Another virtue signal from good 'ol Deutschland. Where 75% of the population prefer cash.
"Do what we say, just don't do what we do", as the old adage goes. How painful.
"Do what we say, just don't do what we do", as the old adage goes. How painful.
While cards are certainly convenient, they have failed me at very inopportune moments. I’ve also recently witnessed how someone could not book a ticket for a ferry in one of the mostly cashless European states - cash wasn’t an option and they didn’t have a card. This was at the official counter at the harbor.
A few month ago, card terminals of a widely used type failed hard in Germany, only cash payment was possible.
Being able to do some purchases anonymously is also a good thing - even if it’s only my wife’s birthday present.
I prefer a society where cash is an option for all (in-person) transactions. And preserving that requires exercising the use of cash.
Encrypted secure communication with (and within) the government, or my medical provider is entirely orthogonal to that.
> A few month ago, card terminals of a widely used type failed hard in Germany, only cash payment was possible.
This exactly is part of my point.
> or my medical provider is entirely orthogonal to that.
I prefer a medical provider that does a good job & shares my data, rather than incompetent medical staff that adhere to privacy policies. I expect my doctor to be a good doctor, not a good data policy keeper.
> > A few month ago, card terminals of a widely used type failed hard in Germany, only cash payment was possible.
> This exactly is part of my point.
I don’t understand how this is part of your point. It was a bug that required exchanging the terminals - either some kind of hardware or a borked software update that left the terminals unable to function. Shit happens, in hardware, too. It’s not like other countries are magically exempt from failures of their digital infrastructure.
Other countries aren't exempt, but other countries also don't write case studies on how everyone else should operate.
It's absolutely baffling to me that Germany touts a more secure messenger, but can't get card payments working seamlessly / consistently. To your point, I was visiting there earlier this year & card payments were completely offline for 2 - 3 days.
But sure, roll out a more secure messenger.
I don’t get your point about “writing case studies how everyone else should operate.” - where does Germany write case studies about how payment systems in other countries should operate?