Cashless Economy

Some financial instrument observers continue to gleefully throw out statistics arguing in favor of their assertion that coins and bank notes are on their way out and will be replaced with a cashless society. If this were true, then why are so many people flocking to coin collecting, and why are record-breaking prices for rare coins continuing not only in the United States, but worldwide? Electronic payments may be convenient for particularly expensive purchases, but the instruments have their limits, not to mention their lack of privacy. We need to pay attention to statistics these people use...

The UK government’s decision to maintain access to cash is only a temporary solution that will need to be replaced with a better strategy to help cash-reliant people adopt cashless transactions, writes Chris Dinga. The UK government is empowering the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) with the responsibility to ensure that cash can still be accessed in the future while the UK transitions to a cashless economy. Although it is inevitable that cash usage will continue to decline, the FCA estimates that at least 5.4 million UK adults directly depend on access to cash. Rather than simply ensuring...

Research from consumer champion Which? has shown a sharp decline in the number of bank branches open in areas across much of the UK compared to seven years ago. According to figures up to the end of April, 11 banks have been shuttered in Wantage since the start of 2015, leaving nine remaining in the area. Separate figures from LINK, a cash machine network, show there has also been a decline in the number of free-to-use ATMs across the UK in recent years. Their data shows that between the start of 2018 and early March this year, the number of ATMs in Wantage dropped from 78 to 48. Read...

The rise of digital assets is a revolution in the digital and financial world; for the first time, consumers can make direct money payments across the globe at the speed of the internet. The widespread use of digital assets would allow consumers to transfer money near-instantaneously rather than rely on a series of intermediaries to conduct a single transaction. The extraordinary promise and rise in popularity of digital assets are prompting lawmakers, regulators, and economists to examine tools such as a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). A CBDC is a profoundly dangerous tool that...

In the latest chapter in the seemingly never-ending pandemic-fuelled global drama, the introduction of vaccine passports in Europe has alarmed many who fear yet another governmental invasion of the private sphere, another attack on our civil liberties and basic freedoms, with some feeling sufficiently outraged to take to the streets in London, Paris and other cities. Although the ethical debate on such passes during a global health crisis is certainly nuanced, the deeper-rooted issues regarding civil liberties are becoming ever-more prevalent in a global economy in constant motion, evolving...

Like credit cards in the ‘70s, society’s shift to digital wallets and cryptocurrency has been all of the excitement (and rage) in today’s monetary landscape. For laymen like me, unaware of all of the integral details of such currency alterations, this shift has been a swift transition, prone to slight confusion. With split support from advocates of digital wallets and cryptocurrency alike, this transition proves to be one of divisive support and opposition. As a nation, plugging the daily functions of our lives into the digital world has brought upon many significant successes and,...

Unlike payments made in cash, digital payments carry a lot of meta data, along with being linked to accounts and troves of personal data. These qualities put an individual’s privacy at risk, and the privacy loss increases relative to dependency on digital payments and third-party facilitators. When we pay with cash no one is recording the transaction, beside ourselves and the other party. There are no third parties that need to give us the green light. In this way, cash payments offer a form of financial freedom that cannot exist in the digital economy, and they protect us from unwanted...

Liberia might be lagging behind its counterparts in the sub region and the African continent regarding the move to digital economy or digital financial transitions, but there are signs that the transition could be made sooner than later if the government can work on a few policy issues and adapt a robust regulatory framework, a new research has said. The findings of the research, which was conducted by the Center for Policy Action and Research (CePAR) recently, revealed that there are high possibilities that the country can move to a cashless economy with most, if not all monetary...

For various reasons, Zimbabwe has been becoming an increasingly cashless society with every passing year. In the Reserve Bank’s latest monetary policy statement we found out that of the total Zimdollar broad money in the economy, only 0.49% was actual physical currency. In the United States of America, physical cash represents about 10% of the total USD money supply. While it is normal for hard physical currency to be a fraction of the total money supply, 0.49% is too low. For years Zimbabwe has had chronic cash shortages. No surprise there if physical cash is less than half a percent of...