In many ways, cash offers a level of monetary security that a cashless system cannot. Since law enforcement can track digital transactions and/or freeze bank accounts, many criminals—including drug cartels and terrorist organizations—operate in cash. It's an easy way for them to keep their money safe.
Customers without bank accounts are excluded
A purely cashless society would leave them at a serious disadvantage and increase economic inequality. Those with minimal access to bank cards or digital banking services would be excluded from the economy.
The downsides of going cashless include less privacy, greater exposure to hacking, technological dependency, magnifying economic inequality, and more. Credit and debit cards, electronic payment apps, mobile payment services, and virtual currencies in use today could pave the way to a fully cashless society.
Natural disasters, malicious cyberattacks and simple software failures could bring down electronic payment infrastructure, causing significant disruption to digital and interconnected cashless societies.
In a cashless society, all payments are processed through digital networks. Banks keep an electronic record of transactions, and people access their funds through electronic systems.
For instance, using cash instead of credit or debit cards may help keep some people from overspending, because you can see how little is left in your wallet after every purchase. In short, getting rid of cash would impose hardships on society's most vulnerable people and could jeopardize our privacy.
Just: The Bible says absolutely nothing about predicting a cashless society, as some people claim. And in fact, if it did, the closest passage to anything that you could call a “cashless society” is not from the Book of Revelation, but it's from Isaiah, Chapter 55.
To many economists and policymakers, cash is a problem: cash transactions are harder to tax, it can be used by criminals, and those who keep their savings in it miss out on interest.
Westpac, ANZ, CommBank and NAB have ruled out going cashless, but the banks have shuttered branches across regional Australia, leaving some customers without the option to bank with cash.
A cashless society would rely on a complex network of digital systems, which would be vulnerable to cyberattacks. If these systems were hacked, it could have a devastating impact on the economy. Privacy is the third challenge raised. Cash can be exchanged anonymously, leaving no digital trail.
There is also a potential risk to central bank independence. Even if eliminating currency is at least revenue neutral for the government as a whole, the central bank is the one that will lose seigniorage revenue.
As people move toward more electronic or digital forms of payment, it might seem like paper money is on its way toward obsolescence. But experts say that cash will always be around.
While cash isn't disappearing entirely, data from Marqeta shows that both consumer attitudes and habits are shifting towards a less cash-dependent economy. According to Marqeta's 2024 State of Payments Report, nearly three-quarters of U.S. consumers aren't concerned about moving towards a cashless society.
One of the biggest issues is the loss of transactional anonymity. In a cashless system, every digital interchange is recorded and stored, making it difficult for individuals to maintain privacy. Unlike cash payments, which are anonymous, digital methods of payment leave a traceable electronic footprint.
Sweden, the first European country to introduce banknotes in 1661, became the world's first cashless society on 24 March 2023. Finland and the UK are top–ranked to become cashless societies as well. Poland, on the other hand, has scrapped plans to limit cash payments to ensure freedom of choice.
Inflation Is Eating Away at Your Funds
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average rate of inflation from April 2023 to April 2024 was 3.4%. If you've been keeping your money in a savings account with a lower yield than the rate of inflation, you should switch over to a higher-yield account.
Is the US Going to Digital Dollar? As of June 2024, the US Federal Reserve has not decided to transition to a CBDC or supplement its existing monetary system with one. It is researching the effects a CBDC would have on the dollar, the US, and the global economy.
If you owe someone money (a creditor) and they follow the right procedure, they can stop you taking money out of your bank or building society account by freezing it. This is called a bank arrestment.
The concept of a cashless society has been around for decades. But with 84% of payments in the US being made digitally in 2025 according to Clearly Payments, research suggests that the transition from physical currency could take place sooner than we once thought.
Scripture is clear that while debt itself may not be sinful, it's also not God's best for His people. This is because when we choose to borrow money, we are putting our trust and confidence in a credit card or a lender instead of in Christ.
First, God's city, the New Jerusalem, will come down from heaven and be established on planet Earth (Revelation 21:1). Second, those who rejected Jesus will be brought to life again to receive their judgment (Revelation 20:5).
Major disruptions triggered by cyberattacks, power outages and natural disasters are a main threat to the cashless economy. But they also bring new risk pool opportunities like cyber and digital fraud insurance. Another risk is that many cashless/digital payment systems are privately run.
Some countries aim to de-dollarize or reduce their dependency on the U.S. dollar, but it is still essential for global business and is a widely held reserve currency. There is no reason to expect the U.S. dollar to collapse in the near future.
Thanks to credit cards and debit cards, there is no need to carry paper money. You can buy goods and services with a simple swipe, dip, or tap of your card. This is why card-based transactions continue to soar while cash money is on the decline. However, you still need a wallet to carry your cards, right?