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Comment by danjac | Hacker News Reader

So is the US, it's like travelling back in time when you go over there and people still use checks and paper money.

Kinda curious where you live because I haven't seen nearly anyone use cash in my immediate family or friend group in nearly a decade.

There's only a few people I know, one is an aunt who is over 70 years old and the other is a stripper.

Everyone else I know just uses a credit or debit card. Even buying drugs people will just opt to use venmo or cashapp rather than going to an ATM.

I will say my family lives near large metro areas. Maybe in more rural cities people are more likely to use cash?

Legal drugs, or illegal (in japan)?

Sorry not Japan, this is the US which is who the person I was replying to mentioned. Sorry for the confusion!

Isn't Japan the place (in)famous for still using paper money everywhere?

Why is it infamous to use paper money besides during a pandemic? It’s the only way to buy something without being tracked and profiled, and it makes budgeting easier. You can actually exchange it without an intermediary taking a cut or deciding to block the transaction

Inefficiency and tax avoidance.

Maybe tax avoidance for the mob and for poor people. 99.9% of unpaid taxes are hiding overseas in digital accounts

The government decided recently that cashless payments are the future so they’ve been heavily incentivizing people to use transit cards and such for payments, as of recent almost all chains and many small stores accept them :)

I'd argue there are advantages to both cheques and paper money over digital. Your purchases can't be as easily tracked if you use paper money for example.

I use and prefer paper money every chance I get. Digital cash makes it far harder to track spending and stick to a budget

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