The Pros & Cons of a Cashless Society

Like it or not, we are barreling towards a cashless future, with QR codes and a digital device, you can pretty much buy what you want. Digital currency is secure (thanks to blockchain tech) and as supporters will remind you, it is very convenient, plus you are less likely to get robbed.

Here are some pros and cons of going cashless.

Pros of going cashless

• No need to carry a wallet – All you need is a digital device and an Internet connection and you can pay for goods, transfer money and generally manage your account.
• Safer than cash – Not carrying cash is much safer for obvious reasons. Technically, you could still be robbed if a perpetrator held you at gunpoint and had you transfer money to their Bitcoin account.
• Blockchain technology – Blockchain is an open-ledger system whereby many computers must agree before any new blocks of data are added to the chain; according to IT experts, a blockchain cannot be hacked, the only way the data can be changed is by adding a new block, which has to be verified by the network. Traders use sophisticated crypto accounting software to analyse markets and trading is brisk.
• Cryptocurrency cuts out the middleman – If you pay a bill via Bitcoin, there are no banks or credit card companies involved; normally they take their commission on every financial transaction, but Bitcoin is not centrally controlled by any bank or finance company, so you don’t pay any commission on the transaction.

Cons of a cashless society

• You can’t tip – Some would say this is a pro, not a con, but when you wish to reward someone for excellent service, you can’t if we go cashless.
• Government control– You might not know what Justin Trudeau did to the freedom truckers; he shut down and froze their bank accounts! Imagine that you say something negative about the government on social media, then find out your bank account has been suspended. You might laugh at this, but we are heading in that direction; western governments are trying to put us in a digital prison and many people are openly encouraging people to use cash and refuse to buy from stores that don’t accept cash.
• All financial transactions are tracked – At the moment, this is not the case, as cryptocurrencies are not under the control of governments. Central banks are terrified of losing control, and governments see this as a golden opportunity to release a central digital currency. While you might not have anything to hide, do you really want your government to know about every single purchase you make? The next 12 months will see whether or not central banks and governments can force their central digital currency into existence.

The old saying, ’use it or lose it’ could not be more relevant than the current cash/digital currency issue. If, after careful consideration, you think it is worth saving cash, then you need to adopt a set of protocols and insist on paying cash, while boycotting stores that will not accept cash.