Cashless

Elsewhere on the Web provides links to articles on cash, money, and retail payments.

In Singapore, currency in circulation has grown by 9.5%, despite the Covid-19 pandemic. Food merchants prefer cash, despite the official endorsement of digital payments. Several CashTech solutions accommodate Singaporeans’ preference for cash.

Political exploitation, discrimination, financial exclusion and post-disaster resilience were some of the key concerns explored in a thought leadership webinar held on 18th March to discuss the implications for society of shifting to a cashless economy.

Sweden and Zimbabwe, two countries that have gone far down the path to a cashless society, highlight the pitfalls of such thinking. Sweden shows the need to safeguard access to cash. Zimbabwe shows the importance of the transition not being forced.

Nigeria’s House of Representatives urged the nation’s Central Bank to suspend the implementation of the cashless policy on deposits which came into effect on 18 September 2019.

In 2016, 3.5% of Australian card transactions were surcharged. For retailers, this represents a cost of nearly $4 billion a year, which is inevitably passed on to consumers.

US burger joint Shake Shack will resume its cash-acceptance policy after a failed attempt to go cashfree.

ATMs are being shut down in Estonia. Banks claim it's because cash withdrawals volumes have dropped, yet, the total value of withdrawn cash has been consistently rising since 2010.

The Government of Cantabria in Spain made an attempt to promote cashless payments, but businesses and the public quickly showed a preference for cash.

In a country where citizens' level of connectivity is extremely high, the Cambridge Analytica scandal has become a major topic of concern.

As businesses and individuals in the UK increasingly use contactless and cashless payments, the question remains whether a fully cashless society would truly benefit all members of society.