I hate cash. I’m reminded of this every time I find myself in a
cab where the driver claims he won’t accept my credit card, or
when I’m at a restaurant that demands to be paid exclusively in
paper bills -- incidents that happen far more often than is
reasonable in an ostensibly advanced country.  Bloomberg News
reports that paying in cash is normal, however, for people in
Myanmar, although this is gradually starting to change. Now that
sanctions have been eased, companies such as American Express
Co., MasterCard Inc. and Visa Inc. are building the systems
needed for electronic payments. (The biggest challenges are
unreliable power supplies and a telecommunications network from
the 1960s.) This is great news for Myanmar, but it is an
unpleasant reminder that there are still vestiges of a backward
cash-only society in the U.S. that ought to be stamped out.
Physical currency is dirty, it’s inconvenient and it abets
crime. That’s why I stick to electronic payments whenever
possible. Those eliminate the need to f