Is this a war on cash or a war on privacy? Or both?

[Industrial Toys]

Continuation of rant. I mean AC is one thing. My Dad never owned one. Power seats is another. But a chromed plastic badge on your truck, (supposed to be a symbol of the working man), is just something like the gaudy chrome name on a gucci (sp?) hand bag.

 

[WM75Guy]

I have seen some businesses stop taking cash or checks, plastic only. Has advantages, no trips to the bank for deposits or change, less chance of employee theft or robbery. I am sure someone will challenge them with the "legal tender for all debts" argument, except the law does not mandate a business has to accept cash.

Legal Tender Status

I also see that Kroger is going to stop accepting Visa credit cards at some stores, the fees are too high. I suspect others may follow Kroger's idea.
I can remember when merchants would not take American Express because of high fees and you had to deposit your receipts to get your money.

Kroger ban on Visa credit cards:
What you need to know

 

[Jstpssng]

^^^^
I remember that with gas cards. Every time that we took one we were supposed to check a book which was updated monthly; if a card was in it we were supposed to keep it. Over a certain amount we had to call the charge in.

 

[MossRoad]

We were in Pittsburgh a few weeks ago for a Pirates game (they lost), and I was surprised at the number of CASH ONLY shops. When I see CASH ONLY, two things come to mind:

1. The merchants are standing up to high swipe fees from credit card companies.
2. The merchants are scamming the IRS as cash is hard to track.

 

[MossRoad]

When I worked at the airport back in the 80's, we gave a 10% discount for fuel sales paid for with cash. I was always amazed that a pilot would come up to pay for 2000 gallons of fuel, at $2.50 a gallon, see that 10% discount sign, head out to his plane, come back with a wad of cash and start peeling off hundreds, fifties and twenties.

The credit card companies charged something like 1.5% back then, so why the 10% discount???

Again, I suspect my boss was scamming the IRS on cash sales.

 

[Jstpssng]

There used to be a convenience store a few towns up that opened at 4:30 every morning. For the first few hours all transactions were made from the top of the register; he never even unlocked the drawer until 8:00 AM.

 

[dragoneggs]

Think about this the next time you may be tempted to complain about "rich people".

If you make just $32,400 per year in U.S. dollars, you are making more money than 99% of the rest of the people on the planet. You are the 1% that so many people get fixated on.

Are You in the Top One Percent of the World? | Investopedia

Interesting perspective...

 

[Diggin It]

Seems to me there was some kind of court case not too long ago about merchants adding a percentage for credit card sales over cash, but I can't remember which side won. I'm pretty sure we (the consumers) lost though.

 

[MossRoad]

Interesting perspective...

Yeah. It makes you knock on wood if you have enough money to afford just food and shelter. Everything else is gravy.

 

[two_bit_score]

Seems to me there was some kind of court case not too long ago about merchants adding a percentage for credit card sales over cash, but I can't remember which side won. I'm pretty sure we (the consumers) lost though.

I think the rule is they can give a 'discount' for cash but they can't 'charge more' for credit card purchases.

Splitting hairs, right?