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Friday, July 20, 2018

The Cashless Society Is A Con... And Big Finance Is Behind It

Banks are closing ATMs and branches in an attempt to ‘nudge’ users towards digital services – and it’s all for their own benefit

All over the western world banks are shutting down cash machinesand branches. They are trying to push you into using their digital payments and digital banking infrastructure. Just like Google wants everyone to access and navigate the broader internet via its privately controlled search portal, so financial institutions want everyone to access and navigate the broader economy through their systems.

Another aim is to cut costs in order to boost profits. Branches require staff. Replacing them with standardised self-service apps allows the senior managers of financial institutions to directly control and monitor interactions with customers.

Banks, of course, tell us a different story about why they do this. I recently got a letter from my bank telling me that they are shutting down local branches because “customers are turning to digital”, and they are thus “responding to changing customer preferences”. I am one of the customers they are referring to, but I never asked them to shut down the branches.

There is a feedback loop going on here. In closing down their branches, or withdrawing their cash machines, they make it harder for me to use those services. I am much more likely to “choose” a digital option if the banks deliberately make it harder for me to choose a non-digital option.

In behavioural economics this is referred to as “nudging”. If a powerful institution wants to make people choose a certain thing, the best strategy is to make it difficult to choose the alternative.

We can illustrate this with the example of self-checkout tills at supermarkets. The underlying agenda is to replace checkout staff with self-service machines to cut costs. But supermarkets have to convince their customers. They thus initially present self-checkout as a convenient alternative. When some people then use that alternative, the supermarket can cite that as evidence of a change in customer behaviour, which they then use to justify a reduction in checkout employees. This in turn makes it more inconvenient to use the checkout staff, which in turn makes customers more likely to use the machines. They slowly wean you off staff, and “nudge” you towards self-service.

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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cash is king!

Anonymous said...

I personally find this more convenient and you can’t lose your credit or ATM card. SECU in Salisbury has you teleconference with somebody near BWI.

Anonymous said...

The whole point of "cashless" is control- enemy of the state? Free those atm's so you cant buy or sell...hmmm...not being to buy or sell expect if you have a special mark...now, where have i heard that before?

Anonymous said...

Just because you teleconference does not mean you have to use digital. There is a big difference. I will find another bank before I go to digital. This is another method the Socialist are making you believe it is the future encase they reclaim control of our Federal Government, like Obama was doing. This would mean they have control of your finances. This would mean total control of your life. This is the renewal of SLAVERY.

Anonymous said...

It's like the disappearance of the phone booth.

Anonymous said...

Cash is not king when it goes digital, and paperless!!! You all will see soon enough, but I know for a fact you all will welcome it with open arms, saying it is faster, or better or convenient... You all don't see that this technology of a cashless society is the mark of the beast... It will make it so easy for the govt or bankers to erase your info, alter or change it, bribe or hold you hostage in the financial aspect... And it would cause you not to be able to buy anything, becasue places already accept the rfid chip in your hand and won't let anyone else in or buy anything without it...

But keep on praising it, and wishing for it... As usual in the end, you will be complaining about it, like you do about everything on here, because your to fat, stupid and lazy to understand the gravity of the situation...

Anonymous said...

Totally agree. You folks .eed to listen to this writer. They are correct and know this is the future your children and grandchildren will face. The Federal Government Institutionalize Slavery.

Anonymous said...

Tell it like it is I is. Enslavement.