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Cash Is Dead, Long Live Cash
Article

Cash Is Dead, Long Live Cash

Virtual payments are fast displacing cash, but not completely and not everywhere

Alan Wheatley
Finance & Development Magazine, 2017
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Overview
  • Visionary

Recommendation

Despite the rise of online transfers and mobile banking, along with some nations’ efforts to discourage the use of paper currency to combat the financing of illegal activities, physical money still reigns in most parts of the world. Many people prefer to conduct their daily business the old-fashioned way – with cold, hard cash. This informative look at the future of money from economic journalist Alan Wheatley presents a convincing vision of what forms payment options may take in the not-too-distant future. getAbstract recommends this succinct and thought-provoking article, intended for the general reader, to anyone interested in what makes the world go ‘round.

Summary

Is cash becoming obsolete? Judging from India’s concerted efforts to scrap bank notes, the absence of paper money in many Nordic banks, Korea’s plans to discontinue coin minting by 2020, and the rise of online payment services and mobile banking, the answer would seem to be yes. Yet in countries such as Japan and Germany, cash remains important. Globally, an estimated 85% of commercial transactions still rely on physical currency.

Efforts to purge cash are moving along in countries like Sweden, with its technology-friendly culture, sparse population and a long history...

About the Author

Alan Wheatley is an economics editor and writer, and the co-author of The Power of Currencies.

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