Before you go thinking I’m one of those suckers who replied to a text message from the IRD’s Delhi office or Fedex’s headquartersnext door to the Kremlin, it was far more mysterious (and nefarious) than that!
Two hundred bucks was withdrawn from my account from Woolston in Christchurch. I’ve not had the displeasure of visiting Woolston and nor has my credit card, which remained tucked up in its secret hiding place in the fruit bowl on the kitchen bench at home.
The bank won’t yet say how this happened nor whether a refund is due, but I’ve learned a darn good lesson from this most unfortunate escapade – the value of cash. I’ve been dolling out Sheppards, Rutherfords and Ngatas like it’s 1993. Thank goodness for the emergency cash stash kept hidden in that same secret fruit bowl where you’ll also find a phone charger, plasters, nail clippers and other essential items – except actual fruit.
Mailing out a new credit card takes at least a week for urban areas and Lord knows how long for rural folk, once we’ve sent what’s left of our postie workforce to the slaughterhouse.
It’s easy to dismiss the old-fashioned and seemingly antiquated things in life until you really need them. Cash. Posties. Transistor radios when natural disasters strike.
Technology is like legs. Excellent when working but crippling when they’re not.
Sweden and Finland this week backpedalled on plans to go cashless for fear their tyrannical neighbour might hack and crash a fully digital payment system.
The threat of Russian attacks, both military and cyber, is so great that next month all Swedes are being sent what is essentially a “how-to” brochure on surviving war.
Among the advice about different warning sirens is a direction to use cash regularly and to keep at least a week’s supply in various denominations on hand.
Norway has just made it illegal for retailers not to accept cash. Use it or lose it.
Cash is king – but do we now need a $500 note in New Zealand? Photo / 123rf
New Zealand needs cash not so much because of cyber threats but natural disasters.
Rain and earthquakes. I flew into Napier the day after Cyclone Gabrielle hit with gumboots but no cash and quickly discovered how foolish that was. I met a guy waiting hours in line for petrol who said he’d been preparing for exactly this rainy day with a wad of cash stored in a safe at home.
I wonder if we as a society are as prepared for the next inevitable shock that throws us back into the dark ages where cash is king, candles light the dark, gas lights the stove and diesel runs a generator?
The great Crowdstrike outage earlier this year should also serve as a warning. Turns out everything is interconnected and if somebody farts, we all smell it. Millions were affected; 7000 flights grounded by Delta Airlines alone and according to UK doctors, it was “one of the single toughest days in recent times for GPs across England and Wales”.
The experts tell us the chances of this happening are slim but as the saying goes, you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.
So save a few of those posties, keep your radios handy and some cash in the cupboard. The Government could help by legislating to expand cash requirements.
Any business that currently warns customers that they don’t accept cash doesn’t have to. There’s an exemption for the payment of debt. This should be expanded to include payments for essential items such as fuel and food. Keeping more cash in circulation in times of cyber attacks, climate weather events and wars is the smart thing to do.
While they’re at it, I have one more request after battling ungodly prices with cash at Countdown this week (thankfully our merciful duopolies still accept cash as legal tender).
Inflation has eroded the value of those banknotes to the point of obsolescence. May I suggest a new $500 denomination with the face of our former Finance Minister Grant Robertson adorning the front ...
