4 ms·

How private is cash, really? I assume when you withdraw from a bank, they track the serial numbers. And when the store deposits their cash, they probably track

by gccs 5y ago

How private is cash, really? I assume when you withdraw from a bank, they track the serial numbers. And when the store deposits their cash, they probably track serial numbers too. It can't be that hard to figure our what you bought even with the small chance your cash was giving to a customer as change.

deleted 5y ago
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bsd44 5y ago
How exactly can you do that? If it were so easy as you suggest all criminals of this world would be arrested. Comparing tracking digital transactions of millions of people with cash is unreasonable.
TheAdamist 5y ago
they do not track serial numbers for individual withdrawals. Have you ever been to a bank? they count the bills and hand them to you without recording anything. cash circulates widely between receiving it from the bank and going back to a bank anyway. just went to my local farmers market today, all transactions were in cash. cash isn't dead.
salawat 5y ago
Nope. Serial numbers are only used for theft prevention/lifetime controls/anti-counterfeit for dollar bills. I'd like you to imagine or ask any business whether they have ever had someone on the books whose only responsibility was managing cash serial numbers for reporting purposes. The answer will most likely be no. There is no circular that goes around "here's a list of known bad dollar bills" like there are accounts/persona-non-grata via OFAC. This is also why the U.S. implements controls and reporting requirements on large cash withdrawals, because it can be a signal there is something odd going on they don't have enough controls in place to actually monitor. There is nothing that would make the forensic accountant's life easier than cash disappearing and everyone switching to required by law digital bookkeeping. That database is only a subpoena away as long as uncooperative jurisdictional boundary crossing isn't in play.

by gccs 5y ago

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

bsd44 5y ago

How exactly can you do that? If it were so easy as you suggest all criminals of this world would be arrested. Comparing tracking digital transactions of millions of people with cash is unreasonable.

TheAdamist 5y ago

they do not track serial numbers for individual withdrawals. Have you ever been to a bank? they count the bills and hand them to you without recording anything. cash circulates widely between receiving it from the bank and going back to a bank anyway. just went to my local farmers market today, all transactions were in cash. cash isn't dead.

salawat 5y ago

Nope. Serial numbers are only used for theft prevention/lifetime controls/anti-counterfeit for dollar bills. I'd like you to imagine or ask any business whether they have ever had someone on the books whose only responsibility was managing cash serial numbers for reporting purposes. The answer will most likely be no. There is no circular that goes around "here's a list of known bad dollar bills" like there are accounts/persona-non-grata via OFAC. This is also why the U.S. implements controls and reporting requirements on large cash withdrawals, because it can be a signal there is something odd going on they don't have enough controls in place to actually monitor. There is nothing that would make the forensic accountant's life easier than cash disappearing and everyone switching to required by law digital bookkeeping. That database is only a subpoena away as long as uncooperative jurisdictional boundary crossing isn't in play.