Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama recently announced an ambitious plan: He wants to make Albania the world's first cashless society before the decade is out.
Albania can learn from Southeast Asian countries like us. Rather than choosing between paying by card vs cash, we also have QR payment option as well…. coz… everyone here uses smartphone these days, and not all have Visa/Mastercard, so might as well leverage on that to provide another payment option, which everyone can benefit from it.
I don’t get why “QR” is described as a “payment option”. It’s still a bank account transaction in the end which is exclusively for banked people. And worse, it excludes people without recent smartphones and the Google Playstore account needed to get the closed-source app that violates our software freedom.
I have a hard time giving a shit about the novelty of not carrying a plastic card in the big scheme of things, when forced-banking is being oppressively shoved in our faces and privacy is toast, while also being vulnerable to systemic denial of service in the event of cyberattacks as acts of war. While violating our human rights (banks treat different people differently based on where they come from).
IDK about you, but QR payments here aren’t just for those who have bank accounts. Majority of non-bank eWallet apps also have integrated with this QR system, and they have their own account numbers and QR that works like a bank account, and anyone can register it entirely through the apps. Even lower-spec and older smartphones can still run those bank/eWallet apps here just fine, as long those smartphones are not rooted.
Sounds like Paypal, who is “not a bank”, but who operates on the basis that you must link a bank or interact with a bank to do transactions. But you say unbanked people can use it? How do you get cash loaded onto it?
I suppose it’s still far from being something I could find useable because apps that reject rooted phones would be closed-source (read: untrustworthy; misplaced control).
Albania can learn from Southeast Asian countries like us. Rather than choosing between paying by card vs cash, we also have QR payment option as well…. coz… everyone here uses smartphone these days, and not all have Visa/Mastercard, so might as well leverage on that to provide another payment option, which everyone can benefit from it.
I don’t get why “QR” is described as a “payment option”. It’s still a bank account transaction in the end which is exclusively for banked people. And worse, it excludes people without recent smartphones and the Google Playstore account needed to get the closed-source app that violates our software freedom.
I have a hard time giving a shit about the novelty of not carrying a plastic card in the big scheme of things, when forced-banking is being oppressively shoved in our faces and privacy is toast, while also being vulnerable to systemic denial of service in the event of cyberattacks as acts of war. While violating our human rights (banks treat different people differently based on where they come from).
IDK about you, but QR payments here aren’t just for those who have bank accounts. Majority of non-bank eWallet apps also have integrated with this QR system, and they have their own account numbers and QR that works like a bank account, and anyone can register it entirely through the apps. Even lower-spec and older smartphones can still run those bank/eWallet apps here just fine, as long those smartphones are not rooted.
Sounds like Paypal, who is “not a bank”, but who operates on the basis that you must link a bank or interact with a bank to do transactions. But you say unbanked people can use it? How do you get cash loaded onto it?
I suppose it’s still far from being something I could find useable because apps that reject rooted phones would be closed-source (read: untrustworthy; misplaced control).
You mentioned you “must” link a bank or interact with a bank. Not in this case.
Yep, I said that.
They can go to any 7-Eleven stores to reload their cash into the app. Some other convenience stores offer such service too.