Do you still own a physical wallet? What are your purchasing habits?

It doesn’t with the Cashcack AMEX.

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I carry a physical wallet. In addition to cash, which I use for the bulk of my brick-and-mortar purchases, I also keep important phone numbers, addresses, and other important information in there. That way I’m not stuck if my phone gets lost or stolen, or just dies at an inoportune time, which has happened to me many times. Additionally, my Swisspass, my ID, driver’s license, my Transferwise card, and my health insurance card.

I actually try to avoid carrying a phone on me whenever I can get away with it, as I find it distracts/detracts from what I am doing.

My purchasing habits are: If I plan on buying somethingat brick-and-mortar stores, I take the necessary cash with me. If I plan to buy something online, I transfer the necessary money to my Transferwise account. If I don’t plan on buying anything, I don’t carry money with me.

I previously had credit cards (the Swisscard Amex), but after years of A/B testing I found that not having one significantly reduces my spending, even taking cash back rewards into account. Obviously, that is just my personal experience.

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Interesting.
I like the reduction in phone distractedness. :slight_smile:

How do you rent a car if you go on holiday?
(Is Transferwise not just another “prepaid credit card”, that wouldn’t pass)?

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In Europe a debit/prepaid card generally works for car rentals and hotels, as long as the balance is high enough to cover the hold. I haven’t had any issues in Africa either. In the US some rental car companies require credit cards (a prepaid/debit card number won’t even be accepted), and some hotels as well. There are likely other countries where that is the case too. But for the moment, I don’t need it.

I am intrigued by your approach. I would love to carry around my phone
(or my smartwatch) less. It freaks me out that tens of algorithms track my movements, the businesses I enter, etc… besides being reachable and all other conveniences of as smartphone (internet searches, maps, cordless payments), the main things that would stop me are the audiobook/podcasts apps, which I often like to listen to when I am out and about.

One of the problems of having a smartphone on us at all times is that we reach for it as soon as we are bored, even for a couple of seconds. I find it detrimental for our capacity of being focused but also for our capacity of just being alone with ourselves. Right now I have to rely on the expenditure of some mental energy to avoid checking social media/portfolio/news whenever I am bored, but thankfully it’s becoming a habit.

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I have a wallet, always with me but no cash. Only to hold the insurance, swiss pass, driving license…
I never hold cash, only if I am traveling to some “country” that I will need it. but usually within Europe never.

I find the payment with the phone slower than a contact less card, but maybe because I only use twint.

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I found it interesting and I will try it.
In our case, we are out and then why not a coffee or whatever and we normally spend 80% of the times that we go for a walk in something that we do not need.

It works since a few days (Cashback AMEX).

Out of curiosity - why to carry health insurance card? The AHV number should be enough in case of accident (and it’s usually a different insurer anyway, if one is employed), and other doctor visits are planned…

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There is a big chance that you won’t be capable to tell your AHV number or insurer or anything. Yes, maybe it is excessive, but I prefer to keep it with me.

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In my case, I just find it easier to carry it than to think about packing it. Theoretically you can get by without it altogether, as they can also bill you directly and you just pass it on to the insurance yourself. But having the card, or at least your insurance info, does save some admin. Doctors also prefer it, since it’s a guarantee that you live in Switzerland and are insured.

I always keep the card with me. Having worked in the hospital field, I can guarantee you that having the insurance card on you, even in case of an accident, can save a lot of time in terms of administration when entering the hospital (including the emergency department).

Anything that saves the hospital staff time is really a big point to consider. The reading of the insurance card is mainly done by the card reader via the magnetic strip.

It is important to know that it is possible to enter valuable information on your insurance card, such as your illnesses, allergies and blood type for example. You can have this information recorded by your doctor and/or during a hospital visit.

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I got those on my phone. Unsure if the staff at the Swiss hospitals would look for those there though.

About the Stocard app, they also have a WearOS companion app that can bring up your stored cards conveniently and works quite well at quickly scanning your wrist before tapping your watch to the card reader

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As far as I know, the medical staff has been trained to check if the data is accessible on people’s phone (at least in Fribourg and Valais).

On the other hand, in case of an accident, it is unlikely that the cell phone is still working. It is much more difficult to destroy the card :slightly_smiling_face:.

I’ve been going cashless and wallet free since I bought an iPhone back in 2021. I have the Apple MagSafe wallet attached to the back of my phone though, with my office badge and driving licence (in case I need to prove my identity to buy alcohol).

I haven’t touched a single bank note for a couple of months now. I can say it’s doable to go full digital in Switzerland.

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I’m a bit late, but just wanted to say that I totally agree with this (with the irony that I’m writing this on my commute instead of being with myself for 5 minutes)

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So rather than being alone, your smartphone brought you nearer and together with us, didn’t it?

Have you activated the feature that the app knows what store you’re in and automatically shows the right card?

I understand its practicality but am a bit reluctant of being tracked like that.

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No, I don’t use that feature (anymore).
I manually bring up the app on my watch as I approach the self-checkout machine and don’t rely on that at all.

I did give it a try previously, but it seems too spammy if you’re often near (100-200 meters) a spot you used the app at.
It constantly spammed me with Migros Cumulus notifications as I was going about my day at work due to having used the app at the nearby Migros frequently. It must have learnt that it was a “good spot” to bring up the notification. I disabled it real quick after 5 of those notifications in an hour.

Regarding the aspect of tracking, I usually have a policy of not minding if it can elevate my usage experience, which it evidently didn’t.

I keep only my keys and an AirTag :wink: