1 00:00:00,507 --> 00:00:06,843 The abolition of cash is being pushed forward in all areas of society. This also applies to public transport. 2 00:00:06,843 --> 00:00:12,044 The "Alliance Swisspass" – the Swiss industry association for rail and bus – wants to massively 3 00:00:12,044 --> 00:00:15,520 expand digitalization in the payment of tickets. 4 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:23,253 A press release from "Swisspass" dated September 2, 2026, states that as part of investment and renewal cycles, 5 00:00:23,253 --> 00:00:31,085 the existing ticket machines at train stations are to be replaced by paperless and cashless machines. 6 00:00:31,085 --> 00:00:33,789 "Swisspass" does not commit to a timeline. 7 00:00:33,789 --> 00:00:42,351 When switching to cashless machines, an alternative must continue to exist for people who wish to pay with cash. 8 00:00:42,351 --> 00:00:47,445 Tickets can be purchased via the internet or smartphone as before. 9 00:00:47,445 --> 00:00:52,576 Anyone who wants to buy a ticket at the train station must load it onto a carrier medium such as the 10 00:00:52,576 --> 00:00:55,851 "Swisspass" or the newly launched "öV Prepaid Card". 11 00:00:55,851 --> 00:00:59,226 This is presented as a new option for cash payment. 12 00:00:59,226 --> 00:01:05,856 It is anonymous and can be topped up with cash at SBB sales points. 13 00:01:05,856 --> 00:01:09,320 But how attractive is this offer really? 14 00:01:09,320 --> 00:01:15,378 While previously the customer could conveniently buy their ticket directly with cash at the machine at their train 15 00:01:15,378 --> 00:01:19,171 station, they must now first purchase a card at a sales point. 16 00:01:19,171 --> 00:01:23,876 Since staffed counters are being continuously reduced, they must travel to the next city 17 00:01:23,876 --> 00:01:26,945 and expect long waiting times at the counter. 18 00:01:26,945 --> 00:01:31,532 If they load a lot of money onto their card, they carry a high monetary value with them; if they load 19 00:01:31,532 --> 00:01:34,445 little, they will soon have to travel to the city again. 20 00:01:34,445 --> 00:01:38,414 Is this really a fair alternative to direct cash payment? 21 00:01:38,414 --> 00:01:46,200 Or is it actually about making cash payment so unattractive that it effectively abolishes itself? 22 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:52,429 According to "Alliance Swisspass", the expansion of digitalization is intended to reduce distribution costs. 23 00:01:52,429 --> 00:01:57,865 However, it is well known that rapid technological progress causes the devices used to become 24 00:01:57,865 --> 00:02:01,101 obsolete quickly and need to be replaced again. 25 00:02:01,101 --> 00:02:06,366 And the use of digital technologies with server farms, data centers, and high-performance 26 00:02:06,366 --> 00:02:09,918 devices requires a considerable amount of electricity. 27 00:02:09,918 --> 00:02:12,544 Does that save money? 28 00:02:12,544 --> 00:02:19,125 The industry association rejects the media's claim that there is a clear timetable for digitalization. 29 00:02:19,125 --> 00:02:26,545 It is not true that the public transport industry is planning an "infrastructure-free distribution" without 30 00:02:26,545 --> 00:02:33,921 ticket machines starting in 2035, as "K-Tipp" writes in its issue 14/2026 of September 2, 2026. 31 00:02:33,921 --> 00:02:39,265 However, clear facts show that digitalization is being implemented at a rapid pace. 32 00:02:39,265 --> 00:02:47,800 According to "K-Tipp", for example, the validators for multi-ride tickets are soon to be replaced by digital activation devices: 33 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:52,860 "A first step in this direction is taking place in northwestern Switzerland and in Basel. 34 00:02:52,860 --> 00:02:58,812 There, 400 devices for validating multi-ride tickets will be removed next year. 35 00:02:58,812 --> 00:03:03,414 There will then no longer be any validators for paper tickets and cards, the director of 36 00:03:03,414 --> 00:03:06,625 Basel Public Transport records in the minutes. 37 00:03:06,625 --> 00:03:11,040 Instead of validators, 'activation devices' will then be installed. 38 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:18,040 To activate a trip, you can only hold the 'SwissPass' or the microchip card up to the device." 39 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:21,242 The removal of ticket machines is also in full swing. 