In Canada last week they minted their last penny, here in Europe they
are working on ways to restrict cash payments.
Online payment services like Square and iZettle are on a mission to get
rid of cash whilst non-profit organisations, governments, the World Bank, small
businesses, multinational corporations, app developers, hippies, libertarians,
liberals, right-wingers all have agendas that can be advanced by alternatives
to cash, and they're all pushing to bring them about.
So will we all soon be walking around with credits rather than € or £?
Well I wouldn´t go running to the banks just yet to get rid of loose
coinage as this like other futuristic “fads” have a habit of fizzling out
before they start. This time-tested technology is fast, widely accepted,
anonymous and useful for old-school budgeting and when the power goes out.
Yet powerful forces are aligning against cash in favour of digital money.
So what have these people got against cash? - New technologies make it easier and safer to
use digital money, scepticism about the stewardship of sovereign currencies and
increased enthusiasm for alternative currencies, and greater scrutiny about
cash's myriad costs.
Digital money innovations, particularly mobile phones, offer faster and
cheaper ways to pay bills, buy and sell goods, send and receive money and make
bank transactions.
Alternative currencies are moving from the edge to the centre,
as more and more people worry about the long-term value of the € or the
Those who grasp that fact, yet still distrust central bank-issued
currencies, are turning to local and online options, barter exchanges, and the
crypto-currency Bitcoin.
But the most consequential aspect of this monetary revolution is growing
recognition that the costs of cash fall disproportionately on the poor. Cash is
expensive not merely because of the risk of being robbed at the cash machine or
losing your savings to a fire, flood or abusive spouse.
It's also expensive because of steep prices paid in time, fees and
opportunity costs. For you and me, those costs are, by and large, nominal.
Digital tools are already providing millions of people worldwide with
the opportunity to avoid cash. And avoid it they do.
They are storing value and transacting by way of electronic accounts
"on" their mobile phones.
For the first time, people who were trapped in the informal economy can steer
clear of usurious local moneylenders, save precious time and money, and benefit
from the basic financial services that you and I take for granted. The fact is
that a bank account, online bill, person-to-person payment, access to credit,
insurance - all of these tools for building economic stability depend on money
in electronic form.
The truth is that it doesn't matter all that much whether cash's further
marginalisation ever leads to extinction.
What matters far more is the potential for digital money innovations to
improve the welfare of so many.
Original source taken from the BBC website
