Mulling over Rick Eck to Steve Asher 18 Jan 2006

>  RE> Notice how everyone and every place takes ATM/Debit cars and credit
>  RE> cards?  Sure there are places that still take cash, and checks.
> 
> Yes, I still pay with cash & have no credit or debit card. I used cheques
> a lot, but not recently as my bank charged an ever-increasing fee.

 RE> My wife and I were talking about this today.  Without Direct
 RE> deposit, most baks charge for checking.  They want this to reduce
 RE> the tellers.  If it can be done electronicly, they will reward you
 RE> by not charging you.  The banks in this area, will give you 25
 RE> checks, after that you pay for writing checks.  So, whate does it
 RE> come to?  Online pay.  Everything is going to all electronical.
 RE> Almost reminds me of the "Left Behind" Movies

25 cheques a month?, or a year? I could make two "high value" withdrawals
a month for free, but now it is only if I keep a minimum balance, so in
effect all transactions were charged. By the time it got to $2.75 a
transaction, I looked around for alternatives. One is very good, and I
have not to pay a fee in the time I have been using it, but it does not
have cheque book, so I live without it. The seeds were sown about 20
years ago, when employers stopped paying in cash, and forced employees
to have their wages / salary direct deposited into their bank accounts.
It was a captive market for the banks, who could then slowly introduce
fees and charges when people withdrew their wages.

> Yes, I have been thinking about it for much of my life, and watching it
> come to pass. ATM/credit cards and the like are a step towards a system
> where people's physical identities are "bound" to their "elect
> "on-line" identities, and where people "will be able" to
> parking fines, order library books, vote, shop, apply & pay for drivers
> licences on-line. "Will be able" is code for "will have little
> but to", whether they want to or not.

 RE> Once again, Everything is being forced to all electronical.  Look
 RE> at a neat thing Mobil has.  "Speed Pass".  Sure, it is neat, and
 RE> easy.  But is it a thing to come?  Something everyone will use? 
 RE> Next it will just be our finger print!  No longer needing a card,
 RE> or a device. Just our fingerprint will pay/buy everything.  Even
 RE> more to think about...

And then, there will be cases of fraud, possibly involving the finger
data, or ambiguity where people have damaged or missing prints ... I
used to collect rocks when I was young, and they were very rough on
fingers & prints. The "solution" will be some form of mark that can
be scanned even if a person has had the fingers damaged in an accident,
fire etc.

Cheers, Steve..

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