Guest - what evidence do you have that these metallic strips can be used in tracking? They sound pretty much the same as strips in Britain, which seem to be a way to protect against counterfeit. At least I assume that since the shop assistants do the same thing you have described (making the small rip to check for the metallic strip) when they are checking your money isn't fake.

And do you really have trouble getting hold of cash? In the UK, my bank will let me withdraw £200 per day from one account, and £300 per day from another. I can get as much as I like out (as long as I have it) if I go into a branch and withdraw it personally (with ID). The only reason they limit the amount from cash machines is so they don't lose too much if your card is stolen and it gets used before you have time to cancel it. I can't imagine things are very much different in the US. Have you ever *really* had problems in the amount of cash you have access to? Do you know anyone who has? Or is your head just going off on one wild paranoid fantasy?

????