Stay ahead of the curve by giving the plastic a swerve
IT was a hard morning cutting, assembling, and lifting timber frames. I turned to my crew and said “My treat. Anyone want anything from the shop?” Unsurprisingly it was meat pies and sports drinks. Getting the order and offering a note I was told that due to the coronavirus, the shop would only accept a card. “No problem” I said.
It wasn’t until I got back and looked at the receipt that I found each item had cost me 10 cents extra.
Okay, a dollar is not going to break the bank, so I forgot about it until the news about a cyber attack on our government and business. An attack ostensibly engineered or sanctioned by a foreign power.
What happens in a confluence of a cyber attack on my bank and the rejection of cash payment I thought? What about the floating concept of a cashless society? How vulnerable are we?
We of the older generation have watched information technology change the world. The combinations of zero and one is everywhere and at times wonder if it is a servant or master. As a servant it has become indispensable. I use it in this letter for a start. But it can quickly become a master dependent on who controls it.
There is a constant war going on between those who write the codes to protect our information or anything computer dependent, and those intent on hacking that control. While set on a path too late to change even if we wanted to, this is another curve we must stay ahead of.
We are all a part of something we have little control over and must put our trust in those who can. But there is one critical backup we can hold to should our digital minders fail. Something easily carried with an immediately known value in exchange for goods or services. The banknote is physical legal tender, not a number represented in the ether by a string of zeros and ones.
In a war where the major players have taken a stake, my backup plan is neatly folded in my wallet. How about yours? Should it stay that way? For my money and security, and in recognition of the costly convenience of a card, it should.
BOB JANSSEN,
COLD COAST