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The anonymity of cryptocurrencies doesn't just benefit shady people. Woke policies are creeping into the credit card companies and banks. Government agencies have been pressing financial institutions to turn over customer information without notifying the customer, and sometimes without proper warrants. As you may have noticed, gun owners are one of the groups often demonized by politicians and upper-level law enforcement. In Canada, the government recently froze the bank accounts of people who protested the lockdowns. If all of that doesn't make you a little leery, I probably don't need to go any further.Discover card? I didn't know they were still a "thing." They never were as widely accepted as MC and Visa. Nor is American Express. I think because Discover and AE both charged merchants a slightly higher processing fee. Kind of a vicious cycle. Reduced merchant acceptance results in fewer people wanting to use the card. AE isn't exactly a credit card as most people know it, because they require full payment at the end of the month. Surely that restricts its popularity.
Aren't cash back gimmicks pretty common with CC now? Meaning, don't most offer some kind of rebate even if only one percent? Five percent at Discover is pretty generous.
I haven't carried a balance on a CC for thirty years or more. I use them strictly for convenience. For a few years, I was a fairly regular customer at Cabelas and got one of their CC's. Then the fishing gear people took over and Cabelas kind of went down the tubes so I quit going. Last year, they sent me a letter telling me they were going to close my account for lack of use. Next time I was up there, I bought six dollar's worth of goods and kept the account alive. You never know, I might want to use it again.
I use cash for certain kinds of purchases. Mostly private purchases. When I sell personal property face to face, it's always cash. There are fewer greater joys in life for me in old age than to peel off a Benjamin and give it to one of my grandchildren as a spontaneous gift. Children, I find, love cash.
Digital currency - like Bitcoin. Where is the advantage for honest people? We already have credit cards, those are digital currency. And the block chain deal, why do we need to know the history of a financial instrument? Only something seriously subject to fraud or manipulation would need those credentials. And, Bitcoin et al have fees that are charged for each transaction, it doesn't trade for free. As a unit of "money" digital currencies are hugely volatile. I see them primarily as speculative in nature. Somebody tell me I'm wrong about this.