Roosve: Be Modern, Pay with a Card

[Äike]

Roosve: Be Modern, Pay with a Card (http://news.err.ee/economy/1b251ab0-95a6-4f46-8bee-8c048871ae7e)

In order not to fall victim to counterfeiters, the Bank of Estonia's cash and security director Rait Roosve favors paying with a bank card.

"Be modern; use alternative payment options. Credit and debit cards: use them. There isn't this [counterfeiting] risk with them. Estonia is a very developed country. We have unbelievably good opportunities to pay with a card even in the tiniest village stores," Roosve said in an interview on ETV.

That said, observed Roosve, cash has its place and there are times when it is the comfortable payment option. His recommendation: take time and examine banknotes.

"First of all, feel the bank note. It's essential to feel the raised letters on the edge," said Roosve. "Even a guitar player's fingers can feel the higher part." Roosve added that the second essential item, one very difficult to forge, is the watermark.

"The majority of counterfeit bills are of very primitive quality," said Roosve, noting that high quality work is very rare.


...

There has been a problem recently with counterfeit euros, as the euros are new to the Estonians. Ironically, Russian tourists have tried to pay with counterfeit money and I did read a very humorous news article a few days ago. A person witnessed how an old Russian lady tried to pay with a 1000 euro bill at a R-kiosk and the answer she got from the cashier(they're mostly Russians) was, "I cannot take that, as I do not have enough money to give you back." The person who witnessed that said that the 1000 euro bill looked like the 100 euro one, just with one zero added. It ended with the old Russian angrily leaving the R-kiosk.

[Eldritch]

Are there any plans to make paying with plastic a mandatory option (for stores, restaurants etc.) in the horizon, I wonder?

[Äike]

Are there any plans to make paying with plastic a mandatory option (for stores, restaurants etc.) in the horizon, I wonder?

I think not, although that would be possible as you can pay with plastic almost everywhere here. I rarely use cash.

[Loki]

I would lament the passing of cash (if it gets phased out). Along with cash will go a large chunk of our freedom and privacy.

Here in the UK cash is still very important, and I know of several businesses that only take cash as payment. ;)

[esaima]

I would lament the passing of cash (if it gets phased out). Along with with cash will go a large chunk of our freedom and privacy.


Of course.
Sometimes paying with card is good and sometimes the best but sometimes the privacy is the best.

Generally Estonia is a bit childish "I-pay-everywhere-only-with-card-because-it-is so-cool-and-i-am-so-cool-because-use-cards-everywhere" society.

Isn´t paying with cards useful for the commercial banks first and foremost?;)

[Eldritch]

I think not, although that would be possible as you can pay with plastic almost everywhere here. I rarely use cash.

Just don't get fooled by big businesses into making paying with a card a mandatory option. That would probably strangle smaller mom'n'pop operations out of business and make life not only more expensive (if only a little) but more dull and uniform.

For example, our neighbourhood cafe (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kylakahvila-Peukaloinen/168892713147988) where I volunteer 1-2 days a week would probably go out of business if we were forced to get an online electronic payment terminal. And Starbucks and Wayne's Coffee (http://www.waynescoffee.fi/) would be delighted. :rolleyes:

Of course the taxman would love it too, as well as the more authoritarian minded individuals in government, if every €uro had to go through an electronic system with someone's name on it.

[Äike]

Of course.
Sometimes paying with card is good and sometimes the best but sometimes the privacy is the best.

Generally Estonia is a bit childish "I-pay-everywhere-only-with-card-because-it-is so-cool-and-i-am-so-cool-because-use-cards-everywhere" society.

Isn´t paying with cards useful for the commercial banks first and foremost?;)

I think that most Estonians pay with their card because it's more comfortable. Especially now when the smallest paper euro bill is 5 euros.


Just don't get fooled by big businesses into making paying with a card a mandatory option. That would probably strangle smaller mom'n'pop operations out of business and make life not only more expensive (if only a little) but more dull and uniform.

For example, our neighbourhood cafe (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kylakahvila-Peukaloinen/168892713147988) where I volunteer 1-2 days a week would probably go out of business if we were forced to get an online electronic payment terminal. And Starbucks and Wayne's Coffee (http://www.waynescoffee.fi/) would be delighted. :rolleyes:

Of course the taxman would love it too, as well as the more authoritarian minded individuals in government, if every €uro had to go through an electronic system with someone's name on it.

I very seriously doubt that playing by plastic will be made mandatory by anyone, the consumers themselves decide how they pay.

[Loki]

I very seriously doubt that playing by plastic will be made mandatory by anyone, the consumers themselves decide how they pay.

