I still carry good ol’ cash around. Why? Because tipping people with credit cards, where the back office can steal the tips, is inappropriate. Because plenty of small stores and restaurants still don’t accept cards, or set a minimum. And they’re right: why should they get porked for ~3% just because customers are too lazy to pay with real money?
Lastly, because it’s too easy for people to screw you over with a credit card, and you have to watch the statements like a hawk — the amount printed on the receipt doesn’t have to be the same as the charge, and rectifying it is time-consuming and ANNOYING!
Besides, even though I’m not doing anything wrong, I LIKE the idea of my payments being untraceable, either by some meddlers in Washington, or the same in a bank’s back office, looking to target advertising to their victims … I mean … customers or sell the data.
As far as Internet banking, I see it more of a replacement for banking by mail, or banking by ATM, than a replacement for cash. And paying by cell phone is just silly, since it requires the phone to be charged and turned on to be able to make a payment. Far better to have a contact-less card, and have the card account be CONTROLLED by an app on the phone.
“That will be twelve sixty-five.”
“Ummmm …. ummm … do you have an outlet?”
“NEXT CUSTOMER!”
