Sweden is more and more cash-free. Most restaurants and shops refuse cash. We can also use the mobile to pay: it is an app called Swish that are supported by the banks in Sweden.

Last time I was at an ATM machine was in 2020, and i think I took $50 in cash. I still have $30 left.

I think cash is being phased out and good riddance imo.
When I first started using a computer I installed PayPal and purchased some guitars and banjos from across our country by simply clicking the right buttons.
Checks and cash wouldn't have helped during the bidding and PayPal does well in protecting my transactions.

Everything's easy to keep track of and my bank of over 40 years will call me immediately if anything untoward occurs.

I only use a debit card directly limited to my checking account.So simple and safe.

quote:

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Originally posted by AndrewD

 About the only thing I use cash for is the coin operated lights on the snooker tables at my local social club. 

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Wow, never heard of this before...paying for light (outside of your home, that is).  Is that typical for most snooker tables?  Or UK in general?  Is it a coin per set duration so  you have to keep paying up when the time limit is reached?   Kinda makes sense based on the cost of electricity anymore. 

quote:

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Originally posted by Buddur

quote:

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Originally posted by AndrewD

 About the only thing I use cash for is the coin operated lights on the snooker tables at my local social club. 

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Wow, never heard of this before...paying for light (outside of your home, that is).  Is that typical for most snooker tables?  Or UK in general?  Is it a coin per set duration so  you have to keep paying up when the time limit is reached?   Kinda makes sense based on the cost of electricity anymore. 

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A snooker table is 12' by 6'. It needs a large overhead light to give even illumination to the whole surface. This is a usual way to pay for a session on a snooker table. At my club it costs £1 for 15mins - so about $5/hour. The money goes into re-covering the tables regularly and maintaining the room and equipment. So, as there are 2 of us playing on the table,  my 2 hour Thursday evening session costs about the same as one of the pints of beer I drink afterwards. Doesn't seem too bad to me. How, and how much would you pay to play pool in a club in the US ?

I've been in an 8-ball league for almost a year now but can't remember the last time I went anywhere to pay to play. I believe it's like 5-10$ per hour from what I've heard. The only time I get any practice is when I show up early on league nights. I use to shoot pool all the time.

12' x 6' is frigging HUGE...9' is regulation/tournament size but a typical bar table is 7'.

I've been watching FB Marketplace and am waiting for the right table to become available....my proposed room can only fit a 7' table comfortably. I've watched enough YT videos and feel comfortable I can disassemble and move, reassemble, install new bumper/rails if I need to, and re-felt a table...it's the levelling I'd have to spend some time on. Lots of tables available, but I have standards...and a budget. lol

quote:

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Originally posted by Buddur

I've been in an 8-ball league for almost a year now but can't remember the last time I went anywhere to pay to play. I believe it's like 5-10$ per hour from what I've heard. The only time I get any practice is when I show up early on league nights. I use to shoot pool all the time.

12' x 6' is frigging HUGE...9' is regulation/tournament size but a typical bar table is 7'.

I've been watching FB Marketplace and am waiting for the right table to become available....my proposed room can only fit a 7' table comfortably. I've watched enough YT videos and feel comfortable I can disassemble and move, reassemble, install new bumper/rails if I need to, and re-felt a table...it's the levelling I'd have to spend some time on. Lots of tables available, but I have standards...and a budget. lol

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If you want to see how the GOAT Ronnie O'Sullivan handles that 'massive table', here's how he broke the record for the highest break recorded in a professional tournament yesterday....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVg70qVju2w

Doncha just love thread drift !

quote:

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Originally posted by Joel Hooks

There is a conspiracy, but “they” with the plan is not what we might think.

Funneling payments to cards creates a way to collect data on all that we buy.

Before, this was done with “member cards”, but now that data is all tied to our payment card.

Everything you buy is recorded and tied to your name and profile, sent to a data broker center, then used in various ways.

Advertising is the obvious, but we are starting to see our profiles used to vary pricing. This part will get worse.

Depending on what you buy and when you buy it, how much you make, where you live and your tendency to buy sale items, name brand, house brands, or compare unit price vs “sale” size tricks, will all be used against us.

This will also be presented to us as a way we can “game” it to work around.

But this “game” is by design and our bank account will always lose (though we might think we are beating it).

Add to this Facial recognition and AI processing (target and Walmart are both using this at the self checkouts to collect data and pair our faces to our payment cards) and it is clear to see how this will be used as an advantage against us to make money.

With facial recognition, cash buys will eventually be tied to our profile.

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Spot on.

I you care at all about your privacy, the link below leads to a good place to learn about how it is evaporating and what you can do about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92s2szFH8-s&t=1s

To answer to OP, yeah I use cards for even small purchases, I rarely carry cash anymore, if at all.

Biometric data is already being collected by your smartphone, for example, your facial expressions are recorded in real time by your phone. If you use any app on your phone, all that is collected. Believe it.

So yeah, I agree that the move towards a cashless society is more a move to collect as much data as possible about you.

Jumping the rails for a second, recall the recent hoopla about Tic-Toc being a national security threat because it was owned by Chinese companies? And how Tic-Toc is perfectly fine now because now the US activity is run by a US company? Well, now it's worse than it was before, Patrick Boyle on YouTube has an excellent breakdown on how much worse it is now, but since it's US companies violating you, it's just fine. Ummm ... right.

These things are not unrelated.

/end thread drift