The world is going cashless

The world is going cashless

Vocabulary

Cashless - Refers to transactions conducted without physical money.

Digital payment methods - Electronic ways of transferring money or making payments.

Mobile wallet - An app on a smartphone that stores digital payment information.

Online banking - Managing financial transactions and accounts through the internet.

Convenience - The state of being easy, efficient, and practical to use.

Contactless payment - A method of payment that uses technology like NFC to complete transactions.

Security - Protection against unauthorized access or risks to personal information.

Privacy - The state of being free from intrusion or surveillance.

In 1950, Americans could pay for dinner at a restaurant even if they left their money at home for the first time in history. That was the year Diners Club introduced the world’s first credit card.

​More than 70 years later, the cashless society that’s been promised since then still hasn’t materialized. Despite direct deposit, BNPL, Apple Pay, Venmo, cryptocurrency and the rest, green paper rectangles with pictures of dead presidents still have a home in our wallets.

If mobile banking apps and blockchains didn’t bring death to the dollar, is the long-awaited cashless society a myth, or is the generation coming of age today the last that will ever see paper money outside of a museum?

When Will We No Longer Need Cash?

According to The New York Times, central banks across the world are experimenting with digital versions of their money — kind of like Bitcoin, but issued by the state and controlled as a currency. Sweden, China, Japan and others are introducing these digital currencies alongside old-fashioned cash. The plan in large would be to phase out paper money gradually over time.

When Will We No Longer Need Cash?

According to the Atlantic Council, the U.S. Federal Reserve recently began working on a bank-to-bank digital currency of its own designed to speed up transfers between the world’s financial institutions. Unlike the previously mentioned countries, America’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) is only for wholesale transactions and isn’t yet a consumer currency — “yet” being the key word.

In short, most of the country's money is going digital, and eventually, that will have to spell the end for cash — right?

Conventional wisdom says that it’s not a matter of if but when cash goes extinct and all commerce becomes digital commerce.
Not everyone is convinced.

For a Country Transitioning Into a Cash-Free Society, America Sure Is Flush With Cash

Whether that’s true or not, one thing is certain, there’s more cash in the economy today than ever before. According to the Bank For International Settlements, there was just $428 worth of coins and banknotes per person circulating in the United States in 1978. Forty years later in 2018, it was $5,238 per person.

“I do not believe this to be true,” said Allan M. Siegel, partner at Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C. “If we go back to a cashless society, we essentially take a step backward in evolution. There will always be forms of cash among the population that have nothing to do with the digital era. If the majority of society does move toward a cashless society I believe it will only make material cash more valuable.”

In most cases, legislators said they wrote the pro-cash laws to protect low-income people who might not have bank accounts or access to technology and digital payment systems. But according to Cash Matters, that’s not the only reason to stick with money as we know it. The organization argues that America shouldn’t and can’t ever fully detach from paper money because cash:

Cash Is Still Important Even if It's No Longer The King.

*Ensures stable currency

*Is the most secure payment method

*Is low tech

*Is fast and effective

*Is the most democratic medium of exchange

*Is resilient in difficult economic times

*Is universal

*Transcends socio-economic boundaries

*Is free to use

*Fosters national identity

Generations of Americans couldn’t have imagined that pieces of paper would ever replace precious metals like silver and gold as the primary medium of exchange. They certainly wouldn’t have understood how cash could be worth anything if it weren’t at least backed by physical gold.

Cash Will Outlive Its Usefulness as a Currency

Yet gold endures — not as a currency or medium of exchange, but as a store of value, an investment and a physical collectible. Some experts see a similar future for the almighty dollar.

Even so, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1933 gold program officially ended the era of skeptical merchants biting hunks of purported gold to validate their authenticity at the time of purchase.

In 1971, President Richard Nixon took the United States off the gold standard entirely, and today, no American younger than 52 has ever handled money that was backed by anything but reassurance from the government.

“Advanced economies require value carriers like money, bonds and stocks,” said Robert Davidson, CEO of California Title Loans. “Within the next 20 years, the world will go fully cashless. Money will be in digital format, just like credit cards, bank accounts and PayPal. But if you mean will the world remove currency altogether, then no.”

Multiple Choice

What does "cashless" refer to in the context of the article?

• A financial crisis

• without physical money.

• A type of credit card.

• A type of online banking.

Multiple Choice

What are digital payment methods?

• the use of Coins and banknotes.

• making transactions through Traditional banking services.

• In-person transactions.

• Electronic ways of transferring money or making payments.

Multiple Choice

What is a mobile wallet?

• An app on a smartphone that stores digital payment information.

• A physical wallet with a GPS

• A type of credit card.

• A type of credit card.

Multiple Choice

What is a key advantage of using digital payment methods?

• Slower transaction process.

• Decreased risk of fraud.

• Convenience and efficiency.

• Limited acceptance by businesses.

Multiple Choice

What does "contactless payment" mean?

• A payment method that requires physical contact.

• A method of payment that uses technology like NFC to complete transactions.

• A payment method that involves sending a check.

• A method of payment using traditional banking services.

Multiple Choice

Why is security important when using digital payment methods?

• To protect against unauthorized access to personal information.

• To make transactions faster.

• To promote cash transactions.

• It is not important.

Fill in the Blank

The state of being free from intrusion or surveillance.

Poll

How might a cashless society affect businesses and merchants?

• It will increase their profits

• It will lead to more traditional payment methods.

• It might lead to increased efficiency in transactions.

• It will have no impact on businesses.

Multiple Choice

What potential challenges might arise from a cashless society?

• Increased convenience for consumers.

• The decline of online banking.

• Faster transaction processing.

• Exclusion of individuals without access to digital payment methods.

Poll

Do you think traditional currency and cash will completely disappear in the future?

• Yes, they will disappear entirely.

• No, they will remain unchanged.

• They might become less common but won't disappear completely.

• It depends on technological advancements.