The Pros & Cons of a Cashless Economy: the debate and the arguments

A deeper understanding of the ethical debate about going cashless

News Cashless Society as a dangerous step toward the End of Times? 07/26/2021 India: the Cashless Fail 07/22/2021 Counting cash is part of the Learning Experience for Children 07/19/2021 Why Cashless Economy is not such a good idea 07/13/2021 Will Africa turn cashless? 06/18/2021

The debate

Cash is not spreading COVID-19 - 08/02/2021

Experts from the European Central Bank, in collaboration with the Department of Medical and Molecular Virology at Ruhr-Universität Bochum in Germany, tested how long coronaviruses, including COVID-19, could last on banknotes and coins, and the likelihood of being infected from handling cash. Notes, coins and credit-card-like PVC plates were contaminated with virus solutions of different concentrations and then touched by test subjects with their fingerprints, while still wet or already dried, to determine how long infectious virus was still detectable. Samples contaminated with COVID-19 were...

CJEU Protects the Right to Pay in Cash - 07/30/2021

Earlier this year, in January 2021, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered a judgement relating to two German citizens who sought to pay a radio and television licence fee, due to Hessischer Rundfunk (the broadcasting body), in cash. However, the same authority refused the payment in cash due to its regulations on the procedure for payment of radio and television licence fees, precluding any possibility of paying the licence fee in cash. The German plaintiffs argued before the Bundesverwaltungsgericht (the German Federal Administrative Court) for their right to pay the...

How Fraud is destroying the Trust in Cashless Society - 07/24/2021

Experts in the technology industry have stated that the lack of trust in the use of digital platforms could undermine the benefits of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) cashless policy. They noted that the increased use of digital platforms transformed cyber and technology landscape, which has its own risk, especially with sustaining trust and confidence in customer’s ability to communicate and transact securely within the financial ecosystem. The experts spoke at a cyber security awareness campaign organised by Cybersafe foundation and Committee of Chief Information Security Officers of...

Why local Cash can boost the Economy - 07/19/2021

Ann Lapenna always felt buoyed by a sense of belonging when she walked into the West End Food Co-op in Toronto’s Parkdale neighborhood. She would head to the kitchen, don an apron, then begin slicing carrots, chopping potatoes, and juicing lemons for the store’s freshly made soups and stews. Lapenna was part of the Co-op Cred program, which matched individuals with work placements at the co-op and nearby community gardens. Instead of dollars, wages were paid in “cred” that could be redeemed for groceries at the store. Like Lapenna, most participants had low incomes and faced barriers to...

Too many British rely on cash to turn into Cashless Society - 07/11/2021

In its new Behind the Headlines report ‘Short-changed: How the decline of cash is affecting older people,’ Age UK warns that being cut off from cash and banking services is tantamount to being excluded from society, and is a risk for many more of us than is often assumed. Even before the pandemic many older people still relied heavily on cash, with some being completely dependent on it. Findings from the Financial Lives 2020 Survey found that around 2.4 million people aged 65 and over in the UK relied on cash to a great extent in their day-to-day life – representing around one in five (21...

Doubt over cashless economy: how trust in cash increased during covid-19 crisis - 07/09/2021

The pandemic has had many surprising consequences for society. It has even impacted how we think about money. For instance, public concern about Covid-19 forced the Bank of England to assure people that the risk of infection posed by banknotes was “no greater than touching any other common surfaces, such as handrails, doorknobs, or credit cards.” Still, some experts indicate that trust in cash may be down. This coincides with a seven-year acceleration in digital trends, with digital spending on apps and with cards on the rise. Clearly, something has changed in the way...

Cashless Societies are no answer to Economic Crisis - 07/09/2021

The global economic crisis resulting from the pandemic has inevitably led to commentators focusing once again on the “cashless economy” debate. For some, the rise of cashless economies across the globe is an unavoidable step towards a global digital economy. For others, hard cash remains the backbone of fragile economies in poorer countries and a mainstay of individual freedoms and civil liberty in richer ones, and its removal would simply accelerate the already widening economic gap between rich and poor. Economic crises have been shown to increase the amount of cash in circulation as...

New Law to protect the access to cash? - 07/07/2021

Consumers and businesses will have a legal right to withdraw and deposit cash within "a reasonable distance" of their home or premises, under new government plans. This is good news for those who have noticed the number of local bank branches that have shut down in their areas. The proposals have been welcomed by campaigners who have voiced their fears that limited cash access hurts those who need it most- it's estimated that eight million people still rely on cash. The plan is to make sure that notes and coins remain within 1 kilometre of all businesses and homes but a consultation...

How Free ATMs protect many people from the worst sides of Cashless Societies - 07/05/2021

Nearly 60 areas have benefited from an initiative launched in 2019 by LINK, the UK’s main cash machine network. It has installed several ATMs in places where consumers previously only had the option of paying to access cash. The average installation is saving the community around it £20,000 a year in withdrawal fees. In some locations, the free ATM means locals have saved as much as £40,000 a year. Around five million people are reliant on cash, including older people and those who are homeless. Nick Quin, head of financial inclusion at LINK, said: “These figures show the value free cash...

No cash, no freedom, for better or for worse, an Australian example - 07/03/2021

Jocelyn Wighton sits in her lounge room inCeduna and listens to a group of young men speaking loudly as they walk past her house. “Hear that?” she says. “It starts about 4pm and gets louder. The town really has not changed much.” Wighton, who is not Aboriginal and who is on a disability pension, is angry that she has recently been put back on the welfare card. She was initially given the card in 2016 but for the past two years managed to get off it due to an administrative loophole. Today is her 65th birthday and as she opens her mail she tells me why people like her should not be on...