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Comment by IslandRebel | Hacker News Reader

You should have cash in a drawer somewhere just in case you lose your card / wallet / phone. A lot of people talk about totalitarian societies and being cut off from payment at a click of a switch, but the reality is more mundane.

Cash is a good backup and is easy to give to someone else e.g. I recently moved house and my brother was driving my car (while I drove the moving van). I left £60 in cash in the cubby box, so he could refill. No need to mess around with apps/bank transfers, just leave the notes/coins in the compartment.

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Being cut off from payment at a click of a switch is already happening. I can name at least 3 people off the top of my head that have been de-banked in western countries (USA, UK, Italy) simply for speaking out in favour of the "wrong" cause.

Democratic states need to constitutionally enshrine the right to banking, if they insist on being called democratic.

I used to pay attention to politics and freedom of speech issues etc. While there is a problem with democratic societies (any government really) curtailing freedom of speech. That often isn't what is happened when these people are de-banked.

Often banks have to apply different rules/laws to people that are politically exposed and/or these people are doing something shady etc.

I wouldn't believe any of the political grifters (left/right/whatever) online when they said they are de-banked/cancelled unless they show definitive proof.

The Payment Accounts Directive already mostly does that in the EU (as does the UK's Payment Accounts Regulations).

It's not truly universal, as people who are money laundering or financing terrorism can still be excluded, but it does allow those who've been "debanked" based on other risk metrics (such as financial vulnerability or political exposure) to have basic payment accounts.

Those complaining in the media about being debanked are generally talking about not being able access credit, do large international bank transfers, or use sophisticated banking products. Normal day-to-day spending is not affected.

Often they are lying about why anyway. Almost every political commentator, influencer or edgy personality (right or left) have been exposed as lying or defrauding to their audience.

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