Nordic countries point the way to cashless societies

[crimethink]

https://news.yahoo.com/nordic-countries-point-way-cashless-societies-143338597--sector.html

[Ponce]

I would like to read the story without having to click on the link.....who knows what kind of poison is hiding there...thank you.

V

[Publico]

Ponce I have no fear of Yahoo (tornadoes, hurricanes, meteor strike, lightning, bats - the flying kind, urban youth with bats - the baseball kind, a nearby train derailment, a plane crashing into my location, are just a few of my fears, but not Yahoo):



Nordic countries point the way to cashless societies
Reuters By Rebecka Roos and Alister Doyle January 9, 2015 9:33 AM

STOCKHOLM/OSLO (Reuters) - Nordic countries are leading a shift by rich nations towards cashless societies, providing a test case for whether the lower cost and convenience of using cards and smartphones for payments outweigh the risks of fraud and some people being left behind.

Helped by wide use of computers even among the elderly, broad trust in the state and big business and only small black economies, people in Sweden and neighboring countries are fast embracing cards, the Internet and apps for financial transactions, and forsaking notes and coins.

"We are headed more and more for a cashless society," said Jan Digranes, a director at Finance Norway, which represents banks and other financial institutions.

Sweden, home of music streaming firm Spotify and the Candy Crush mobile phone game, ranks top in the European Union for card payments, with 230 transactions per inhabitant in 2012, just above Denmark and Finland and well ahead of Britain on 167, Germany 39 and Italy 28, according to the European Central Bank.

Non-EU members Norway and Iceland are also among top users of cards worldwide, their central banks say.

For banks and businesses, the big benefit is lower costs.

A report by the Norwegian central bank last month said the total cost of each cash transaction -- including handling notes and coins in banks -- was estimated at 7.1 crowns ($0.92) against only 4.1 crowns per card transaction.

For consumers, abandoning cash is often about convenience, though some are worried the poor, elderly and disabled can lack access to technology and credit, or just prefer notes and coins.

Swedes often make the smallest purchases, such as for chewing gum, with a credit card and can use the Swedish banks' jointly-developed smartphone app Swish to repay a small debt to a friend. Another app allow drinkers to buy beers in a bar without queuing.

In the Stockholm subway, it is impossible to buy a ticket with cash, while some unemployed people selling street magazines now also accept electronic payments.

Mike Shabwan, selling flowers on a Stockholm square, said sales had risen by 10 percent since he started use the Swedish service iZettle in his smartphone to accept card payments.

"And it is also cheaper and easier for me because the money comes directly into the bank," he said.

MOBILEPAY

In Denmark, "MobilePay" -- an app launched by Danske Bank to allow payments via a smartphone -- was judged by public radio as the best new word of the year for 2014. It now has 1.8 million users in a nation of 5.6 million people.

But Jarl Dahlfors, chief executive of cash handling firm Loomis, says the cashless trend may have gone too far for "unbanked people" such as many elderly.

And "do we really want everything we buy to be registered?" he asked, touching on the loss of privacy involved in switching from cash purchases to card and online payments.

Then there are the risks of electronic fraud.

According to Swedish Justice Ministry data, electronic fraud has doubled in the country in the past decade to about 140,000 cases in 2013. The boom is partly because a successful Internet-based computer scam can quickly generate thousands of cases.

To limit risks with MobilePay, Danske Bank advises clients to keep their phones locked when not in use and guard them as they would a credit card or cash.

In Norway, Mastercard is experimenting with a fingerprint identification system developed by Norway's Zwipe, embedded into credit cards, hoping to make them more secure.

Anna Eriksson, spokeswoman of the Swedish Association of Senior Citizens, said elderly people need guarantees that cash can be used freely everywhere.

"Maybe we need incentives for older people to get an iPad to learn what's positive about paying bills through a computer," she said.

Still, there are silver linings, even in the rise of electronic fraud. Bank robberies -- which can involve violence -- fell in Sweden to a record low of five in 2012 from 16 the year before.

The Swedish central bank is far from phasing out cash; it will launch new notes and coins this year.

But it predicts the amount of cash in Sweden will fall by between 20 and 50 percent by 2020 compared with 2012.

And as the first generation of Internet users grows older, it seems likely that attachments to notes and coins will fade.

"It is an ongoing evolution," said Peter Fredell, CEO of Swedish Seamless, which developed the payment app Seqr that handles around 3 billion transactions in stores, restaurants and e-trade annually.

(Additional reporting by Alistair Scrutton in Stockholm and Eric Auchard in Berlin; Editing by Mark Potter)

[mick silver]

yep usa going to have to go there an do some ass kicking,,, no body play with are paper

[crimethink]

I would like to read the story without having to click on the link.....who knows what kind of poison is hiding there...thank you.


I stopped posting entire articles because Jew lawyers like those at Righthaven have made a profession out of blackmailing and/or suing sites just like this GSUS for "'intellectual property' theft."

If you are running a good AV like Avast! and Malwarebytes Pro/Premium, you should have no fear of clicking such links.

[Ponce]

Thanks for posting the article Publico.....I am using now a piss poor land line that won't let me download anything so that what I see is what I get.......soon what is happening there will happen here.........FOR YOUR CONVINIENCE.......of course.

