Human civilizations have endured multiple evolutions over thousands of years, empires were built and crumbled along the way, but the presence of trade existed in one form or another. Bartering, the very fundamental of trade which brought about development and prosperity to mankind was cashless, as goods were exchanged and not bought.
Fast forward today, bartering takes on a different form where goods were paid for with money, a universal medium of financial exchange. As we moved from traditional bartering to precious metals than to banknotes and now towards digital payments, our medium of financial exchange is evolving to facilitate the shift in our environment and the advancement of technology.
The pursuit of a cashless society has been ongoing for several years, with technology companies introducing cutting age devices which allow for digital payment with the attempt of replacing money, financial institutions going digital and government initiatives to encourage citizens to adopt digital payments as part of a holistic movement towards a cashless society. One may wonder, what defines a cashless society and what impact it’ll have to our society?
In today’s term, a cashless society is described as an economic state whereby financial transactions are not conducted with money in physical form (banknotes or coins) but rather through the transfer of digital information. Advocates saw the potential in digital transactions as it allows for quicker transactions regardless of location and not limited by time which empowers individuals with access to financial services. This prompted small businesses and basic trades to occur in developing areas where banking infrastructures and robust regulations were lacking. Digital payments allow for full traceability of transactions, pointing tax regulators in the right direction to crackdown on tax evasion, security forces to track terrorism funding, money laundering, corruption, and many other financial crimes(although there are ways around it through the dark web, and cryptocurrencies-Monero). Going cashless also helps in reducing cost towards maintaining the circulation of paper currency and allowing the government to have better control over the flow of money when in times of crisis intervening to implement damage control initiatives.
The macro benefits of a cashless society are obvious, however does going cashless on a micro level truly benefit end users?
