Hmm well, fair point. The society is moving also away from cash and many places don't accept it anymore. You are left with credit card... Which is also a spying device. So no payments without data collection for you!
I don't think that is essentially a bad thing. Forcing a digital signature for every transaction makes criminal activity difficult. Modern AML works much better because there is always a digital fingerprint for every transaction.
But I think that these are two distinct issues? Some crypto -things could somewhere in the future solve the privacy issue... But no society wants that, because real privacy makes criminal activity and money laundering possible. But that has nothing to do with credit card duopoly?
A cashless society is another debate entirely. I do think it's a dictator dream and the best way to kill diversity and innovative social behavior.
But the matter here is card vs phone. Your card do spy on you, but it doesn't have your contact, a microphone, the history of where you have been, etc.
You can easily give your card away to a friend for the day. Your card doesn't need an update. It's not connected to internet all the time. It won't die if it falls, if it rains or of it's too hot. You can have a replacement easily as well.
It's also way more accessible. My grandma can use it. A blind man can. They all work the same way.
A phone is only a good card alternative when every thing goes right. But I value resilience in my paiement system.
I don't think that is essentially a bad thing. Forcing a digital signature for every transaction makes criminal activity difficult. Modern AML works much better because there is always a digital fingerprint for every transaction.
But I think that these are two distinct issues? Some crypto -things could somewhere in the future solve the privacy issue... But no society wants that, because real privacy makes criminal activity and money laundering possible. But that has nothing to do with credit card duopoly?