40 00:03:21,242 --> 00:03:29,906 In the past ten years, the SBB dismantled 434 of a total of 1,453 ticket machines. 41 00:03:29,906 --> 00:03:33,007 So every third machine has disappeared. 42 00:03:33,007 --> 00:03:40,405 "K-Tipp" No. 15 of September 16, 2026 reports that since last May, cash payment has now 43 00:03:40,405 --> 00:03:44,242 been blocked on numerous remaining devices. 44 00:03:44,242 --> 00:03:47,703 The reason given is "protection against vandalism." 45 00:03:47,703 --> 00:03:51,929 This is written on notes that were stuck to the machines. 46 00:03:51,929 --> 00:03:57,804 SBB counter staff report in a conversation with "K-Tipp" of "hundreds" of blocked machines, 47 00:03:57,804 --> 00:04:01,882 especially in rural areas and in the agglomerations. 48 00:04:01,882 --> 00:04:10,812 However, affected municipalities surveyed by "K-Tipp" state that they have not recorded any noteworthy incidents of vandalism. 49 00:04:10,812 --> 00:04:16,359 The SBB is silent on this and gives "K-Tipp" neither information about the location and number 50 00:04:16,359 --> 00:04:21,125 of the machines nor about the damage they claim. 51 00:04:21,125 --> 00:04:26,535 Obviously, the dismantling of ticket machines with cash payment and paper issuance is 52 00:04:26,535 --> 00:04:30,226 being gradually pushed forward in the background. 53 00:04:30,226 --> 00:04:37,870 The supposed alternative of still being able to pay with cash is so cumbersome and unattractive that it seems 54 00:04:37,870 --> 00:04:43,343 only a matter of time before it too is rationalized away. 55 00:04:43,343 --> 00:04:46,460 Resistance is also forming against the SBB's plans. 56 00:04:46,460 --> 00:04:53,940 This is shown by critical reports and broadcasts – not only from alternative media, but also from the mainstream. 57 00:04:53,940 --> 00:05:01,501 How one can successfully defend oneself against the plans to abolish cash in public transport is also shown by the example 58 00:05:01,501 --> 00:05:05,843 of 78-year-old Berta Caminada from the canton of Graubünden. 59 00:05:05,843 --> 00:05:10,726 The trigger for Caminada was the timetable change last December. 60 00:05:10,726 --> 00:05:17,781 "Postauto Graubünden" had, on behalf of the canton, stopped ticket sales at the front with the driver. 61 00:05:17,781 --> 00:05:23,492 The pensioner did not want to accept that one can no longer pay with cash on the Postauto. 62 00:05:23,492 --> 00:05:32,070 That is why she launched the popular initiative "Cash payment for public services (anti-discrimination initiative)." 63 00:05:32,070 --> 00:05:43,085 Within just two months, a record-breaking 15,781 signatures were collected from all 100 municipalities in the canton. 64 00:05:43,085 --> 00:05:48,066 This, although only 4,000 would have been necessary for the initiative. 65 00:05:48,066 --> 00:05:53,665 The initiative aims to ensure that one can pay with cash, for example, on the post 66 00:05:53,665 --> 00:05:57,066 bus, at public parking meters, or in toilets. 67 00:05:57,066 --> 00:06:04,003 Digital means of payment should remain, but should not replace the possibility of paying with cash. 68 00:06:04,003 --> 00:06:08,081 Next, the "Bündner Grossrat" must decide on the matter. 69 00:06:08,081 --> 00:06:15,378 If no result is reached, the voters will decide on the future of coins in public facilities. 70 00:06:15,378 --> 00:06:21,742 The case of Berta Caminada shows that one can resist the abolition of cash and that a 71 00:06:21,742 --> 00:06:26,347 large part of the population wants to keep cash. 72 00:06:26,347 --> 00:06:34,324 But why is the preservation of cash of such great importance, and what threatens the population if they can only pay digitally? 73 00:06:34,324 --> 00:06:40,089 Hansjörg Stützle has been building a citizens' movement for a future with cash for ten years. 74 00:06:40,089 --> 00:06:45,636 He shared his message with the public in numerous lectures and on television. 75 00:06:45,636 --> 00:06:50,745 He has also launched a petition against the abolition of cash in the EU. 76 00:06:50,745 --> 00:06:55,924 He demands that with the introduction of the digital euro, the right to pay with cash also 77 00:06:55,924 --> 00:06:59,355 be guaranteed and enshrined in the regulation. 78 00:06:59,355 --> 00:07:04,331 He describes the danger of a cashless society as follows: 79 00:07:04,331 --> 00:07:09,696 "Every exchange can be monitored, controlled, restricted, and stopped. 