how long before cash is obsolete?

[Gumby]

i guess this is partly why NYC/new yorkers have the reputation they have.

And the people in the hinterlands have the reputation they do.

 

[Car-Guy]

Not in my lifetime.... But I'm starting to get on up there in age....

 

[TromboneAl]

They've invented this thing called self checkout at most places I shop. Not Costco though.

Costco had them for a while, and they were great. We used them every time. Shorter lines. Then Costco decided they were too difficult to maintain.

 

[davebarnes]

As for checks, I write two every year, because that's the only way to pay our property tax to the county and the city.

The Paradise of the City & County of Denver takes credit cards with no surcharge. A quick 4000 Avios for us. This year it cemented the 50000 Avios bonus on the new Chase card.
And, by the way, our tax rate is 0.5% of market value.

 

[Dtail]

Costco had them for a while, and they were great. We used them every time. Shorter lines. Then Costco decided they were too difficult to maintain.

BJ's has the self checkout line. It is efficient.

 

[pacergal]

The self check out lanes I use all accept cash and give cash change.
DH and I carry cash for personal "fun" spending.
I still write a few checks every month, mostly for medical bills that I have not set up for online payment.
My kids rarely, if ever carry cash. Use debit, credit, Venmo, etc.
I do not seeing us going to a cashless society in the near future. Maybe someday, but not soon.

 

[nwsteve]

Costco had them for a while, and they were great. We used them every time. Shorter lines. Then Costco decided they were too difficult to maintain.

Not completely. We live in Puget Sound area, and Costco stores in heavy tech neighborhoods still seem to have. Think Redmond and Kirkland and, of course, Costco corp backyard store, Issaquah. OTOH, in So Sound Tacoma and Olympia stores not so much

 

[audreyh1]

Not completely. We live in Puget Sound area, and Costco stores in heavy tech neighborhoods still seem to have. Think Redmond and Kirkland and, of course, Costco corp backyard store, Issaquah. OTOH, in So Sound Tacoma and Olympia stores not so much

Oh dang! I should have looked for that self checkout when I visited that store!

 

[Yoheadden]

I assume cash will continue to decline as a payment option, but it won’t go away entirely in my lifetime, and I don’t really care. We rarely use cash for larger transactions, say $15 and up, but we rarely use a CC for anything under about $15 even though we usually could - which evidently (to my surprise) makes us relatively forward thinking according to the chart below.

Cashless might reduce petty robberies, there’s already evidence of it. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/04/cashless-society/477411/

If cash goes away I can live with it, but I know the “get off my lawn” generation will resist out of habit as much as anything...

But they can eliminate $#&@* pennies anytime and I’d be happy.

All for dropping the penny. From what I have heard, it costs more to make them, then there value.

As for the rest of our currency going away, probably not in our lifetimes

 

[Music Lover]

All for dropping the penny. From what I have heard, it costs more to make them, then there value.

As for the rest of our currency going away, probably not in our lifetimes

I don't think the cost of making them is an issue...it's not like they're used once then thrown away.

We (Canada) got rid of the penny years ago and it worked out fine. We also got rid of paper $1 and $2 bills and replaced them with coins.

 

[JoeWras]

I don't think the cost of making them is an issue...it's not like they're used once then thrown away.

We (Canada) got rid of the penny years ago and it worked out fine. We also got rid of paper $1 and $2 bills and replaced them with coins.

Ditto Europa.

The USA tried and made a huge mistake by designing the SB Anthony to look too much like a quarter. Every attempt since has been a mess because of that. And what's so wrong about a $2 bill? I use them occasionally and store clerks have to call a manager. So, we continue to spend a lot of money to manufacture money that barely lasts.

Since we seem to like to manufacture money here, I doubt cash will go away.

 

[mckittri2000]

Retired early at 56 and use cash for almost every transaction we do. We go to the bank at the beginning of the month and withdraw our monthly allocation for food, entertainment and general living expenses. It's much easier for me to budget that way.

 

[Dtail]

Retired early at 56 and use cash for almost every transaction we do. We go to the bank at the beginning of the month and withdraw our monthly allocation for food, entertainment and general living expenses. It's much easier for me to budget that way.

That was my thinking around 7 years ago, but have caught the CC rewards bug and go that route mostly now.

 

[Tracer]

I have been cashless as long as I can remember. I have been holding the same $20 in my wallet that I keep for emergencies for months. It never gets spent. I kind of like the nearly $1000 I got back in 2019 from using my 2% cashback Fidelity Visa for virtually everything. $1000 is not chump change in my book... and I don't have to deal with dog-eared bills and loose coins.

