You may see the reason if the credit card networks ever go down.
I would just go to my bank and take out cash. Even when the power is out for weeks after hurricanes, my local bank comes up on generator power.
If we’re talking doomsday, all credit card processing is down forever-type scenarios, and I can’t get to my cash because the banks are overrun by terrorists or zombies or the plague, I don’t think greenbacks are going to be much use anyhow. ;)
Very true! When massive storms (for instance) knock out the power and telephone lines you better have cash! I thought that I had enough but after 5 days of no power and having to pay cash for generator gasoline (at the one gasoline station about 20 miles away which had emergency power), I had to drive 120+ miles (roundtrip) to find a working ATM machine in order to get cash! Now, when a big storm is on the way, I make sure that I stock up on cash!
Indeed. I use my debit card almost exlusively for purchasing, but I do keep $40 tucked away in a hidden fold of my wallet for emergencies. I learned the hard way that not doing so can be painful.
Three years ago I was crossing the Sierra’s through one of the minor passes when I had to stop and get gas at a small station in the middle of nowhere. Their card reader was down, and I had no cash on me. They certainly weren’t going to loan a total stranger fuel on faith, and their sense of charity was on leave that day, so I ended up having to call AAA and have a tow truck bring out some fuel. All because I had no cash.
There are also still some places that, for some stupid reason, set minimal transaction amounts on all card purchases. A mile or two from my home is a little quicky mart that will NOT permit ATM or credit purchases for amounts less than $5. They claim it’s to counter the high merchant fees charged by the credit card companies, but I suspect it’s just a scam to get their customers to buy more. I just never stop there at all. I don’t stop at AM/PM anymore either, since they instituted their fees for pay at the pump ATM transactions (it was a 45 cent surcharge when I began boycotting them two years ago, but I’ve been told that it’s gone up since).