Cash must be king, Giorgia Meloni tells shoppers

[Erumo]

Crazy women that wants to throw Italy into stone age. Today she does not like cards, one of most convenient payment options, and votes for cash, tomorrow she will say that linen bags with gold is more suitable, then we will go back to direct bargain such as item vs item.

I bet she withdraws her salary as soon as she receives it. I bet she sleeps on a pillow filled with cash. I bet she will fail to explain why there is so much cash in her house if police runs a search. I bet she will drop this cash idea after a year, if she starts to do shopping and little purchases herself. She'll surely complain how heavy her bag or pockets are when she'll start receiving coins as change. I bet she went crazy when she has found out what NFC is

[stompix]

Crazy women that wants to throw Italy into stone age. Today she does not like cards, one of most convenient payment options, and votes for cash, tomorrow she will say that linen bags with gold is more suitable, then we will go back to direct bargain such as item vs item.

Who said anything about sending Italy to the stone age?
Nobody is banning any card payments it just raises the limits on how much you Can pay with cash, and Italy had lower limits than a ton of countries in the EU.

Italy had a limit of 2000 that Meloni wanted to be raised to 5000, Germany, Denmark, Austria, and Ireland have no limit, and what's more interesting, there is no limit in Sweden either, which is the most cashless country in the world right now.
https://www.europe-consommateurs.eu/en/shopping-internet/cash-payment-limitations.html

This is simply astonishing, we're here on bitcointalk where we're supposed to talk about freedom of your personal finances and you're here criticizing somebody that wants to allow you more options for payment and no limits. How does this work?

[Synchronice]

Using cash is less hygienic, riskier (getting a person's cash is easier than using a stolen plastic card), more prone to financial crimes (cash can be counterfeit and real cash can be easily used for illegal purposes because no ID is required), less convenient (you have to count and carry it, cashiers have to count what to give you in return). I am not a fan of cash, I think going digital is the way.

It's less hygienic to use public transport, metros, to eat at street, etc. Okay, cash has some disadvantages but it has one privilege and that's your control on your money. When you pay with cards, the time of transaction, the amount of money, the type of spending, every info is collected by banks and then this data is used for personalized marketing offers which I am against and cash makes you more anonymous and also gives you more control on your money. Banks and government can freeze your bank account anytime but no one can freeze your safely stored cash.
So, cashless society is not a good idea indeed, we need cash.

[fullhdpixel]

Crazy women that wants to throw Italy into stone age. Today she does not like cards, one of most convenient payment options, and votes for cash, tomorrow she will say that linen bags with gold is more suitable, then we will go back to direct bargain such as item vs item.

I bet she withdraws her salary as soon as she receives it. I bet she sleeps on a pillow filled with cash. I bet she will fail to explain why there is so much cash in her house if police runs a search. I bet she will drop this cash idea after a year, if she starts to do shopping and little purchases herself. She'll surely complain how heavy her bag or pockets are when she'll start receiving coins as change. I bet she went crazy when she has found out what NFC is

Every country in the world still uses a cash and it was still prioritized due to how easy and fast it is easy to use. Call it a stone age but I think people aren't really bothered about that. The world is still evolving in other fields but even in the monetary or financial field, we still have digital payment methods and then there are the popular cryptocurrencies.

Never heard that to have so much cash in our house is a crime. For what is the use of vaults in the market? There are so many people flexin' their bag of cash in social media. I think it only becomes a crime if the cash isn't truly yours or you only laundered it and the police is looking at you.

[NeuroticFish]

I personally think that it's interesting to see Italy take a different approach to electronic currency compared to other EU nations. Prime Minister Meloni's perspective on electronic money not being legal currency is certainly unique, and her proposal to allow businesses to accept cash payments up to €60 and sell goods worth up to €5,000 in cash is a step away from the trend towards a cashless society.

I would take all her declarations with quite a pinch of salt. She has made her "political character" this strong by pretty much pissing against EU's wind. I don't see this a solid call for action, I see it more a (meaningless) "political declaration". I would like to see anything actually done from the things she is telling, but I doubt that anything would happen (or change).

Her actions do have a good justification: card payments are expensive and the merchant has to pay those fees, which, for small amounts and small shops (with no big contracts with Visa/Mc) can become significant. Of course, Bitcoin fixes this.
On the other hand if card payments can be this easily avoided by merchants, they can this easily underreport their sales and their income and not pay the correct amount of taxes.
So this can easily make de state lose big money, which I'm sure some will tell her about.

Italy had a limit of 2000 that Meloni wanted to be raised to 5000, Germany, Denmark, Austria, and Ireland have no limit, and what's more interesting, there is no limit in Sweden either, which is the most cashless country in the world right now.

I think that the total price also matters. Iirc here if one wants to pay for a flat (50-80k EUR), paying 10k EUR in cash is just fine, but if one wants to pay cash 10k EUR of the price of a car (10-20k) it's not allowed.
And your point is also interesting: the northern countries have no issues in correctly declaring everything for tax purposes. Moving towards south.. this is changing 

This is simply astonishing, we're here on bitcointalk where we're supposed to talk about freedom of your personal finances and you're here criticizing somebody that wants to allow you more options for payment and no limits. How does this work?

