Cashless Economy

No paper used, no trees cut, no diesel trucks transporting cash to the banks: the cashless economy is the perfect answer to the environmental challenge of our century. Or is it? Beneath a seemingly reassuring veneer of eco-friendliness, the cashless revolution poses an environmental threat and a societal dilemma. An unstoppable trend? Despite many warnings from civil liberties associations, it seems that central banks, and powers that be, have decided that the future would be cashless. The share of cash-based operations of our economies has been dropping steadily with the arrival of...

Let the one holding the hammer be the one who holds the nail: a common problem in politics is that rules and reforms apply to everyone but are decided only by the ruling class. If a policy fails, the consequences will fall upon the underprivileged, and the lack of visibility that caused their interests being disregarded will make their plight silent too. The most recent example is the cashless revolution. An efficiency-increasing agenda Banks and governments, which work hand in hand, hold the same communication line: “cash is obsolete, cumbersome and dangerous”; whereas the future is...

The smart money says we may now be in the last decade before the penny finally drops. Many New Zealanders will have already had the experience, possibly even over the current holiday period, of handing over a $50 bill for a small transaction, only to be told the vendor is unable to make change. It could now be a matter of years before virtually all local transactions are done by bank transfer, credit and debit cards or Eftpos, with the idea of physical payment relegated alongside rotary-dial telephones and audio cassettes. International researchers have long said that this country is...

Do you feel confident enough leaving the wallet at home and relying only on a bank card or mobile device? Then you understand that a society without cash is no longer a utopia, but our future. Goals and limits of a cashless system The recently emerged blockchain technology can give a serious impetus to the transition to a new lifestyle. In principle, the process has already begun, and today almost everyone sees the direction in which they will evolve. Already, cashless transactions are expected to accelerate at compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.7 globally, with emerging markets...

Discussions surrounding the nature of the ongoing trend, in which our economies are slowly getting rid of cash, have risen consistently in their magnitude. An increasing share of the population is taking positions regarding the matter, with arguments pro and con. But the most interesting part of the debate lies not in what is being said within the debate, but in what is being hushed. The slow demise of cash There is nothing new about the trend: in fact, it probably started without anyone deciding, or even noticing it. Merely a hundred years ago, cash was being used for just about...

KUANTAN: Cash payments over the counter at government agencies should not be scrapped to avoid inconveniencing customers. Instead, such services (cash over counter) should be continued, along with the newly-introduced debit, credit cards, and self-service electronic kiosks which will allow people to choose their preferred payment channel. Checks at the Pahang Urban Transformation Centre Immigration Office here yesterday sho-wed that many customers still chose to pay in cash despite the counter accepting debit card payments. Read more

Shoppers are reportedly disappointed that British supermarket Tesco  won’t take cash payments any longer on its “scan as you shop” system. The system lets shoppers pack as they shop and is said to be “exclusive” for the store’s Clubcard members. It reportedly makes for an easier shopping experience, the Manchester Evening News  reported. The supermarket chain has been putting a message on receipts for shoppers that says, “Scan as you shop is changing.” It notes that “the scan as you shop payment area will only be accepting card. Want to pay with cash? You can still do so...

The new year got off to a bad start for millions of Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland customers, who were unable to gain access to their accounts through the banks’ websites and mobile apps for almost nine hours because of an outage. The three brands, which are part of Lloyds Banking Group, apologised repeatedly to customers after the problem started at about 4am on New Year’s Day, a bank holiday when branches are shut. They put out the same statement on Twitter on Wednesday morning: “We know our customers are having issues with internet and mobile banking. We’re sorry about this...

For the past few years, Anna has been living on the streets of Stockholm. As one of the roughly 33,000 people currently homeless in Sweden, she has found her day-to-day life lately becoming even more of a struggle. Today, if she wants to buy a sandwich at a café, or if she wants to use one of the public bathrooms that cost ten krona, she’s unable to pay in coins or notes. If she wants to hop on a bus or tram, or if she wants to donate to her church, she won’t be able to use cash in those places either. Since she doesn’t have enough money to open and maintain a bank account—which would allow...