End Times and Current Events

General Category => Revelation Prophecy => Topic started by: Mark on March 31, 2012, 08:33:20 am



Title: A Cashless Society May Be Closer Than Most People Would Ever Dare To Imagine
Post by: Mark on March 31, 2012, 08:33:20 am
A Cashless Society May Be Closer Than Most People Would Ever Dare To Imagine

Most people think of a cashless society as something that is way off in the distant future.  Unfortunately, that is simply not the case.  The truth is that a cashless society is much closer than most people would ever dare to imagine.  To a large degree, the transition to a cashless society is being done voluntarily.  Today, only 7 percent of all transactions in the United States are done with cash, and most of those transactions involve very small amounts of money.  Just think about it for a moment.  Where do you still use cash these days?  If you buy a burger or if you purchase something at a flea market you will still use cash, but for any mid-size or large transaction the vast majority of people out there will use another form of payment.  Our financial system is dramatically changing, and cash is rapidly becoming a thing of the past.  We live in a digital world, and national governments and big banks are both encouraging the move away from paper currency and coins.  But what would a cashless society mean for our future?  Are there any dangers to such a system?

Those are very important questions, but most of the time both sides of the issue are not presented in a balanced way in the mainstream media.  Instead, most mainstream news articles tend to trash cash and talk about how wonderful digital currency is.

For example, a recent CBS News article declared that soon we may not need "that raggedy dollar bill" any longer and that the "greenback may soon be a goner"....

It's what the wallet was invented for, to carry cash. After all, there was a time when we needed cash everywhere we went, from filling stations to pay phones. Even the tooth fairy dealt only in cash.

But money isn't just physical anymore. It's not only the pennies in your piggy bank, or that raggedy dollar bill.

Money is also digital - it's zeros and ones stored in a computer, prompting some economists to predict the old-fashioned greenback may soon be a goner.

"There will be a time - I don't know when, I can't give you a date - when physical money is just going to cease to exist," said economist Robert Reich.


rest: http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/a-cashless-society-may-be-closer-than-most-people-would-ever-dare-to-imagine


Title: Re: A Cashless Society May Be Closer Than Most People Would Ever Dare To Imagine
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on March 31, 2012, 10:48:59 am
A Cashless Society May Be Closer Than Most People Would Ever Dare To Imagine

Most people think of a cashless society as something that is way off in the distant future.  Unfortunately, that is simply not the case.  The truth is that a cashless society is much closer than most people would ever dare to imagine.  To a large degree, the transition to a cashless society is being done voluntarily.  Today, only 7 percent of all transactions in the United States are done with cash, and most of those transactions involve very small amounts of money.  Just think about it for a moment.  Where do you still use cash these days?  If you buy a burger or if you purchase something at a flea market you will still use cash, but for any mid-size or large transaction the vast majority of people out there will use another form of payment.  Our financial system is dramatically changing, and cash is rapidly becoming a thing of the past.  We live in a digital world, and national governments and big banks are both encouraging the move away from paper currency and coins.  But what would a cashless society mean for our future?  Are there any dangers to such a system?

FWIW, nowdays, even all the fast-food joints, movie theaters, etc, etc and other places where for years and years cash alone and only alone was accepted...now even these places accept credit cards and other "plastic".


Title: Re: A Cashless Society May Be Closer Than Most People Would Ever Dare To Imagine
Post by: Kilika on April 01, 2012, 03:49:37 am
Yeah, and don't forget parking meters, soda machines, you name it now, it's got a card swiper on it. It didn't take them very long to get those card readers into stuff.

7%? Didn't realize it was that low. Something tells me to question that number as being too low, but I'd say it's not far off.


Title: Re: A Cashless Society May Be Closer Than Most People Would Ever Dare To Imagine
Post by: Mark on April 08, 2012, 07:07:55 am
Mint Promotes Digital-Chip Currency For Penniless Future

On the cusp of the post-penny age, the Royal Canadian Mint is preparing to launch a digital alternative to all coinage and small bank notes — dubbed "MintChip" — which it hails as the natural next step in the "evolution of currency." The concept was quietly introduced on Wednesday when the Ottawa-based Crown corporation activated a website outlining its vision for the future of MintChip — described as "better than cash" and "so easy even a child can use it" — and invited software developers to begin imagining different ways the technology could be employed. In fact, the mint is offering $50,000 in an old-fashioned currency — gold — to winners of a contest aimed at developing smart-phone apps and other ways of demonstrating MintChip's benefits as a payment system for consumers.

http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Mint+promotes+digital+chip+currency+penniless+future/6418545/story.html


Title: Re: A Cashless Society May Be Closer Than Most People Would Ever Dare To Imagine
Post by: Kilika on April 08, 2012, 04:53:10 pm
See how they make it so the public accepts it voluntarily. They think it's their idea! Buyer Beware!


Title: Re: A Cashless Society May Be Closer Than Most People Would Ever Dare To Imagine
Post by: Hischild on April 16, 2012, 12:02:50 am
A Cashless Society May Be Closer Than Most People Would Ever Dare To Imagine
That must mean, then, that the mark of the beast is closer than we think, too.

