Academic Research on the Cashless Economy

A deeper understanding of the ethical debate about going cashless

News One of Asia’s Largest Cryptocurrency Exchange Hacked 07/10/2018 What Really Lies Behind Sweden's Cashless Crusade 07/10/2018 A New Bill in Washington D.C. Would Bar Local Restaurants From Refusing Cash 07/10/2018 Going Cashless Can Be Dangerous, Malaysian President of the Consumers Association Warns 07/10/2018 In Germany, the cashless economy raises concerns about trust and privacy 06/04/2018

Academic research

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Ecology: The Carbon Footprint of the New Means of Payment - 02/20/2019

When we think about ecology and reducing our carbon footprint, suppressing cash might seem like a good idea: no trees cut, no paper used, no transportation and so on. Yet, a closer look at cashless payment means shows that using cash actually produces less carbon emissions. Read more

Children, education and the ethical issue in a cashless society - 02/11/2019

Cashless payments are on the rise, and children have less opportunity to hold physical money in their hands. Banks issue cards for children, and you can easily find an application to track your kid’s payments on AppStore or Google Play. However, electronic piggy banks come at a cost. Cashless payments affect how children perceive the source of income and what they think about savings. They also deprive kids of important communication experiences, and these effects may have an impact in the future. Read more

John Howland Cochrane, economist and professor at Berkeley: "The ability to transact with anonymity and privacy has been a central freedom for hundreds of years." - 01/15/2019

Economist John Howland Cochrane addressed the question of new cryptocurrencies, cashless societies and the future of tax evasion. At the heart of his concerns, lies the question of privacy. Governments, to contain tax evasion, are favorable to the war on cash, and considering using a blockchain-currency of their own. To be fair, it was initially the banking sector’s idea, but governments had similar and compatible interests in acquiring more economic visibility - something cash does not provide. Whichever the medium used, the idea is to make all payments appear on radars of banks and the...

Sustainable Development: the Danger of Electronic Payments - 01/15/2019

We often hear about sustainable development, and almost every industry tries to contribute to a better future, including the sphere of non-cash payments. However, in reality it turns out that the entire industry does more harm than good, and does not correspond, but rather goes against the goals of sustainable development. On the other hand, convenient paper money is more environmentally friendly, and can be an excellent alternative for those who want to take care of the environment. Read more

The High Price of a Cashless Society: Exchanging Privacy Rights for Digital Cash - 06/04/2018

The John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law Volume 14 - Issue 2 Journal of Computer & Information Law

The cashless society hurts the poor: experience feedback from India - 06/04/2018

"My own research on the persistence of Delhi’s informal recycling economy shows just how important cash is to low-income laborers", says Dana Kornberg, Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology at the University of Michigan. (...) "If such a future exists, it is still a long way off, at least in India. According to a 2014 study, just 10 percent of Indians over 15 had ever made a digital payment. And in countries where a large share of transactions are already done digitally, there’s evidence that this does not serve the poor well." Read more

Banking Security

Cyber theft - A serious concern in cashless India

"In 2018, over a third of the world’s consumers experienced debit or credit card fraud,” says Justin Hansen, security architect at Venafi.

Cybercrime: the invisible theft in the cashless economy

British Retailer Dixons Carphone Faces a Major Breach That Affects Nearly Six Million Bank Cards

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Academic Research

Ecology: The Carbon Footprint of the New Means of Payment

Children, education and the ethical issue in a cashless society

John Howland Cochrane, economist and professor at Berkeley: "The ability to transact with anonymity and privacy has been a central freedom for hundreds of years."

The cashless society from an ethical point of view

The debate about the move towards a cashless society has been at the center of the scene for several years, now. Various angles have been taken by economists, politicians, banking institutions and sociologists. Beyond the technicalities of the debate, lies the question of freedom, of inter-citizen solidarity and of governmental responsibility. The debate cannot remain in the hands of financial specialists, it is first and foremost an ethical, political and societal issue.

The debate

What are the pitfalls of a cash-free society ?

Amid the benefits of digital payments – their ease of use, potential to cut costs for businesses...

In a cashless society, Big Brother will always know when you buy milk

While the move toward a cashless economy indeed poses problems for low-income and marginalized...

Education: how will we teach the value of money without cash?

With the increased fear of the dawning cashless world surrounding us, the matter of pedagogical...

Cashless society Vs terrorism: Are States fighting last year’s war again?

The deletion of cash will do little or nothing to tackle terrorist cells, which have an arsenal of...

Inclusion: a cashless economy fights the poorest, not poverty

Payment tools which were, a few decades ago, reserved to the wealthy are now widespread, as banking and financial systems develop throughout the world. According to some, the development of electronic means not only warrants the termination of paper currency but would also enable further financial inclusion for impoverished masses. Yet, financial experts fear the potential backlash of such a theory, as recent examples have shown.

A cashless economy to root out theft and petty crime?

The prospect of making crime disappear has been addressed simultaneously with simply deleting other human woes, such as tax evasion and poverty, namely by economist Ken Rogoff. But just as going cashless would merely add more red tape to being poor, suppressing paper currency would do nothing to stymie crime. In fact, our increasingly cashless society has given birth to new, bigger, stealthier forms of crime.

A cashless economy as a bulwark against fraud and tax evasion?

It was Ken Rogoff’s most controversial theory: economies should ban cash in order to address tax evasion and place every single transaction on their radars. By doing so, the rich would no longer be able to hurdle suitcases packed with bills onto airplanes and fiscal justice would be resumed. But the theory has many holes.

Does a cashless economy really boost economic growth for all?

Various economists are calling for the strong reduction of cash in order to boost economies and the efficiency levels of central banks. While the arguments make some economic sense, their implementation would come at a high political and democratic price. Must economies be privileged and take the lead on political freedom, at the price of unethical government practices?

Governments and sovereignty concerns in a cashless society

Central banks are putting up remarkably little resistance in defending the currencies they issue, in the global war on cash. As cash prevalence slowly dwindles, private banks and payment solutions are getting closer to their goals, and central banks take a second-row seat to the show. But the demise of cash would relinquish them to the status of secondary players on the market and do disservice to the peoples they administer.

Why commercial banks are lobbying in favor of a cashless economy

Banks are eager to press on towards cashless societies, with increased efficiency and margins in sight. The abolition of cash, however, will generate new hidden costs for the public, and place economies under a high risk, with all eggs in one basket.

The website "Cashless Economy" (cashless-economy.com) is edited by individuals and civil society groups fully committed to defending privacy and civil liberties against abuse and the risks inherent in a cashless society.

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