What does a cashless future mean?
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Published 2019-08-23
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Somewhere in the near future physical money will become like these - Relics of a different age. And will only be found in places like this. In other words hard cash will disappear. It will become electronic - transferred by things like these.
So what’s the rush to get rid of cash? And what’s the cost?
Let’s face it money is cumbersome for consumers and banks. Operating in cash costs countries about 0.5% of their GDP every year. But cost isn’t the only incentive to move towards a cashless future. Digital payments aren’t just easy - they are neat. Having every single payment automatically recorded is efficient. But there’s a downside.
Electronic-money trails can allow governments and private companies
to access and harvest personal data. But there’s another threat that is worrying banks - cyber-attacks.
Still many countries are fast moving towards a cashless society. In Sweden the number of retail cash transactions per person has fallen by 80% in the past ten years. The trend is even evident in far more cash-loyal societies. China’s digital payments rose from 4% of all payments in 2012 to 34% in 2017. The trend is inevitable but a gradual transition is key.
Some people may find it harder to grasp how much money they have without the physical representation of it. Not everyone knows how to use internet-banking technology. And people living in remote areas where internet cover is patchy may find they have to drive for miles for their basic needs. And there is another sector of society that relies heavily on cash.
Going cashless is just the latest evolution of money in the modern economy. But it raises a fundamental question - what is the value of money if it doesn’t physically exist?
The move towards cashless societies is well under way. But governments need to ensure that, as cash is phased out, the vulnerable in society aren’t left behind. They need to navigate carefully the many pitfalls that a digital economy will bring.
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All Comments (21)
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A cashless society means losing privacy, your spending history will belong to the government.
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I must be ahead of the times, I’m already cashless. I have literally £1.25 in my account
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No thank You. I like cash. Leaves no trace. I need no electricity to use it and most of all, I can feel it. It's real, it's in my hand, not just some numbers on a screen.
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Don't do it, I used cash and coins everyday to avoid credit card fees. Also I spend less with cash
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Please resist this! It will not be pretty! Cash gives us individual freedom.
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Offend the wrong people and suddenly master card will refuse to allow you to use your digital money.
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It means you're giving up your freedom.
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We've used Cash for over 5000 years, and before then used a barter/trade system, as far back as 40.000 years. Humanity has and will always need something tangible, to be used as either cash or Barter. The Government's are foolish to believe, that a cashless system would last for Decades or more.
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A government being aware of the nature of every financial transaction is a great way to destroy basic privacy.
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This would mean complete government control
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Without cash it will be easy to disconnect anybody from the system. Just block or suspend your account and you won't be able to even buy food. Another method of control
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I'm young and I demand to use cash!
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I love the convenience of cashless, but I'd be uncomfortable with a cashless society - it's a can of worms.
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No. I don’t want the government to know where I am spending my $$$
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Let’s all make a point by paying with cash whenever humanly possible.
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Cash 💰 is freedom.
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I think it is rather subversive to suggest that a cashless society is inevitable, as if telling us to accept it as fact. There will be strong resistance.
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The removal of a secure, private means of transacting value between two individuals is pure Orwellian evil.
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A cashless system will give the government/corporate/big bank complex even more control over people. It must be resisted. I pay with cash every time I can, and I strongly urge everyone else to do the same.
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The bible been preaching this message for more than 2000 years already
