No Manual Back Up Cash Systems

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How many Of You Remember This Debit Card Machine? This Was The Alternative To Cash Not So Long Ago If Paying With A Bank Card.

This evening I was at the supermarket picking up some daily essentials and soon realised there was something wrong when I arrived at the tills. The queues were not normal and I noticed another queue out the corner of my eye where everyone was paying using one of the hand held debit card machines. The banking payment service was down and no one had cash except a few people.

I always have cash on hand and was happy to be ushered to a special till they had opened up for those that had cash. There must have been over a 100 people queueing and there was myself and two others who had cash.

I can recall back in the 1990's if you wanted to pay by card you used one of those manual machines which was a payment slip of paper with carbon in between that took an impression of your card which you then signed. This was then sent to the bank which would then process your transaction later and normally being 48-72 hours later. This you had to budget for because your bank balance would not reflect these transactions until they were processed. Also we had cheque books that operated along a similar way with the amount being deducted when the bank processed that transaction.

You would like to think retailers have a back up plan if the systems go down and have multiple banks providing a payment service and not just one which was the case this evening. I know it is a rare occasion when this happens, but they were definitely caught out tonight judging by the abandoned trolleys full of groceries where customers had decided to shop elsewhere.

What amazed me is the number of people who carried no cash and used their banking cards for every single purchase. I used to be like that many years ago and never even had pocket change to pay the car guards who look after your vehicle whilst shopping. Yes we live in another world here and even though they are not armed they do provide enough of a deterrent.

What changed is I have an overseas bank account and the costs of paying at the till are too expensive so I draw a wad of cash which lasts for the week or possibly two saving on the bank charges. I don't even pay attention to the local bank fees when using that card because the Rand has no real value, but GBP makes you think differently plus there is the exchange rate fees on every transaction which add up fast.

I honestly cannot wait for the day I can use crypto for payments and not to have to worry about cash or the banking system ever again. his year is a big year for crypto with MiCA the EU Crypto Regulation rolling out for forcing banks to offer a crypto service. I would like to see more crypto projects having their own debit cards opening up the on and off ramps plus crypto ease of use in the real world. Not that I would be spending and using my crypto portfolio as the same rules would apply with the priority being where we are in the crypto cycle. Over time I think this thought process will change and the volatility we see today will be less and less.

Posted Using InLeo Alpha