Were you able to guess what the world’s most widely used product is? You might not believe it, but cashMoney in physical form such as banknotes and coins. More is in fact the world’s most widely used product, far beyond smartphones, books or cars. Think about it: everywhere you travel, even in some of the most remote corners of the world, the one thing that everybody knows how to use – regardless of age, gender or religion – is cash.
Indeed, despite the multiplication of paymentA transfer of funds which discharges an obligation on the part of a payer vis-à-vis a payee. More instruments starting from credit cards, to debit cards, to mobile banking and now other digital payments, cash is still the most widely used tool across the globe – particularly for low-value transactions.
According to MasterCard, 85% of transactions worldwide are made with cash and the report concludes that “cash today remains the most commonly used method of payment when looked at from a global perspective”. Of course there are countries that are more cash-heavy than others. Germany, and Austria are big cash lovers, while Scandinavian countries, and Sweden in particular, are best-known for their efforts to go cashless.
The graph below illustrates the proportion of cash usage in volume versus other payment methods:
Stay tuned for future videos on the subject and get to know more about the bills that you carry around in your wallet. They work everywhere – regardless of electricity access, language or system incompatibility – and are your token of freedom.