Cash – Struggling to Survive
Dr Vernon Coleman
The garage boss brought the Bentley back today after it had been made safe to use.
‘You know,’ he said, looking at the car admiringly as he spoke. ‘This might not have been a bad buy.’ (Though, he didn’t know what we paid for it.)
I felt very proud on behalf of the car and not a little pleased with myself.
And I had a lovely surprise: the garage owner agreed to let me pay him with a cheque!
When I expressed delight and surprise, he admitted that the bank costs for putting through a cheque would be smaller than they would have been if I had paid the bill with a credit or debit card. I wish more business folk would realise this and go back to accepting cheques in payment.
Meanwhile, the obliteration of cash continues apace. Bank branches are closing everywhere. And cheques are, we are often told, too dangerous to use. After a few people had cheques stolen and altered, those still using them were warned about the dangers. The message was clear: do all your banking online ‘where there are no crooks at all and everything is safe’ (that’s a joke, by the way). Worse still, cheques are sometimes bounced for absolutely no reason at all (even when there is plenty of money in the relevant account) and it is difficult not to assume that this is being done to make cheque writers agree to go online.
Frighteningly, the majority of people don’t seem to care. They love being able to pay their bills with their cards (by waving a card in the air above the card reader) or with their watches. They have no idea of the problems which will ensue. There will be even less privacy, those who don’t have access to the internet or fancy banking accounts will be left out of society; there will be massive security risks, and those who upset the authorities in some way will have their accounts frozen. (This already happens with companies such as PayPal which use their ability to turn accounts ‘off’ as a political weapon). And of course the whole financial system becomes increasingly vulnerable to attack.
The day we got the car back from the garage we took it for a drive. It was a slightly surreal experience. Some people waved. Some took photographs. I could sense that the car was preening slightly, enjoying itself and delighted to be back in service.
Taken from `Old Man in an Old Car’ by Vernon Coleman – available through the bookshop on www.vernoncoleman.com To purchase a copy please CLICK HERE
Copyright Vernon Coleman October 2024
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