Global IT outage shows dangers of cashless society, campaigners say

More like it shows dangers of using only one provider for almost all IT infrastructure.

*global IT outage shows dangers of monopolies.

No, that is not correct. Global outage shows the dangers of centralized systems would be a better headline. Monero Worked all day throughout the entire outage with no problems.

One problem no one has mentioned, is that it also makes life a lot harder for homeless people. I guess they need to open a bank account and start writing their account number on a cardboard.

This actually reminds me of when I went to a restaurant a while ago. I had some physical money to spend, so I figured I'd take it with me and pay with that. At the end of the meal, while my friends paid with a card, I asked if I could pay with cash. Immediately, the waiter's demeanor changed and he looked almost... disgusted? I don't even know. Then he asked me in a tone that matched his expression if I didn't have a card, and I answered something like "Well, I do, but it would be more convenient for me to pay with cash, if that's okay". Then he, for some reason, repeated the question, and I answered similarly. He didn't say anything and just avoided looking at me. While a friend next to me was paying I asked again, "so, can I pay with cash?", and without looking at me, he just barely shook his head yes. So I paid with cash, and then I awaited my 3€ change back (in my country it's not usually custom to tip because waiters actually get paid full salaries). Eventually he came back with our receipt, but no change. I just left without saying anything - at this point I wasn't going to argue about 3€ - but I'm most definitely not coming back to that place.

Still don't know what the dude's problem was, but it did leave me wondering how are homeless people expected to pay for anything, if even a person who isn't homeless can receive such cold treatment just for choosing to pay with cash.

cashless society is a really stupid idea. it's not worth sacrificing privacy and stability for a tiny bit of convenience.

Maybe if somebody needs something we could just give it to them.

Agreed. I would love to see a law requiring businesses to accept cash where possible. That sort of law already exists at state and local levels in the US, would like to see it adopted in the UK.

Bitcoin wasn't down. Hasn't had a single hour of downtime or hack since it started 15 years ago in 2008. No bank holidays. Clear and transparent supply, 100% open source code. Not run by any single government, corporate board, or CEO. Sends money across the globe in under a second for pennies in fees, all you need is a phone. Powerful stuff.

One of the biggest rules in IT is always have a backup.

A cashless society has no backup.

I think it is important to have cash as a backup.

A couple of years ago there were some issues with card reading terminals in Germany. Due to a faulty security certificate these card reading terminals were not operational for about a whole month. Many stores were affected, because they almost all use ones from the same manufacturer. The only reason why it wasn't such a big deal was that people were carrying cash around anyway and were able to switch the method of payment easily. Having cash worked as a backup.

What good is cash gonna do if the networked cash register doesn't open anymore?

A cashless society is so stupid beyond words. In order to create one you must also create a full surveillance society to protect it, and even that would be ineffective to stop it from being hacked.

Totally. My petrol station allowed me to pay in seashells while everyone else were just standing around complaining, was kinda nice

It would be fine if not everyone had the same exact setup. Also you can have cashless payments why still supporting cash. They aren't mutually exclusive

Me, wanting to abolish currency entirely...

One EMP and ** Poof ** It's all gone

Even cash breaks down pretty quickly in a hypothetical situation where you have something similar occur that lasts for an extended period. When banks' systems are impacted, how do I get more cash from my account with them when whatever amount I had when the system went down runs out? I haven't had a physical passbook for an account in a good 20 years.

Can't remember which one but credit cards were offline for a time with something and places that still had the carbon paper roller things stashed away took them out and used them. They should keep those things around.

I'm biased. I hate digital money for stalkerware.

Achieving a moneyless society after one big overlong network outage.

Would Taler be more resilient than a typical EMV/AmEx card? It's designed as an online payment system but it's less centralised, so that could help.

It's already an attractive project due to its privacy feature, and due to it being more regulation-friendly that cryptocurrencies. If it's resilient enough it could act as a digital cash.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Campaigners say the chaos caused by the global IT outage last week underlines the risk of moving towards a cashless society.

Supermarkets, banks, pubs, cafes, train stations and airports were all hit by the failure of Microsoft systems on Friday, leaving many unable to accept electronic payments.

The Payment Choice Alliance (PCA), which campaigns against the move towards a cashless society, lists 23 firms and groups, at least some of whose outlets take only credit or debit cards.

Cash payments increased for the first time in a decade last year, according to UK Finance, which represents banks.

The GMB Union said the outage reinforced what it had been saying for years: that “cash is a vital part of how our communities operate”.

In March, McDonald’s, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Gregg’s suffered problems with their payment systems.

The original article contains 416 words, the summary contains 135 words. Saved 68%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

If you’re against cashless you’re a criminal or a tax evader, which is also criminal.

Regarding homeless people I'd say just carry a bunch of 2 euro coins. You can get them in a roll against a small payment at exchanges and it'll last you a long time. That way you can also budget your donations.