Why do Cypriots still in many/most cases use cash? It always gives me pause when I go to pay for something here and the clerk hesitates then asks whether I want to pay with a card. In the USA, which I left 14 years ago, I have not used cash in probably 25 years. So the clerk would be surprised if I wanted to pay with cash. Once I had no money at all 30 years ago in my debit account but my boss said go 5 hours on an airplane for a business trip. It was not a problem as I could pay with credit cards and did not worry about those not being accepted anywhere.
But change is coming that will end cash for everyone. Digital euros. I explain that below.
Banks Closing Branches and ATMs
Yesterday I drove by Hellenic Bank. It was Saturday morning. People were lined up to get cash from the ATM. I've been reading the financial statements of the banks here, because I this is something that interests me. There the banks describe their operations and plans. The banks here are not losing money, but they have been closing branches, and thus ATMs, and laying off people simply to boost profits. This means there are fewer places to get cash. Here, probably the same as the USA, the law says an ATM must be attached to a bank, with a few exceptions, like malls and airports. It cannot just be put out in a parking lot (Except for those tourist ones which charge huge fees. Avoid those for sure.)
I went to get cash because I need it to pay my pool man. It's the only place I use cash. He is very careful to hire workers who have papers. But he does not want to pay VAT on his revenue. In the USA, and the UK and France, etc., you go to prison for tax avoidance.
Taxi companies here don't except cards, or at least I have never found one that does. This despite the law saying they must do so. The driver usually says "I forgot the machine." And this includes big taxi companies. Are they doing this to avoid taxes too?
Some Cypriots have Revolut. Even found a coffee shop that has that.
But why use cash when it's so much trouble to go get it? Why not use a debit or credit card? It's so simple. People with serious disease has touched this. Now you have too. Soon you will be able to use digital cash. China already has this system and most people use that there instead of cash.
Coming Change: Digital Currency
I wrote a paper recently for a computer security firm. It talked about the Swedish e-Krona and other digital currencies. Most countries are working on these. A few are in pilot stages. The Bank of England, USA Federal Reserve, and the European Union Central Bank are all working on digital currencies. These are not bitcoin. They don't fluctuate in price. The only thing they have in common is they use blockchain technology. If you are not familiar with that it means that every single money unit includes the entire history of everyone who every bought or sold it. That's called the transaction ledger. And everyone has equal access to that complete history. It's what protects against counterfeit currency.
It might take some years but soon this will be the dominate way to pay. Except the JCC credit card processor is certain to complain as it will take away their fees as such a system will have zero fees, presumably.
https://www.riksbank.se/en-gb/payments–cash/e-krona/
by cyprusgreekstudent
5 comments
Where did you try to pay by card and was not accepted? It’s illegal
Well, if you are interested, then you might also want to know about the digital payment transformation that happened in India, now a very major part of everyday transaction happens via UPI payments. Almost 74044 million transactions happened in 2022 alone and now UPI payments has made its way to France as well. Also India has started their own eRupee the digital currency.
https://www.nic.in/blogs/digital-payments-driving-the-growth-of-digital-economy/
Around the world people use cash to avoid taxes and/or launder money. This includes taxi drivers. Good luck paying for a taxi with a card in very civilized Germany, lol. This only works with apps like Bolt and Uber, etc.
Btw, agreeing to take something is “accept”, not “except”.
How ironic you would say this, when the US is the biggest user of cheques in the world. By a lot! The last dinosaur in this area.
If you want a real example of a cashless, digital payments country, look at China.
> If you are not familiar with that it means that every single money unit includes the entire history of everyone who every bought or sold it. That’s called the transaction ledger. And everyone has equal access to that complete history.
This sounds like a ridiculous breach of financial privacy. Unless the “who” part is anonymized somehow. Otherwise, well, businesses will have instant access to their competitors’ deals, potential employees and insurance companies will have access to your medical bills, all kinds of crazy things become possible.