Cashless is not really an option in my country. For social security the state has the right to look into your complete transaction history. If someone would bec

Cashless is not really an option in my country. For social security the state has the right to look into your complete transaction history. If someone would become unemployed and someone gave him 20$ to buy something, the state would again withdraw 20$ from the help the recipient receives. While it is the task of the state to minimize tax burden of unemployed people, it isn't difficult to imagine that this is a bit detached from reality. Sure, there is exploitation of social security, but this kind of financial surveillance of people needing help isn't conductive to a solution. So in emergencies cash is more or less required to keep people afloat. If we hadn't scrapped banking secrecy in the last decade or two, going cashless would be more viable. But to be honest, having some cash in hand still feels a lot better. Also while I support social security, there is an effect that non-wage labor cost make buying work quite expensive. So a craftsman has difficulties to pay another. He would have to work countless hours to be able to finance the work of another for a single hour. The reality is that a lot is solved with undeclared work. There is of course abuse as well, but I would say that it has become mandatory to finance a lot of services people need. Otherwise many people would not be able to pay for it. From my experience it is the urban population with lacking life experience that just sees the convenience of being cashless and doesn't even think about issues like this. Sure, if the greatest challenge is waiting in the supermarket line, cashless does seem to offer a lot.