Barclays’ Sameer Dubey, Head of Transactions Product Management, and John Berghout, Digital COO discuss the future of cashMoney in physical form such as banknotes and coins. More in a digital age.
They believe that in spite of a range of new paymentA transfer of funds which discharges an obligation on the part of a payer vis-à-vis a payee. More solutions, some merchants and consumers prefer to use cash. And the anonymity of cash plays a key role in this preference. They add that “future technlological advances could also increase the desire for anonymity; imagine a doctor advising a patient to cut back on drinking, but
their card purchases of alcohol are linked to their medical records.
Physical cash would become significantly more appealing.”
In addition, the authors stress that the increase in digital currencyThe money used in a particular country at a particular time, like dollar, yen, euro, etc., consisting of banknotes and coins, that does not require endorsement as a medium of exchange. More usage has led to growth in cybercriminality. “Until recently, the largest loss from fraud was US$10m; this occurred in the days when people would physically rob a bank. Now the cost of cyber fraud is valued at US$22bn a year to the global economy”.
The authors conclude “the business case to not accept cash is weak, and for me, it’s unlikely that cash will ever go away.”
The paperSee Banknote paper. More is available here.