A CASHLESS SOCIETY IN A NEW WORLD ORDER

Have you noticed the gradual yet subtle changes to the banking system? The:

• increase in branch closures.
• reduction in staff and counter services.
• Introduction of digital currencies.
• introduction of mobile phone banking.

Do any of the above cause you concern, or do you perceive these changes as beneficial innovation and necessary for advancements in efficiency? Let us examine the implications.

Cash may soon symbolise the only freedom left available to us. We live in a society that openly tracks and monitors our every move and to some extent, our thoughts using algorithms based on our online activity. From the minute you leave your home, you are monitored by CCTV to and from your destination. When you tap in and out with an oyster card, your entire journey is mapped out. When you make purchases using a credit or debit card, your every purchase is logged.

Cash offers some sense of privacy, whether it’s making purchases or sojourning for some personal time. There are numerous people in our society who still prefer cash transactions, what will be the agenda for them? Will they be de-facto forced into to the digital world of finance by removing cash despite their protestations? Where’s the democracy in that? Will there be a “Don’t get left behind” shaming campaign starring celebrities assuring us that it’s ok with nothing to be afraid of? Where’s the sincerity in that? It seems that democracy is either slowly being eroded, or it picks and chooses when and what to apply itself to.

There was a time when a mobile phone was just another device used for making and receiving calls and text however, it has in recent decades become an irreplaceable and often addictive appendage rather than an accessory. So much so, that you are required to posses a mobile phone for most if not all online bank, crypto and credit card accounts for the purposes of login and ID authentication. In some cases, without a mobile phone, you’ll have no access to your online accounts and with the reduction in high street branches and counter services, access to your money may become impossible [without a mobile phone].

If the new world order is to be globally connected by the 5G network, then it makes sense to assume that in time, some or maybe all the governing institutions (Finance, Politics, Religion and Education) may become universal i.e. a global digital currency. As asked earlier, what will become of the people who still want cash and thus reject this ever-growing digital world? The age old three-step modus operandi:

1. Discredit

2. Demonize

3. Destroy

For anything to be appealing, there must be some aspect of benefit to make it worthwhile (e.g. the tree of good and evil had good in it). So of course, innovations in Fintech are beneficial to us but no system is perfect.

Can you think of anymore?

A Few Quotes

“I used my debit card in a well-known supermarket to buy groceries. A few weeks later, I received vouchers from the supermarket. When I looked at the vouchers, they were for all the items I had bought using my card. Some people might think that’s great, not me. It felt intrusive and I felt as though I was being monitored. It made me paranoid. I went back to using cash.” Mike, London.

“The news that paper rail tickets could be scrapped [Metro, Mon] made me angry. We are supposed to live in a democracy, but many companies and the government are forcing us into having to buy smartphones to buy tickets and access information. I neither want nor can afford to buy a smartphone and pay for its’s running costs. My phone fits easily into a pocket and is great for calls and texts. Tickets and banking online are useless if you have no charge or are somewhere with no reception. Give me paper tickets and a person to talk to face-to face to ensure we get the best service, any day. Jane, Hastings.” (Metro ed. 2023)

“Why are we being blindly led to a cashless society? As far as I can see, it’s another nail in democracy’s coffin. Why is an important decision as this not put to the people’s vote? It would be nice to hear the views of other people. M Keevil, by email.” (Metro ed. 2023)

REFERENCES

1. Metro (ed.) (2023) ‘Do we want a cashless society?’, Metro, 8 February, pp. 13–13.