How Long Until a Cashless Society?

Just like the title says, how long? A few years from now, a decade, 50 yrs? And would you be ok with it? What negatives or positives do you see with a cashless system, using a chip or biometric, electric type system?

Just think, no more wallets, less muggings for cash, no spending on printing money,....what else?

I suspect something else would become a means of informal transaction, a kind of 'common currency' to fuel the black market

Quote from papitosabe : Just like the title says, how long? A few years from now, a decade, 50 yrs? And would you be ok with it? What negatives or positives do you see with a cashless system, using a chip or biometric, electric type system? Just think, no more wallets, less muggings for cash, no spending on printing money,....what else?

Just so people aren't confused, you should define what you mean by cashless. All electronic payment, or no currency at all?


I'd say we're a lot closer to going all-electronic than the other, but it's still probably decades off. Too much room for fraud in an entirely electronic system as it currently stands.

Quote from bridgeburner : Just so people aren't confused, you should define what you mean by cashless. All electronic payment, or no currency at all? I'd say we're a lot closer to going all-electronic than the other, but it's still probably decades off. Too much room for fraud in an entirely electronic system as it currently stands.

no cash/coins whatsoever.... kind of like a credit card, but no actual card, maybe thru a biometric thumbprint or somthing similar...

If social media has taught us anything, it's that people are very willing to sacrifice privacy for convenience. Add to this the number of new competitors to the money transaction game, like Google and telecoms, then pretty soon it will be more advantageous for merchants to go cash free. Transaction fees will be pushed down to a negligible amount. I don't think cash will disappear, but in 10 years it will be rare -- and suspicious.

Quote from papitosabe : no cash/coins whatsoever.... kind of like a credit card, but no actual card, maybe thru a biometric thumbprint or somthing similar...

Yup. It's going to be awesome and players like EBAY/Paypal, Visa and Mastercard will be at the forefront. They've already provided impressive investor returns and hopefully will do so even more as we move to cashless society. I use my CC to pay for nearly everything when possible. Much more convenient and, generally, much more slick (with points /cashback on each purchase)

I don't envision it ever happening. Too many people prefer cash (and rightfully so).

The government would certainly love it though. Much easier to hide how much cash you are giving your cronies.

Quote from rrc06 : Yup. It's going to be awesome and players like EBAY/Paypal, Visa and Mastercard will be at the forefront. They've already provided impressive investor returns and hopefully will do so even more as we move to cashless society. I use my CC to pay for nearly everything when possible. Much more convenient and, generally, much more slick (with points /cashback on each purchase)

Except those fees are passed onto consumers since the merchant has to pay for the CC. Visa and MC don't work for free.

Quote from Hawk2007 : Except those fees are passed onto consumers since the merchant has to pay for the CC. Visa and MC don't work for free.

Yup. That's how a free enterprise system works. Visa and MC have created two powerful globally-connected financial transaction "toll roads." Many merchants grumble about the fees, but most of them know deep down (and studies have shown) that taking credit cards increases overall transaction volumes and transaction amounts. Consumers like the benefit of not having to carry cash around (and in some cases, getting points/cash back on their purchases).

One restaurant [wsj.com] even like the added security of not having employees deal directly with cash so much, they've gone completely cashless

I've been long V and MA for quite some time. They've rivaled AAPL in their investor returns, and recently have actually outperformed AAPL in the market (V over the past year, MA over the past 6 years). With the move to e-commerce being embraced by both of them, along with Discover and paypal, I see a lot of growth potential ahead.

Already happened years ago. It's called Bitcoin. Will it go "mainstream?" Nope, but it still exists and you can "buy" all kinds of stuff right now in a mini cashless society.

I doubt this will happen in our lifetime. Many still prefer being able to hoard physical cash.
I'm sure a lot of small to large business owners wouldn't want this as well. Small ones don't even accept credit cards because they don't want to pay the fee. Large and small cannot employ cheap labor if they cannot pay with cash.

I can definitely see this happening.. Japan is probably moreso on the forefront of technology like this. But they more readily use technology where funds can be transferred using cell phones which tie to banking accounts (paypal type services). Honestly the last time I carried cash is when going to football games or selling things in person. Other than that.. I merely keep like $100 spare (just in case).

But let me justify some of reasons for doing this. I use credit cards for anything I can. I get 1% CB on all purchases and payoff my balance each money. So to pay in cash is at minimum a 1% loss.

Quote from roughnready : I don't think cash will disappear, but in 10 years it will be rare -- and suspicious.

Yep. There are already government documents that say look out for people paying cash for coffee at Starbucks because they might be a terrorist.

Government would love love love a cashless society. Therefore, it's probably a bad idea.

Don't worry, though, government and The Fed would still be able to inflate and counterfeit the currency so your savings are worth less every day, like they do now.

Quote from MrWD : I doubt this will happen in our lifetime. Many still prefer being able to hoard physical cash. I'm sure a lot of small to large business owners wouldn't want this as well. Small ones don't even accept credit cards because they don't want to pay the fee. Large and small cannot employ cheap labor if they cannot pay with cash.

but more and more people are realizing hoarding CASH is no bueno...

I think fees will be lowered if they see they can get more people using them, and they'll show how it lessen crime/drugs.