The war on cash isn’t just a nefarious plot being perpetrated by the governments, central banks and law enforcement agencies of the world. It is also being conducted by the private sector, including credit card giants Visa and MasterCard.
Visa announced that it is offering small businesses thousands of dollars so they can upgrade their payment technology. But there is one caveat: the company must stop accepting cash.
That’s right. You can get free stuff as long as you no longer take cash.
Visa confirmed the initiative this past week as part of efforts to get U.S. consumers to transition from physical cash to digital. The credit card juggernaut noted that it plans to give $10,000 per restaurant and food vendor as long as they embark on a “journey to cashless.”
This shouldn’t be surprising. Speaking at an investor’s conference last month, Visa CEO Al Kelly stated that “we’re focused on putting cash out of business.”
MasterCard is also hopping on the end-of-cash bandwagon.
Reportedly, MasterCard is mulling over adding biometric scanning in addition to their plethora of security features. The scanning mechanism is installed to the card without increasing its size. You simply insert the card into a payment system with your thumb on the fingerprint scanner and voila.
The war on cash is being engaged on all fronts.
The banks know you will spend more if you pay with plastic. They will make at least a transaction fee, even if the balance on the card is paid in full. I will be debt free in Dec 2018 and will then be using cash except when ordering something on line, just a few times per month. I use very little cash now because by sending my credit cards 95 percent of my monthly income it keeps the average daily balances lower, so the banks get less interest per month as I pay the debt down.
Also, since interest paid on savings accounts is so low, I will be keeping cash at home in a safe, so if we have a “bank holiday”
during the next banking crisis I will be able to buy what I need.