First there was Target, then Neiman Marcus, then White Lodging, which maintains some major hotel franchises. Consumer data breaches at these companies left millions of us vulnerable to identity theft.
With our cards at risk, is the safe bet to switch to cash?
Some say yes, Rob Wile says no. He’s an energy and economics reporter for Business Insider, and he recently wrote a piece that highlighted 13 reasons “Why Cash Is Bad.”
#2 Cash is inconvenient
On average, the Tufts researchers found, Americans waste 28 minutes a month traveling to an ATM, or 5.6 hours a year. Much of that time would likely have been spent on leisure. But at the mean wage, that means $31 billion lost annually. “…It is indicative of just how much time in the aggregate is spent managing currency,” the Tufts professors write.