4 ms·

Considering everyone is carrying around wads to pay in cash. Are thieves/muggings a big problem in Germany?

distances 9y ago
Normal person doesn't carry around wads of cash during their normal day. From the article: > On average, wallets in Germany hold nearly twice as much cash—about $123 worth Not worth a mugging in a Western country that doesn't leave its citizens starving.
- overcast 9y ago
  $123 is still a lot of money. Pickpockets aren't roaming gangs of starving thieves.
  - Retric 9y ago
    $123 * 365 ~= 45k/year. So, you would need to mug / pickpocket 1 or more people per day per person involved. At a guess that's not very stable and your very likely to get caught. aka, you might get 100 peoples wallets at moderate risk, but going for 10's of thousands is a lot more risky. Also, stolen CC can be turned into cash.
    - overcast 9y ago
      $45k a year, untaxed, for what, a few minutes of work per day? Sign me up. There are professional pickpockets all over the world, that make a healthy living off of it. Also, average monthly salary in Germany is $2666. Sounds WAY more profitable to be a pickpocket.
      - Retric 9y ago
        Until you get caught. The problem is not so much being an experienced pickpocket, the problem is getting to that point and then living off of it for 40 years without spending a lot of time in prison.
        overcast 9y ago
        Of course it's "until you get caught", and then subsequently released to just start over. Thieves exist, getting caught isn't a deterrent. You're taking it from the perspective of someone logical, with a vision of the future, savings, etc.
        Retric 9y ago
        Actual data suggests pickpockets are in massive decline. I suspect criminals are more rational than you might think. http://www.npr.org/2011/03/06/134298101/pickpocketing-an-art-thats-stealing-away http://www.npr.org/2011/03/06/134298101/pickpocketing-an-art... Sure, you can make a living picking pockets, but drugs / cyber crime etc. have more 'advancement' potential.
  - k__ 9y ago
    I don't know why, but we don't have many pickpockets here in Germany. Probable reasons: We don't have that much poor people here. The few that are, get social aid from the public/country. The few that aren't happy with the amount of money they get, can collect bottles, which give you 0,25€ per bottle. Few hours of bottle collecting in a big city is easy money on the side. So most poor people here can make 10-20€ a day on the side legally. Food is really cheap in Germany, so people don't have to carry around much money. Most of the time I only have below 50€ on me and only on bigger travels in the country-side I take more. So I think there is simply no reason to risk getting caught stealing an amount of money you can easily make legally.
1ba9115454 9y ago
Not really. Things are quire cheap so you don't have to carry a lot around. Also the crime rate is really low.
scythe 9y ago
According to http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Crime/Robberies http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Crime/Robberi... Germany has 65.2 robberies per 100k whereas the US is sitting at 146. Poverty rates are higher in the US but I think that Germany's relative safety is what makes people feel comfortable carrying cash. I'd go back to cash if I could, but it's not safe and the local government where I live has basically no interest in making it any safer...
simonhfrost 9y ago
I can't comment about the rate of muggings, but ATMs are everywhere which would promote holding less cash for shorter periods of time. It's not uncommon to visit a bank in the centre city where most of the 5-6 ATMs are full of people withdrawing cash (which is a stark difference between more cash-digitised nations).
- overcast 9y ago
  Sounds incredibly inefficient!
- xioxox 9y ago
  However German banks like to charge you if you use the wrong machine. There are various different networks and you have to use the right one to make sure you aren't charged. This is quite different from the UK where most machines are free.
usrusr 9y ago
Muggings rarely cross anyone's mind, except maybe when carrying an exceptionally large sum for e.g. buying a used car (which i the biggest transaction customarily done in cash, by a wide margin). Concerns about muggings are usually consolidated with the more general though of "what if I somehow lost my wallet" and that is dominated by concerns about the credit, debit, ATM and ID cards that also reside there (yes, credit cards are not terribly rate, but many are rarely used in face to face transactions). Losing a few days worth of cash transactions isn't high on the list of annoyances that would come with a lost wallet. By the way, the big costs of daily life, like rent, insurance and the like are not settled using credit cards, cheques or cash, this stuff is all done by bank transfer and has been done by bank transfer since long before credit cards became somewhat established (for occasional use).

Normal person doesn't carry around wads of cash during their normal day. From the article: > On average, wallets in Germany hold nearly twice as much cash—about $123 worth Not worth a mugging in a Western country that doesn't leave its citizens starving.

overcast 9y ago
$123 is still a lot of money. Pickpockets aren't roaming gangs of starving thieves.
- Retric 9y ago
  $123 * 365 ~= 45k/year. So, you would need to mug / pickpocket 1 or more people per day per person involved. At a guess that's not very stable and your very likely to get caught. aka, you might get 100 peoples wallets at moderate risk, but going for 10's of thousands is a lot more risky. Also, stolen CC can be turned into cash.
  - overcast 9y ago
    $45k a year, untaxed, for what, a few minutes of work per day? Sign me up. There are professional pickpockets all over the world, that make a healthy living off of it. Also, average monthly salary in Germany is $2666. Sounds WAY more profitable to be a pickpocket.
    - Retric 9y ago
      Until you get caught. The problem is not so much being an experienced pickpocket, the problem is getting to that point and then living off of it for 40 years without spending a lot of time in prison.
      - overcast 9y ago
        Of course it's "until you get caught", and then subsequently released to just start over. Thieves exist, getting caught isn't a deterrent. You're taking it from the perspective of someone logical, with a vision of the future, savings, etc.
        Retric 9y ago
        Actual data suggests pickpockets are in massive decline. I suspect criminals are more rational than you might think. http://www.npr.org/2011/03/06/134298101/pickpocketing-an-art-thats-stealing-away http://www.npr.org/2011/03/06/134298101/pickpocketing-an-art... Sure, you can make a living picking pockets, but drugs / cyber crime etc. have more 'advancement' potential.
- k__ 9y ago
  I don't know why, but we don't have many pickpockets here in Germany. Probable reasons: We don't have that much poor people here. The few that are, get social aid from the public/country. The few that aren't happy with the amount of money they get, can collect bottles, which give you 0,25€ per bottle. Few hours of bottle collecting in a big city is easy money on the side. So most poor people here can make 10-20€ a day on the side legally. Food is really cheap in Germany, so people don't have to carry around much money. Most of the time I only have below 50€ on me and only on bigger travels in the country-side I take more. So I think there is simply no reason to risk getting caught stealing an amount of money you can easily make legally.

1ba9115454 9y ago

Not really. Things are quire cheap so you don't have to carry a lot around. Also the crime rate is really low.

scythe 9y ago

According to http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Crime/Robberies http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Crime/Robberi... Germany has 65.2 robberies per 100k whereas the US is sitting at 146. Poverty rates are higher in the US but I think that Germany's relative safety is what makes people feel comfortable carrying cash. I'd go back to cash if I could, but it's not safe and the local government where I live has basically no interest in making it any safer...

simonhfrost 9y ago

I can't comment about the rate of muggings, but ATMs are everywhere which would promote holding less cash for shorter periods of time. It's not uncommon to visit a bank in the centre city where most of the 5-6 ATMs are full of people withdrawing cash (which is a stark difference between more cash-digitised nations).

overcast 9y ago
Sounds incredibly inefficient!
xioxox 9y ago
However German banks like to charge you if you use the wrong machine. There are various different networks and you have to use the right one to make sure you aren't charged. This is quite different from the UK where most machines are free.

usrusr 9y ago

Muggings rarely cross anyone's mind, except maybe when carrying an exceptionally large sum for e.g. buying a used car (which i the biggest transaction customarily done in cash, by a wide margin). Concerns about muggings are usually consolidated with the more general though of "what if I somehow lost my wallet" and that is dominated by concerns about the credit, debit, ATM and ID cards that also reside there (yes, credit cards are not terribly rate, but many are rarely used in face to face transactions). Losing a few days worth of cash transactions isn't high on the list of annoyances that would come with a lost wallet. By the way, the big costs of daily life, like rent, insurance and the like are not settled using credit cards, cheques or cash, this stuff is all done by bank transfer and has been done by bank transfer since long before credit cards became somewhat established (for occasional use).