There are good reasons why politicians would want to phase out cash - it would give them far tighter control over almost everything, they would be able to trace every person's life in an intricate manner, and of course it would be very difficult to evade tax. The only thing keeping them from doing that is a public revolt. But people are getting more and more used to paying with plastic, so perhaps it's only a matter of time.

So in summary: don't cheer too loudly for plastic money, it is no longer a novelty or a sign of being civilized. Cash may just protect your rights in the long term.

[Breedingvariety]

I very seriously doubt that playing by plastic will be made mandatory by anyone, the consumers themselves decide how they pay.
I'm sure electronic "money" is going to replace cash. Not because electronic is good, but because our masters will so and people get used to anything.

[Äike]

There are good reasons why politicians would want to phase out cash - it would give them far tighter control over almost everything, they would be able to trace every person's life in an intricate manner, and of course it would be very difficult to evade tax. The only thing keeping them from doing that is a public revolt. But people are getting more and more used to paying with plastic, so perhaps it's only a matter of time.

So in summary: don't cheer too loudly for plastic money, it is no longer a novelty or a sign of being civilized. Cash may just protect your rights in the long term.

Your paranoid "politicians want to control every aspect of our lives" theory doesn't apply to Estonia.

[Breedingvariety]

Your paranoid "politicians want to control every aspect of our lives" theory doesn't apply to Estonia.
You mean puppet Estonia?

[Äike]

You mean puppet Estonia?

Your remarks, in different threads related to Estonia, are slowly starting to annoy me.

[Breedingvariety]

Your remarks, in different threads related to Estonia, are slowly starting to annoy me.
My remarks annoy many a people.

[Loki]

Your paranoid "politicians want to control every aspect of our lives" theory doesn't apply to Estonia.

You are naive, my friend. ;) It may not apply right now, but politicians change and are replaced by new ones. However, once the monetary system has been changed to be plastic-only (I'm not saying it's going to happen - hypothetically), then future not-so-good governments can abuse it.

[Breedingvariety]

My remarks annoy many a people.
You can call me a dick head or potatoe head. You know, it's up to your level of annoyance. LMAO

[Crossbow]

I would lament the passing of cash (if it gets phased out). Along with cash will go a large chunk of our freedom and privacy.

Here in the UK cash is still very important, and I know of several businesses that only take cash as payment. ;)


There were some owners of small firms in the construction sector here (talking about five years ago or something), who still paid their workers cash, and handed over an envelope with money each week.

[Loki]

There were some owners of small firms in the construction sector here (talking about five years ago or something), who still paid their workers cash, and handed over an envelope with money each week.

Oh, it happens all the time in the London construction industry. :) Even today. One of the reasons why London is popular with immigrants ... not too hard to find under-the-table jobs that are untaxable.

[Crossbow]

Oh, it happens all the time in the London construction industry. :) Even today. One of the reasons why London is popular with immigrants ... not too hard to find under-the-table jobs that are untaxable.

Yes I understand, that happens too (if not most of the time:)), but I was referring to a fully legal company that existed for more than forty years already and with legal (only Dutch) workers. But then again, this was an exception, they might have changed that by now, and transfer the money by bank. The owner never abandoned the old habit of payment, just like everybody had been doing in the past.

[Grumpy Cat]

The phasing out of cash will lead to increased surveillance. Marketing already uses this. I have a bad habit of paying with Interac (it's just so convenient), and now I only get flyers and spam e-mails from stores I actually shop at (Bed Bath and Beyond sends me one almost daily lol). It's not far-fetched to think the government would employ similar tactics.

Plus, people spend more money with plastic. That's why it was my New Years resolution to pay for everything with cash. If I go out, and only bring $20 with me, I'm only going to spend $20, rather than use Interac and spend $60.

Also, there's nothing more embarrassing than using Interac at a store and getting the message INSUFFICIENT FUNDS flashing across the cash register, usually accompanied with a loud beep, so that everyone in the store knows you're broke. :lol:

[Äike]

You are naive, my friend. ;) It may not apply right now,

That's right, your theory doesn't apply to Estonian politicians, as I stated earlier.


but politicians change and are replaced by new ones.

The new generation of Estonian politicians aren't any different from the current ones.


You can call me a dick head or potatoe head. You know, it's up to your level of annoyance. LMAO

You have to do more than annoy me if you want to receive insults from me.

[Eldritch]

Your paranoid "politicians want to control every aspect of our lives" theory doesn't apply to Estonia.


You mean puppet Estonia?

How very convenient and economic to be able to reply to both posts with the same question: what's that supposed to mean? ;)

[Äike]

How very convenient and economic to be able to reply to both posts with the same question: what's that supposed to mean?

It's supposed to mean that Estonia isn't like the United States of America or the United Kingdom. Thus any paranoid theories about the British government/US government and their plans doesn't even remotely apply to Estonia.