It's been frequently reported that there are many countries already well on their way toward establishing and embracing a cashless society.

And a cashless society, one that might afford more control to a central authority to observe the transactions of the people, is one you'd think that any authoritarian system would be fond of.

That is because in that scenario, the push for cashless transactions could result in people using a method that is more easily tracked; one that is detrimental to their privacy. Often instead of using cash, people will be encouraged to opt for debit, visa, a payment app; some other transaction method that is easily traced.

Advocates of the cashless society say that it's only tax cheats and criminals who have anything negative to say about it. Unsurprisingly, we've also heard the same thing said about people who use cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

Several different regions in the world have made significant moves toward becoming a cashless society.

They are places like Sweden, India, South Korea, and even Zimbabwe. But it still might be awhile yet until the cashless future becomes a full reality.

1 in 5 Americans believe that they will be living entirely cashless in their lifetime.

However, though they might think the prospect isn't that far off, there are still a great deal of consumers today who have concerns with going entirely cashless and they are waiting for payment providers to improve their efficiency before they're converted.

Many individuals have reported that they are eager to try using some sort of eWallet or electronic payment rather than cash, if only there were more merchants that they could exchange with. Another concern that many have listed is functionality and that they have a fear about losing their funds when they lose their device. These are some of the challenges that payment providers will need to overcome before more people feel safe going entirely cashless.

It's been suggested that the cashless future which many suspect is just around the corner, might certainly become a reality only 2+ generations away from now.

Right now, although there is a growing prevalence of digital payments, it's reported that cash is still king.

Many people today still prefer to use cash when they transact. However, there are a great deal of payment providers and entrepreneurs out there who are working in this space, seeking to eventually dethrone cash, pushing people toward other alternatives.

There are still millions of people in the world today who don't engage in traditional banking and a myriad of projects have been initiated that seek to introduce those people to mobile payments, as a way to get more involved in the market. Industry experts have suggested that there are still a lot of people using cash, especially in areas like Southeast Asia and throughout Europe, because it's inexpensive and easy.

The Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) for example, is just one organization that has sought to help influence people's perception of going cashless. They have been striving to highlight the benefits of going cashless, with their nationwide education campaign on the subject, in an effort to try and persuade a change in their behavior. Ultimately, they are hoping more people will soon turn toward embracing a cashless way of life.

Freedom and Money

A free society isn't one that would have a government monopoly established on money creation, but rather it would be an environment that embraced currency competition. People would be free to decide for themselves what they wanted to use as a medium of exchange. Some people don't want to use cash and that's fine, they should be free to explore a plethora of other options.

A free society would afford individuals the freedom to use almost anything imaginable as a medium of exchange: silver, gold, cryptocurrencies, sugar, flour, tobacco, nails, fishhooks, toilet paper, or ramen noodles.

And if you want to dramatically reduce the purchasing power of your ramen noodles, then you might want to put a central bank behind it.

Money can be organized under freedom through trial and error; the market is able to sort out the matter itself in developing a medium of exchange. In other words, the government isn't necessary for money to come into being. Money helps to facilitate human exchange and could be described as the lifeblood of civilization itself. Because of the state's decision to meddle and intervene with money, it has fueled a tremendous amount of tyranny worldwide. And society would be much better off if the money market were free.

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Sources:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/going-cashless-bad-for-tax-cheats-privacy-the-poor-quicktake/2017/12/04/4bb13e72-d93f-11e7-a241-0848315642d0_story.html?utm_term=.5ad0792121c8
http://www.chronicle.co.zw/zim-leaps-into-the-cashless-future/
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/04/world/africa/zimbabwe-robert-mugabe-cash-debit-cards.html
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/one-in-five-americans-think-their-payments-will-be-completely-cashless-in-their-lifetime-300654402.html
https://nordic.businessinsider.com/sweden-is-on-the-brink-of-becoming-a-cashless-society--/
https://www.smh.com.au/technology/cashless-future-is-two-to-three-generations-away-experts-predict-20180215-p4z0d1.html
https://www.forbes.com/sites/oliviergarret/2017/06/28/india-is-likely-to-become-the-first-digital-cashless-society/#ff50d823c80d
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/22/cash-is-still-the-biggest-threat-for-digital-payments-firms-paypal-cto.html
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southeastasia-mobilepayments/mobile-payment-firms-struggle-to-dethrone-cash-in-southeast-asia-idUSKCN1IO0PW
http://www.marketing-interactive.com/features/how-dbs-aimed-to-change-consumers-behaviour-towards-going-cashless/
https://www.weusecoins.com/hidden-secrets-of-money-currency-versus-money/
https://mises.org/library/what-has-government-done-our-money

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