See how they make it so the public accepts it voluntarily. They think it's their idea! Buyer Beware!
  Yep, like cell phones and its tracking technology.


Title: Re: A Cashless Society May Be Closer Than Most People Would Ever Dare To Imagine
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 16, 2012, 09:33:09 am
http://www.dallasnews.com/incoming/20120415-government-to-quit-sending-social-security-checks-by-mail.ece

Government to quit sending Social Security checks by mail

4/15/12

WASHINGTON - Starting next year, the check will no longer be in the mail for millions of people who receive Social Security and other government benefits.

The federal government, which issues 73 million payments a month, is phasing out paper checks for all benefit programs, requiring people to get payments electronically, either through direct deposit or a debit card for those without a bank account.

 The changes will affect people who get Social Security, veterans' benefits, railroad pensions and federal disability payments. Tax refunds are exempt, but the Internal Revenue Service encourages taxpayers to get refunds electronically by processing those refunds faster than paper checks.

 About 90 percent of people who receive federal benefits already get their payments electronically, the Treasury Department says. New beneficiaries were required to get payments electronically starting last year, and with a few exceptions, the rest will have to make the switch by March 2013.

"It's just that natural progression of moving to how people are used to receiving their funds," said Walt Henderson, director of the Treasury Department's electronic funds transfer division.

Henderson said electronic payments are safer and more efficient than paper checks; in 2010, more than 540,000 federal benefit checks were reported lost or stolen. The switch will save the government about $120 million a year. Social Security will save $1 billion over the next decade, according to the Treasury Department.

"You think of that paper check floating out there in the delivery system, with personal information on it, it's much more susceptible to fraud versus an electronic payment," Henderson said.

Advocates for seniors say they understand the government's desire to cut costs and take advantage of technologies that most workers already use. The food stamp program switched from paper coupons to debit cards in 2004.

But they have raised concerns about requiring the switch for older retirees who may not be used to electronic payments.

"This will affect some very frail elderly people who are living by themselves, many of them, and doing well, but usually within the context of that old paper check that they deposit in the bank," said Web Phillips, a senior policy advisor for the National Committee to Protect Social Security and Medicare.

"The change has to be handled carefully and with a lot of sensitivity so that there aren't people who lose track of a payment or don't understand that they have a card that came in the mail that's the source of their payment," Phillips said. "That's our concern."

The switch is mandated by a Treasury rule issued in December 2010. Since then, the department has worked to educate the public. The government has created a website, www.GoDirect.org and a toll-free phone number, 1-800-333-1795, people can call for assistance.

 "Treasury acknowledges they have a lot of education to do for people about how these things work," said David Certner, legislative policy director for AARP. "We're a bit concerned about how easy it's going to be to provide education, particularly for some in this older population who are not familiar with debit cards and don't have bank accounts."

Certner said AARP wants the government to make it easier to get an exemption. Under the Treasury rule, current beneficiaries who are 90 and older won't be required to make the switch. People can get a waiver if using a debit card would impose a hardship, but the Treasury Department says those would be "extreme, rare circumstances."

These waivers are not well publicized on the government's website.

"There are several million people who receive paper checks today," Certner said. "Some of them do it because they have worked out arrangements for them that work."

 AARP also has concerns about fees associated with the debit cards. The Direct Express cards are issued by Comerica Bank, Treasury's financial agent. Each month, benefit payments are added to the cards, which can be used to make purchases or withdraw cash from ATMs.

 There are no fees for using the debit card to make purchases. They can be used at any retailer that accepts MasterCard debit cards. If a card is lost or stolen, the beneficiary is protected from unauthorized use as long as the missing card is reported promptly.

Cardholders can make one free ATM withdrawal each time a payment is registered in the card. Subsequent withdrawals will cost 90 cents each, and all withdrawals may be subject to fees by the owner of the ATM.

The government's switch to electronic payments also comes with a side effect: less business for the U.S. Postal Service, an agency that is already facing big budget problems with the rise of email and electronic bill paying.

 The private sector has been migrating to electronic payments for years, costing the Postal Service millions of customers, said Alan Robinson, editor of the Postal Journal, a trade publication.

"Normally, these things happen one customer at a time," Robinson said. "In terms of payments, this is probably one of the largest."


Title: Re: A Cashless Society May Be Closer Than Most People Would Ever Dare To Imagine
Post by: Kilika on April 16, 2012, 12:17:44 pm
Quote
AARP also has concerns about fees associated with the debit cards. The Direct Express cards are issued by Comerica Bank, Treasury's financial agent. Each month, benefit payments are added to the cards, which can be used to make purchases or withdraw cash from ATMs.

 There are no fees for using the debit card to make purchases. They can be used at any retailer that accepts MasterCard debit cards. If a card is lost or stolen, the beneficiary is protected from unauthorized use as long as the missing card is reported promptly.

Cardholders can make one free ATM withdrawal each time a payment is registered in the card. Subsequent withdrawals will cost 90 cents each, and all withdrawals may be subject to fees by the owner of the ATM.

More of that whole "public/private partnership stuff. I got a problem with the funds running through one institution, not to mention the charging of feees for use of funds at whatever point. It's the public's money.