 

[rk911]

a large portion of the cash i carry (usually ~$100) goes to tips but there are still places where cash in king....my barber shop, the vendors at the ball park, shoe repair guy to name a few. the grill at our snowbird resort recently went cash-less.

 

[Koolau]

If you've ever been in a situation where suddenly CCs don't work, cash is suddenly king. Our Island infrastructure is vulnerable to "issues" which can lead to such a situation. True, cash registers also fail, but it's funny how smaller merchants (you know, the ones who actually have skin in the game - not just "cashiers") can adapt and accept cash - by the sunlight streaming in the front windows if need be.

I'm sure gummints would LOVE a cashless economy. Would cut down on illicit trade of all kinds as well as making taxation much easier. Then again, I'm betting folks in gray and black markets would quickly invent their own currency system - or just barter. Where there is a will... YMMV

 

[TriumphTR3fan]

Not completely. We live in Puget Sound area, and Costco stores in heavy tech neighborhoods still seem to have. Think Redmond and Kirkland and, of course, Costco corp backyard store, Issaquah. OTOH, in So Sound Tacoma and Olympia stores not so much

Costco added them in the Salem Oregon store two weeks ago. The march to self serve continues. I generally avoid them. I consider them a job killer. I know that efficiencies can result in lower prices but I prefer a little more human interaction. In a warehouse store the clerks are almost always faster because they know where the bar codes are. Boxing is usually faster and some people just fumble with the items because of physical limitations. If there is a line for the self serve how is that better than waiting in line to check out?

 

[Sunset]

..

Go into a Walmart on payday, the check gets cashed, pockets are full and people go a shopping. It makes no sense for a poor person to put money in a bank just to be charged to have it there as you are under the minimum and then be charged more because you overdraft.

...

I always turn off overdraft "protection" . As I don't want to pay the outrageous fees for going $1 over my balance. I'd rather be denied.

 

[rk911]

Costco added them in the Salem Oregon store two weeks ago. The march to self serve continues. I generally avoid them. I consider them a job killer. I know that efficiencies can result in lower prices but I prefer a little more human interaction. In a warehouse store the clerks are almost always faster because they know where the bar codes are. Boxing is usually faster and some people just fumble with the items because of physical limitations. If there is a line for the self serve how is that better than waiting in line to check out?

agree completely that the self-checkout lines are job killers and i avoid them like the plague. our favorite grocery store at home took out several express checkout lanes and replaced them with twice as many self-checkouts. i asked a manager about that wondering how many jobs were lost. he claimed none were "lost" because the former checkers were now doing other jobs but he wouldn't comment when i asked about the total number of jobs at the store.

 

[Chuckanut]

Costco added them in the Salem Oregon store two weeks ago. The march to self serve continues. I generally avoid them. I consider them a job killer. I know that efficiencies can result in lower prices but I prefer a little more human interaction. In a warehouse store the clerks are almost always faster because they know where the bar codes are. Boxing is usually faster and some people just fumble with the items because of physical limitations. If there is a line for the self serve how is that better than waiting in line to check out?

Here's a great cartoon:

 

[JoeWras]

So self-checking out on-line doesn't kill jobs?

 

[Kwirk]

Our Costco in suburban Va. just added self-checkout, at least 6 stations IIRC. I would have tried them but we had a large load. Most were empty while the register lines had 2 or 3 customers.

 

[calmloki]

Unlike Walmart, which seems to employ shaved sloths to stare at goods before carefully inspecting them to find bar codes, every Costco I've been to has cheerful awake checkers who zip goods past their scanner. Best wear track shoes, 'cause your cart is full again and here's your receipt. Think I'll stick with the checkers at Costco.

 

[rk911]

we shop wally a lot while on the road and can’t recall the last time we had a checker that fits your deccription. OTOH while my wife likes Costco i don’t appreciate the presumption that we’re thieves after leaving the checkout lane and having to show our receipt while the employee matches purchases to the receipt. i’ll buy gas at Costco if i need it and i’m in the area but that’s it.

 

[davebarnes]

Psychology and shrinks

Costco i don’t appreciate the presumption that we’re thieves after leaving the checkout lane and having to show our receipt while the employee matches purchases to the receipt.

That is not why they check.
In fact, they know that the cost of exit checkers is more than anticipated shrinkage costs.
They do it to make you feel special. A member of the club.