Screw the banks: Use cash

I'm sure there is a downside to this which I haven't considered, but it's a viscerally compelling argument. I like it. BTW, I lived in a country where 10-15% retail discounts for payment in cash were common and it certainly made me think twice about using plastic. (I was told that global credit card banks were lobbying the government to outlaw the practice, no big surprise if true.) Of course, the author assumes consumers have the financial wherewithal to pay in cash, and especially in this recession, many do not.


A Simple Plan to Screw Big Banking. Use Cash.
By Chaz Valenza
November 28, 2009 | Chaz Valenta

Here's a simple plan that will bring Big Banking to its feet: Use Cash.

For decades Big Greed has been selling us the idea that markets are just perfecto! Don't regulate them. Don't even bother chasing down fraud. "The Market" (Angelic Voices: Ahhhhh!) is so beautifully simple even scams cannot long survive.

Let's take the "Wisdom of The Market" stick it up Big Banking's rectum, twist, turn and otherwise shove vigorously and often.

Face it, the cavalry is not coming to the rescue if your name is not Goldman Sachs.

Government of the people, by the people, and for the people is temporarily out-of-order, like a soda machine that is taking dollar bills from customer after customer but relinquishes not one quenching 12 oz. can.

No legislation or regulations are in the offing to cap the rising tide of usury interest rates, curb punishing banking fees on debit cards or curtail demonic payday loans.

Here's the bill of fare:

Credit Card Interest: 30%
Merchant Credit Card Fees: 3.5 - 5%
Merchant Credit Card Receivables Loan: 36 – 97%
Payday Loans: 100 – 500%
Debit Card Overdraft Fees,
Over limit Fees, Late Payment Fees, etc:
Interest Equivalent to 12% - 300% and otherwise unlimited

Throw stones – millions of them. Every plastic transaction denied is a slice in the skin of Big Banking.

As a buyer: Use Cash. It's going to save you money verses paying with credit card or making a mistake with a debit card.

As a merchant: Discount 5% for Cash. It's going to save you money in reduced merchant charges and days waiting for credit card receivables. It's also an advantage against the Big Box stores and Big Food restaurants.

Think about it. Who would you rather have that 3.5% you give to Big Plastic on every credit or debit card transaction: Your customer or Big Banking? Isn't that worth the extra 1.5% in the discount?

But it gets better. It's guerilla warfare. It's a simple insurgency. Avoid the banking system to bring it to its knees. Use Cash.

How low-tech is this? How unstoppable? How inconvenient? Yes. But worth it!

Put it on bumper stickers. Make it your email signature. Pass the word in whispers to everyone who works for a living. Write it in magic marker on T-shirts. Design a flag and boldly embroider. Print up window signs. Post it on every blog you visit. Tweet it from the highest mountain. Two simple words: Use Cash.

Will they fight back? Of course they will. They will end Absolutely Free* Checking that is costing us all billions. They may lower their rates and switch up the penalty fee structure. They might even lobby for the end of printed dollars. That's how we'll know it's working!

Here's the future and the future is now. Personal loans? Small business lines of credit? Only to those who don't need them or at a killer rates of interest.

Use Cash.

Every cash transaction snatches a dime, a dollar, thirty-five dollars, a hundred dollars or more out of the greedy, blood soaked hands of Big Banking. Each transaction denied is a cut. Together it's death by a billion cuts daily.

5% Discount for Cash.

You'll be shooting at Big Plastic's feet. Smile as you watch 'em dance. They have us hooked on plastic. They claim it's faster, quicker, better. People spend more. Yes, they do. Until the abusive fees take your customers' last penny of discretionary cash and they're broke.

Debit or Credit, plastic is really just one thing: a cash substitute provided by a commission taking broker who charges you a fee at every cash register. They intend to milk it for all it's worth. Cut up your cards, today, right now.

And here's the beauty part: We don't need no stinking badges to fight back. Just: Use Cash. Wow! I'm starting to agree: The Market Rules!

Don't worry about freeing up credit or ending the banking abuse, etc. This is action you can take right now, and again and again, day after day after day.

Sure, there are bigger fish to fry: End the Fed, local currency, non-profit banking, total monetary reform, but this is something we can do right now.

It's easy, fast, effective: Don't give Big Banking any small change.

Yes we can nickel and dime the banks to death! Spread the word: Use Cash.

Chaz Valenza is writer and small business owner in New Jersey. He earned his MBA from New York University's Stern School of Business.