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I understand this applies in Vietnam.



Touch and go cards were the banks' big thing before covid but they have achieved a whole new meaning now. All you do is tap the card machine with your card, enter your pin (If required fir that sale), and you've paid.
Quick, easy, and nobody needs to touch or disinfect your card.
I suppose the shops might like to rub an antiseptic wipe over the number keys between customers if they are that way inclined, but that's their problem.
Question is, will they spray the receipts before they hand them over?

Fred wrote:

I understand this applies in Vietnam.



Touch and go cards were the banks' big thing before covid but they have achieved a whole new meaning now. All you do is tap the card machine with your card, enter your pin (If required fir that sale), and you've paid.
Quick, easy, and nobody needs to touch or disinfect your card.
I suppose the shops might like to rub an antiseptic wipe over the number keys between customers if they are that way inclined, but that's their problem.
Question is, will they spray the receipts before they hand them over?

Great idea for supermarkets and shops Fred,,, be around another 100 years before all the market traders/street vendors stop using cash seeing most of them dont have bank accounts and keep their money at home and away from banks. 

Although I am one who takes COVID-19 seriously, most of this disinfecting is what I call COVID Kabuki.  We catch the virus by inhaling respiratory droplets.   The chance of infection from solid surfaces is exceedingly rare.

Technically, it's polymer-based, so I might say it's water-proof.

I left some notes in my pant couple times and it's still the same after the laundry.

But we're talking about large note like 500,000 d.

I found smaller notes - which is less used now - are not that durable and resistant.

Actually, couple years after we first adopted the polymer, majority of small-valued notes got obsolete, faded real quick.

2014:
2014:

The Australian dollar bill - polymer as well - got way better quality.
Even thought they claimed it was the same technology.

The US, land of plastics, makes it's money, in all denominations, on paper made from silk;  Vietnam and other Asian nations, the lands of silk, make their money out of plastics.   

THIGV wrote:

The US, land of plastics, makes it's money, in all denominations, on paper made from silk;  Vietnam and other Asian nations, the lands of silk, make their money out of plastics.   

Good point!

Years ago, we used seashells, or rocks to trade cotton and cattle.

Now we hover our phones over square stickers for groceries.

I reckon the materiality is no longer a matter.

Andybris2020 wrote:

Great idea for supermarkets and shops Fred,,, be around another 100 years before all the market traders/street vendors stop using cash seeing most of them dont have bank accounts and keep their money at home and away from banks. 

3 or 4 years ago I would have agreed with you, but no longer.
We have an app out here we know as Gojek. It started as a motorcycle taxi booking app, moved on to cars, then food delivery, then bill payments, and now pretty much everything.
Frankly, I'm shocked at the sheer brilliance of those who started the company and took it to the dizzy heights it's at now.
Over here we can pay for a lot of things using the app, even buy food at many street places - and at not a few market stalls.
We're still a very long way from ditching cash because a lot of people can't afford so much as a basic smartphone and data package, but we're getting there.

I've worked as a specialist, and in the printing industry at all levels, all of my working life, I have close relationships with people within the banking industry. I've also worked for various printing machine manufacturers within their currency divisions. I can tell you a few basic things about money. Circulated currency is by far the dirtiest thing you will handle on a daily basis. You can toss plastic/polymer notes into your main wash at 40 degrees Celsius without any problems. A front loading washing machine is far superior to a top loader. You can spray highly alcohol based hand sanitiser onto paper notes and then iron them on the steam setting without any problems whatsoever. Never iron a plastic/polymer note. Autosol metal cleaner gets the grime off coins. Women whom work in banks with money should never touch their face or lick their fingers. The communal fridge, microwave, and lifts, handles and buttons spread viruses, as do bank notes. Think about it, you pay for an item, your payment is the next persons change. Tap and go has its advantages, cash is king, but ultimately gold rules.