My opinion on Cashless Society

Today’s blog post is going to be about the cashless society.

I have done enough blog posts covering finances from credit card to me having victimised of fraud and scam 5 times on my own experience & me briefly in bank overdraft which I was lucky that I didn’t even pay a fee (overdraft fee). mrlimitless95.blogspot.com mrlimitless95.blogspot.com mrlimitless95.blogspot.com 

My opinion on the Cashless society. 

I strongly oppose the idea of it. 

Why? It is an ludicrous idea. 

Now why would everyone support the idea of the society without cash? Because they (who support the idea of Cashless society) reckon that nobody will steal money & that can prevent theft & robbery. Well unfortunately I don’t agree with that. Even if the world does eventually become cashless in the future (& only use card & online via payments & even cryptocurrency like Bitcoin), there will always be people finding ways to steal money. 

Even my friend who is an blogger support the idea of Cashless society which unfortunately on this one, I have to respectfully disagree on this. barneteye.blogspot.com 

Regarding cash, I don’t mind banknotes becoming paperless. Since 2016, the UK have polymer notes (£5 note in 2016, £10 note in 2017, £20 note in 2020 last year & soon, we’ll have £50 note at some point this year which will complete the process of going paperless). As for the card, it has been around since 1968. Banknotes have been around much longer than bank cards. Especially coins. Before that, we used to have gold, silver, copper and other metals as money as Barter was the oldest means of exchange. Even diamond. 

The point is that we humans have really come a long way from particular eras when we used sort of things as money before cash, coins and card. In the present time, it’s cash banknotes, card, online and contactless payments. From environmental speaking, I think it’s time that we the rest of the world go paperless (while maintaining the use of cash & not even consider the idea of the cashless society). Australia is the first country ever to issue polymer (plastic) banknotes and they fitter issued it in 1988. Since then, many countries including Canada & the UK have adopted the approach of the usage of polymer banknotes by replacing old banknotes that were paper. 

& yet we are all thinking about alternative to notes and coins = cashless society? Not everyone will support that. The most disadvantage for the cashless society will be elderly people. Particularly rural areas. Just read this from last year. google.co.uk ageuk.org.uk google.co.uk 

There is a real worry that cash notes could one day become the thing of the past, which that in my opinion, shouldn’t really be the case. 

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, we have been using debit card more than banknotes. Including the fact that we people use our smart phones as an method to make a payment when we buy some things. Although it is nothing wrong to use debit bank card (contactless or not), online & smart phone as a form of payment method, it shouldn’t really mean that we should in any way abandon the use of the banknotes (both paper and polymer). 

If you look up at London buses for example, it has totally been cash free since July 2014. bbc.co.uk Before anyone can enter the bus in London & add coins to make a fare payment for a ticket. Nowadays, it’s Oyster Card, prepaid card, bank card, credit card, concessionary card (like zip card for under 18s & freedom pass for disabled & 60+) and contactless payment card. You see how disadvantage can be for all of us if we ever agree to the idea of the cashless society. 

The bottom line is that in my point of view, nobody should ever support and agree to the idea of cashless society. Never!!! Even if that does happen eventually one day in the future. 

I am telling you guys as the person who have been victimised of scam and fraud 5 times, there aren’t good benefits (advantages) of the cashless society. Financial crime like fraud & scam (particularly online since we live in the digital age. Age of social media as we got the internet) will still happen even if any country, any place in the world or all countries become totally cashless societies. Cashless society can even cause an privacy & security issues (like identity theft, that’s when scammers, hackers  & fraudsters comes into a play). 

It can be dystopian and frightening prospect. No wonder the Covid 19 pandemic have made some businesses around the world to go completely cashless. I can understand why some businesses particularly in retail made a decision to go cashless. However in the long term, just because one business firm made a decision due to any reason including crime like shoplifting, doesn’t mean all business firms should follow suit. 

So that’s why I have made my point that I am very opposed to the idea of the cashless society.