80 00:07:09,696 --> 00:07:12,527 Every payment can be subject to fees. 81 00:07:12,527 --> 00:07:17,230 Does my money really still belong to me when it is locked up in the digital world? 82 00:07:17,230 --> 00:07:22,430 The consequences of a world without cash are very far-reaching, among other things because of the 83 00:07:22,430 --> 00:07:26,011 all-encompassing control, and affect every area of our lives. 84 00:07:26,011 --> 00:07:31,652 However, a free society needs a free means of payment that cannot be monitored and controlled. 85 00:07:31,652 --> 00:07:36,855 For everyone should be able to decide for themselves which data they reveal about themselves." 86 00:07:36,855 --> 00:07:45,644 In an excerpt from his podcast of June 19, 2023, financial expert Ernst Wolff comments on the digital euro. 87 00:07:45,644 --> 00:07:55,417 The EU's digital euro here stands as a proxy for any digital payment system without the alternative of cash payment. 88 00:07:55,417 --> 00:08:01,877 " For the central banks and the digital-financial complex behind them, it opens up possibilities to subject the 89 00:08:01,877 --> 00:08:08,222 population to their own interests that have not existed in the entire history of money until now. 90 00:08:08,222 --> 00:08:14,843 Since it is a programmable currency, the digital euro will be issued for specific purposes, tied to an expiration 91 00:08:14,843 --> 00:08:21,260 date, and individual interest and tax rates as well as penalty payments can be imposed on all users. 92 00:08:21,260 --> 00:08:28,948 It will be possible to tie its disbursement to conditions such as, for example, a climate or health certificate, to 93 00:08:28,948 --> 00:08:37,480 restrict its validity locally, regionally, or nationally, or to tie it to a social credit system modeled on China's. 94 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:43,542 If one looks at the history of money, it has historically always had two fundamental characteristics: 95 00:08:43,542 --> 00:08:47,878 It was a universal means of exchange and at the same time a means of domination. 96 00:08:47,878 --> 00:08:54,400 Digital central bank money – such as the digital euro now announced – is primarily a means of domination, 97 00:08:54,400 --> 00:09:02,100 and indeed more effective and efficient than all the measures dictators have come up with in the past." 98 00:09:02,100 --> 00:09:09,644 Here again is a summary of the most important points on how the abolition of cash will affect your life: 99 00:09:09,644 --> 00:09:14,136 - You no longer have the possibility to pay anonymously and without a trace. 100 00:09:14,136 --> 00:09:19,722 Every exchange can be monitored, controlled, restricted, and stopped. 101 00:09:19,722 --> 00:09:27,214 - Banks and governments have unrestricted access to your accounts and can expropriate you at will. 102 00:09:27,214 --> 00:09:33,180 - Funds can be spent for specific purposes and tied to an expiration date. 103 00:09:33,180 --> 00:09:38,863 - Individual interest and tax rates as well as penalty payments can be imposed. 104 00:09:38,863 --> 00:09:44,489 - If you do not behave in accordance with the system, you can be punished by blocking your 105 00:09:44,489 --> 00:09:48,792 funds with exclusion from economic and social life. 106 00:09:48,792 --> 00:09:52,812 - In the event of hacker attacks on banks, your money is not safe. 107 00:09:52,812 --> 00:09:58,080 - If a bank goes bankrupt, your money is lost (total loss). 108 00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:02,813 - If the electricity or internet infrastructure is paralyzed, payment transactions are 109 00:10:02,813 --> 00:10:06,176 no longer possible and the economy collapses. 110 00:10:06,176 --> 00:10:09,964 Paying with cash on public transport is still possible. 111 00:10:09,964 --> 00:10:16,894 Take advantage of this opportunity, even if you have to take detours to do so. Pay for your ticket directly with cash! 112 00:10:16,894 --> 00:10:23,425 Use stamp cards at designers and take the time to queue at the counter to buy a "prepaid card." 113 00:10:23,425 --> 00:10:27,214 This is how you set an example for the preservation of cash payment. 114 00:10:27,214 --> 00:10:31,968 Talk to railway employees and your fellow human beings about the topic of "abolition of cash." 115 00:10:31,968 --> 00:10:37,382 Make it clear to those around you that the digitalization of money is leading us all into a future 116 00:10:37,382 --> 00:10:40,144 in which we can no longer live self-determinedly.