Cash is free

“CashMoney in physical form such as banknotes and coins. More is a public good” says CEO of Note Printing Australia, Malcolm McDowell, in his recent article “Commercial Motivations Don’t Sit Behind Cash”. And as such, he believes that it should be protected by the state the same way as access to safeSecure container for storing money and valuables, with high resistance to breaking and entering. More drinking water.

Alternative paymentA transfer of funds which discharges an obligation on the part of a payer vis-à-vis a payee. More methods have their advantages and convenience, but McDowell warns that “a credit card has usage and interest charges attached to it that weaken one’s buying power, and the more cards one uses the weaker one’s position becomes”. Indeed, cash is a free service provided by the government whereas electronic payments, which are motivated by a commercial endeavor, come with a cost.

Users cannot “own” electronic payment methods like they can cash because they are run by commercial entities. Indeed, these entities actually benefit from their users as the data collected on their behalf helps them “inform future marketing campaigns, making sales offers to new and existing customers to incentivize the use of additional credit cards or acceptance of higher credit limits.”

Alternative payments are a service consumers pay for. In today’s world, the consumer is free to choose to use electronic payments with the knowledge that a price tag is also linked to the perceived benefits; but the consumer can also choose to use cash – and that’s something that should remain because, as McDowell says, cash is a “free service [that] is part of a public infrastructure that everyone in society can use and access”.

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