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Amsterdam shops go cash free
12 October 2010

A number of shops in Amsterdam will refuse to accept cash money from the end of this month in an experiment to try to reduce robberies.

The city council is buying the smart card pin machines for some shop keepers so they can take part in the experiment, the Parool reports on Tuesday. It is also funding posters and leafleting to make shoppers aware of the changes.

A spokesman for the city council admitted the experiment could drive both shoppers and robbers elsewhere. 'But doing nothing is not an option,' he said.

Cheaper

Not only is it safer for shops not to handle cash, but it is also quicker and cheaper, he said.

The campaign will centre on shops around the Ferdinand Bolstraat, the centre of Osdorp and shopping centres in Nieuw West.

Last year there were 547 armed robberies on Amsterdam shops, up 11% on 2008. Last week the owner of a jewelers shop on the Jan Evertsenstraat was shot dead during a robbery.

Source

Refuse to shop there.

The crime reduction story is a crock of shite.

I think jewellers will still get robbed, cash or no,
and there are plenty of card skimming scams
around which leave you far more vulnerable
than just losing a few Euros of cash.

The real agenda is being able to track you and
your transactions.

Vote with your feet, and demand the anonymous
cash option.

My £0.02

Arch

archambaut wrote:Refuse to shop there.

The crime reduction story is a crock of shite.

I think jewellers will still get robbed, cash or no,
and there are plenty of card skimming scams
around which leave you far more vulnerable
than just losing a few Euros of cash.

The real agenda is being able to track you and
your transactions.

Vote with your feet, and demand the anonymous
cash option.

My £0.02

Arch

Perhaps, but most Dutch already use their debit cards for everything, even more than in the UK.

Even several coffeeshops get robbed each year.

fail....

LOL so confusing.
Amsterdam is so strange already with there lack of accepting credit cards and debit , as any first timer can attest after standing inline at A.H. only to be glared at when you bust out your card .

Iko wrote:LOL so confusing.
Amsterdam is so strange already with there lack of accepting credit cards and debit , as any first timer can attest after standing inline at A.H. only to be glared at when you bust out your card .

Had that when I first got here. That's only international cards. Domestic debit cards work fine.

I read that this is all being driven by Achmed Badoud, one of the councillors here.

It sucks actually coz I prefer cash and I live near one of these shopping centres that will soon turn to debit card only.

I like this country but sometimes I wonder why they do some thing the way they do. Many things are bizarre and hold this country back.

Sometimes, only those with cash get to eat

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11458962

You have been warned.


Arch

Ive noticed shops in the news being turned over late at night in greater amsterdam,You hear about it all the time! even barneys was robbed while customers were in the place .