Crimethink? don't worry, your buddies in blue will shoot anyone going after you in any way, form or shape.

V

[Twisted Titan]

For banks and businesses, the big benefit is lower costs.



What costs are associated when a note cost about 3 cents to fabricate and a coin a few pennies more to a institute who can create money out of thin air.

[milehi]

In Iceland at the bar-

Frequent fliers pay with a wristband that hits their bank account.

Or, swipe your credit card for each drink purchase. Every single purchase. Can't run a tab.

Or, as I did, just lay down two 400 IKD (9$US at the time) notes on the wood. A tip isn't expected.

Happy hour is buy one, get one free.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

[EE_]

In Iceland at the bar-

Frequent fliers pay with a wristband that hits their bank account.

Or, swipe your credit card for each drink purchase. Every single purchase. Can't run a tab.

Or, as I did, just lay down two 400 IKD (9$US at the time) notes on the wood. A tip isn't expected.

Happy hour is buy one, get one free.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

How will the people in Iceland buy their pot, make private exchanges, garage sales, trade shows, flea markets, etc. when cash is all gone? I wonder if Iceland has any interest in PM's, or coin shows?

I'm hoping for a major bank hack, or system failure due to solar flare to give people a good scare and a run back to cash.

[Twisted Titan]

No need to scare them.

When the sheep get sheared you will one of the few who walk off with a fat bag of wool.

Just the natural order of things.

[Hitch]

In Iceland at the bar-

Frequent fliers pay with a wristband that hits their bank account.

Or, swipe your credit card for each drink purchase. Every single purchase. Can't run a tab.

Or, as I did, just lay down two 400 IKD (9$US at the time) notes on the wood. A tip isn't expected.

Happy hour is buy one, get one free.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

Many years ago, I was very impressed with how classy the Germans handled bar tabs. The bartender would mark your coaster. Each bar usually had a unique one, and they would mark each drink you had, and when you were ready to leave you could settle up, cash, anyway you wanted to.

Wonder what they do now.

[crimethink]

our buddies in blue will shoot anyone going after you in any way, form or shape.


I'm sad you're such an idiot. JQP would be the one having to deal with an "intellectual property" lawsuit, not me. If you don't give a shit about this website vs. your convenience, just say so.

[KenJackson]

But Jarl Dahlfors, chief executive of cash handling firm Loomis, ... "do we really want everything we buy to be registered?" he asked, touching on the loss of privacy involved in switching from cash purchases to card and online payments.

Buying everything electronically is not only a loss of privacy, it's an increase in power to anyone who can access the records.

Still, it's hard to argue against the convenience of electronic payment. But what we need is a decentralized payment system that's not tied to an identity and is hard to trace.

[Dogman]

Buying everything electronically is not only a loss of privacy, it's an increase in power to anyone who can access the records.

Still, it's hard to argue against the convenience of electronic payment. But what we need is a decentralized payment system that's not tied to an identity and is hard to trace.

In these increasingly 1984 times, it would never happen!

[Ponce]

I'm sad you're such an idiot. JQP would be the one having to deal with an "intellectual property" lawsuit, not me. If you don't give a shit about this website vs. your convenience, just say so.

So now I am a idiot?........let me help you with your fears..........under section 107 of tittle 17 you are allowed to print the work of others as long as it is for information only..........yours truly "the idiot".

V

[mick silver]

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/134/418/epic_beard_man_ill_slap__your_shit-14250.png?1308087162

[crimethink]

So now I am a idiot?........let me help you with your fears..........under section 107 of tittle 17 you are allowed to print the work of others as long as it is for information only..........yours truly "the idiot".


Republication of a copyrighted work in its entirety on a public forum is not "fair use." Yes, you are an idiot (I said that because of your typical cheap shot about my alleged "cop loving").

17 USC 107 is not the end of it. There are many conflicting court cases (so-called "case law"), and some of them have sided with copyright trolls who have sued non-profit sites like this one. Your convenience is not worth the risk to the owner of record of this forum.

[Ponce]

Like the Jews you are now operating from behind the curtain by saying that I could hurt this site......well, I don't think that the people reading your shit believe you, I was the second member to join this site and I would not try to hurt it in any way, shape or form.

So, if you want to insult my person is ok for they are only words on a screen......to me they are like cops shooting bullet just for the hell of it..........but........we already know that you operate as a cop lover and defender.....

V

[KenJackson]

Still, it's hard to argue against the convenience of electronic payment. But what we need is a decentralized payment system that's not tied to an identity and is hard to trace.

In these increasingly 1984 times, it would never happen!

I was hoping someone would recognize I was talking about bitcoin. It's already happened.

[crimethink]

Like the Jews you are now operating from behind the curtain by saying that I could hurt this site


Notice, I did not accuse you of malice. Rather, your stupidity and/or laziness in not wanting to take basic measures to secure your computer is the problem.



we already know that you operate as a cop lover and defender.....


EE_ says that you shouldn't provoke people, or else they might "do" something to you. Maybe I should come up there and blow your toilet paper stash sky high? Raining little white squares for hours. LOL - just kidding.