INTERACT FORUM
More => Music, Movies, Politics, and Other Cheap Thrills => Topic started by: JimH on February 10, 2025, 03:32:02 am
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Trump has ordered that pennies stop being made.
Let's do the nickel, too and round prices up to the nearest dime. Even a dime is nearly nothing. At $10 an hour for each, a buyer and seller use up a dime in about 20 seconds, even disregarding the time of the people in line behind.
Now a quarter is really worth something. With six of them, you can buy a small Snickers bar.
Which used to cost $.05 when I was a kid.
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Which used to cost $.05 when I was a kid.
So 20 farthings back then ;D
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So 20 farthings back then ;D
And if it was in the UK it was called a Marathon bar back then
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And if it was in the UK it was called a Marathon bar back then
And it was a lot bigger than a Snickers and cost a lot less, I can remember the days when a MilkyWay cost a whole 3 UK pennies as did a Wagon Wheel.
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And it was a lot bigger than a Snickers and cost a lot less, I can remember the days when a MilkyWay cost a whole 3 UK pennies as did a Wagon Wheel.
I'm sure Wagon Wheels were bigger when I was a child.
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In EU there are now 7 countries no longer minting 1 and 2 cent euro coins. Cash payments need to be rounded up or down to the nearest 5-cents.
https://www.eestipank.ee/en/press/rounding-rule-will-start-apply-payments-cash-new-year-27122024
At the same time, €500 bank notes were removed from circulation a few years ago as they were mostly used on the parallel economy, for tax evasion and criminal payments. Even €200 notes are not accepted by most merchants. Transactions above a certain limit (e.g. €3000 for Portugal) can't be made in cash as a measure against tax evasion.
Cash payments continue to decline in popularity and total value. We mostly use debit cards, not credit. I rarely carry any cash at all. A few countries are already mostly cashless - in Norway, only 4% of transactions are now cash.
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/stats/paysec/html/ecb.pis2024h1~5263055ced.en.html
In many countries no one tips at all, and no one expects a tip. We pay good living wages instead, and sale prices take that into account (and are still cheaper than in US). In Germany a 0€ to 5€ tip is perfectly fine regardless of the total meal amount.
All cards are contactless (NFC), with pin and chip. Just touch or insert them in the payment terminal, usually no need to enter the pin for payments < 50€ or so. Your card never leaves your hand, instead everyone has portable card readers that they bring to the table.
Using the phone as payment is also very popular amongst the younger generation - it uses NFC to convey your debit/credit card, Google Pay, Paypal or whatever you chose as backend, so it works exactly the same as a contactless card, just touch it against the reader.
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NFC doesn't require touching the reader. It has a limit of something like a couple centimeters.
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NFC doesn't require touching the reader. It has a limit of something like a couple centimeters.
Yes, "Near Field". Everyone still touches it, it's just easier than hovering.
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No 1c and 2c coins here in Aus for quite some time. I thnk the test of the value of a coin is whether you would bother to bend down and pick it up when vacuuming.
Haven't carried cash or cards with me for years, use the phone for everything.