledge of history, you are sleep walking towards totalitarianism.

In your particular case, beer could be an added problem. Beer is not the first thing that most people would think of when it comes to how they pay for things. Try to stay off it when you are posting. You might make more sense.

Apparently Matt Rivitz of the Sleeping Giants was lobbying BMW while working on their advertising campaign- of course his employer sacked him according to reports. It's concerning if those working in the advertising profession are conducting black operations against the companies that they represent.

CM

Yes. A well known example of what can happen. The problem is that many of the posters here, and the general hoi polloi don't seem able to keep with what is well known. Good to know that you are still on the ball.

I'm not sure if additional intelligence requests for information on banking transactions for certain people is a factor and whether there is politicization here. Of course if there are significant red tape requests from authorities then the businesses will need to recoup these costs. A hidden cost of police fishing expeditions.

Hope you're well ttbn.