[derfniw]

At least in NL there is no such thing as a 5 day hold on a transfer. Typically these are instant, at worst next business day, and if you use something like "payment request" or "tikkie" all it involves is sending the buyer a link or posting a QR code somewhere to allow them to send money directly, instantly, to your account.

No chance of making errors in the bank nr, you can pre-specify the required amount in the request. No chance of making an error counting out 3K or more in cash notes.

Within the NL banking/payment landscape I'd argue that large cash transactions are more bothersome for everyone involved. (well, unless involving a bank is bothersome to either of the parties, but if that is the case we're probably entering "dubious transaction" or "dubiously sourced money" territory..)

[OkayPhysicist]

"Next business day" is a huge amount of time relative to the "instantly" that the value changes hands in a cash transaction. Cash also eliminates any need for prying into the background of the buyer: Their proof of ability to pay and payment itself is the stack of cash they have in their hand.

If the government wants to eliminate the requirement of accepting large amounts of cash, I can see that. If you're not equipped to handle being paid in a large cash sum, it can definitely be inconvenient. But making the exchange of large sums of cash between two consenting parties illegal is bold-faced tyranny.

[tekknik]

How about handling a large transaction without internet access? Say you want to transact in the middle of space. What now? Wait until you get back to some connection?

As silly as it sounds, this system is not scalable.

[derfniw]

The fact that it does not scale into a far far future where more than 0.00000000125% of the humans is in orbit/space does not mean that it is not a good system for today & the upcoming decades.

[tekknik]

Sure, by todays standards. Let’s see how well your comment ages with at least 3 different companies pursuing consumer space travel.

[frumper]

What about clawbacks? If someone uses a stolen account to pay me, can that bank get the money back after I've sold the goods?

[throwaway2037]

Any highly advanced economy: yes, there will be fraud protection built into the system. Do you live in a place where this is not true?

[frumper]

And that’s the point. If I sell you my used car and find out you paid with stolen funds, I’m not going to get cash clawed back, where I could realistically be out my car and money if someone used a digital payment.