I’ve been mindful of the ways companies can track my spending habits, and so have been increasingly keen on using cash and avoiding mobile banking/payment apps like the plague. I realize that this varies by country and might be a bit far out, but the thought does linger in the back of my mind. If current trends continue, how much longer until they take cash and browser-based banking from us? Or will there be a reason those options should continue to exist (and be easily usable) far into the future? And perhaps:

  • What else can I, as an individual, do about this?
  • Is there a tendency for larger banks or smaller credit unions to push towards mobile-only online banking?
  • What does it look like in countries where cashless and mobile payments are the norm?
  • evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world
    6·
    2 days ago

    Bartering wasn’t made immediately illegal when currency came in. Currency was made to make bartering easier and more fairly divisible.

    I pointed this out above, but I think it’s worth repeating: bartering did not exist before currency, or at least there’s no anthropological evidence suggesting it did. People barter when they are used to currency, but don’t have access to any.

    • FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.websiteEnglish
      11·
      1 day ago

      Maybe barter is the wrong word in this instance. I mean rudimentary, handshake trade within an equally rudimentary community. Farmer A has wheat, hunter B shot two deer. A agrees to give half a blurb of wheat to B for 2 blorbs worth of prime venison. Both make it through the winter. That’s what I meant.