I would not say I criticize her. I am just telling that what he's saying may not work out or may not even (ever) get implemented.

[Marcellin9]

I am a big "digital cash" supporter when it comes to Crypto currencies, but I agree with Giorgia Meloni  for a different reason. The global debt crisis are built on "credit card" use and how easy it is to swipe a card.

People seem to spend less, when they have cash in their pockets.... because they physically handle the money and they can also see how their wallet are drained, when they use it.

I still use "cash" a lot.. and only use online payments when I pay for some of my expenses, where I have to stand in a queue to make the payments. (It is just more convenient to use debit orders or to make EFTs) 

Agree. Credit card is intended to bring convenience, which it has, but it also creates problems for people to overspend and take loans. Cash is tangible and every time we make payments by cash, we can feel the real existence of money and think about the wise use of it. In my country, people rarely use cash nowadays and I feel sorry about this. Electronic or credit card payments are too quick and convenient so people have forgotten the concept of budgeting, which is pretty bad in my opinion. I believe the balance between cash and electronic payments has lost and we should consider this seriously.

[stompix]

Agree. Credit card is intended to bring convenience, which it has, but it also creates problems for people to overspend and take loans.

Simple, use a debit card!
Again the same interesting thing, on one side we preach about being the bank on the other side we think people are not able to manage their finance correctly, so which is it?

I think that the total price also matters. Iirc here if one wants to pay for a flat (50-80k EUR), paying 10k EUR in cash is just fine, but if one wants to pay cash 10k EUR of the price of a car (10-20k) it's not allowed.

I don't know how things are there but I assume the 10k is the advance payment for that apartment while the car is a full payment?
If it's like this, of course, it would be allowed since in the first case it's a standalone transaction, the other is splitting the payment and no company will ever want to deal with the accounting headaches, just as you said I would do the same refuse the payment and send you with your cash to your bank, deposit all that there and make a single wire payment!

And your point is also interesting: the northern countries have no issues in correctly declaring everything for tax purposes. Moving towards south.. this is changing 

Yeah, but it doesn't make complete sense either, because if you're in a country with more fraud and crime and tax evasion you would want to pay through a legal channel, so in case you have problems with what you have bought you have proof you've paid the guy that amount. So, from a consumer point of view, it would make more sense for southern customers to be using bank payments for their own safety.

[NeuroticFish]

I think that the total price also matters. Iirc here if one wants to pay for a flat (50-80k EUR), paying 10k EUR in cash is just fine, but if one wants to pay cash 10k EUR of the price of a car (10-20k) it's not allowed.

I don't know how things are there but I assume the 10k is the advance payment for that apartment while the car is a full payment?
If it's like this, of course, it would be allowed since in the first case it's a standalone transaction, the other is splitting the payment and no company will ever want to deal with the accounting headaches, just as you said I would do the same refuse the payment and send you with your cash to your bank, deposit all that there and make a single wire payment!

It doesn't matter, the point was that 10k is 20% or less of the total in the first case, while in the second case it may be even the full price. And then in the second case, indeed, they send you to the bank 

And your point is also interesting: the northern countries have no issues in correctly declaring everything for tax purposes. Moving towards south.. this is changing 

Yeah, but it doesn't make complete sense either, because if you're in a country with more fraud and crime and tax evasion you would want to pay through a legal channel, so in case you have problems with what you have bought you have proof you've paid the guy that amount. So, from a consumer point of view, it would make more sense for southern customers to be using bank payments for their own safety.

Yep, that's what I also said: this can cause the (Italian) state lose big bucks due to underreporting for taxes, hence it cannot work on long term, hence it's just political.
I'm so sick and tired of politicians (here too) promising nice things that they cannot fulfill on the long run...

[Cryptomultiplier]

One of the reasons most countries adopted the use of cards is due to security concerns often met with persons who move with cash. Robberies and theft and more debt can cripple a societies economy quicker than one can imagine.
A country like Nigeria and some others are veering strictly into the cashless economy zone because the government believe it would help curb laundering and other financial crimes. This has not fully been grasped by the masses and as such cash remains king, mostly now when bank transfers and USSD codes and major ATM machines lack cash or clearly isn't functioning.

[darkangel11]

With bank runs and related negative trends on the rise. "Cash is king" sounds like a great policy to me. Certainly this is the wave of the future. Only bitcoin beats cash.

Meloni probably doesn't share your ideals

"The only legal currency in Italy and Europe is the paper notes issued by the European Central Bank."
The way I see it, in her eyes bitcoin must be electronic money, along with stable coins and CBDCs. She thinks all of it is illegal, although we could use more clarification.

I don't like this debate over legal vs illegal. One day she starts telling us that electronic payments that are legal around the world are illegal, the next she'll come up with something else that you cannot do that is allowed in all other countries. The US politicians also like to call things Illegal all the time, especially when it comes to gun laws. Large magazine, or having a forward grip can be illegal depending on a state. Like that has something to do with lethality, or gun violence...