In today's culture we are obsessed with convenience, embracing anything that saves us time and money with open arms. We crave the latest tech innovations so much that it's even diminishing our emotional attachment to money – and we haven't even realized it!
While technology hasn't killed cash yet, it's just a matter of time before it does. Here's how things are set to change in the not-so-distant future...
Biometric Technology Will Gain Traction
It seems as though inserting a bank card and typing in a PIN no longer cuts and mustard. Biometric technology is now being implemented on a nationwide scale. Here in the U.S. Wells Fargo users can now use smartphone fingerprint recognition to withdraw cash from over 13,000 ATM machines. Chase and Citibank are tipped to follow suit in the near future.
For many years the phrase biometric technology has been fraught with negative connotations. But now, we trust it more than ever. Almost every modern smartphone utilizes it in some way, shape or form: iPhones use fingerprint scanning, Windows phones use retina scanning. Now that we've seen it work, we trust it; therefore, it's just a matter of time before we crave it. ATM implementation is the first step, but perhaps in a few years we'll bypass machines altogether.
Crypotocurrencies are on the Rise
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are also starting to get taken more seriously by global financial markets. While bitcoin was shunned a few years ago due to its instability, it's now extremely valuable. One man from Norway invested $22 in the currency in 2013, only to check his account earlier this year and discover that his original investment was worth $850,000 – he subsequently used the money to buy a flat in Oslo!
Other cryptocurrencies, such as Ethereum and Ripple, are now gaining traction due to increased usage among enterprise solutions. But, as always, they are unstable. With a significant rise in alt-coins over the last few years, whether or not they'll develop into market leaders or losers is still up in the air.
Nordic Countries are Already Becoming Cashless
Denmark is already moving closer to becoming a cashless society. In 2015 the Government scrapped obligations for stores to accept cash payments. This move was expected to free up security costs and enable workers to spend less time managing cash, and more time working on revenue-generation and customer support. Over half of the population now use the app MobilePay to make payments.
But it's Sweden that's currently leading the cashless race with 900 of its 1,600 banks not even carrying physical cash – circulation of the Swedish krona has fallen from 106 billion to 80 billion since 2009. Nilkas Arvidsson of Stockholm's Royal Institute of Technology has since stated that “Sweden will pretty much be a cashless society within about five years.”
The price of using cash in the U.S. stands at around $200 billion per year – roughly $637 per person. Therefore, it's not just convenience which will lead to the demise of cash, but the sheer cost of keeping it in circulation. Fundamentally, physical cash is wasteful, inconvenient and costly. It's no longer a case of “will the death of notes and coins occur,” but when.