What Is a Cashless Society?
A long time ago, people used many different things as money. Some examples are cowrie shells in Japan and Africa, cows, and even rocks. Imagine trying to pay for a coffee with a rock! In the last few hundred years, paper money and coins became the main way to pay for things. When people think of rich people, they often imagine someone with lots of money in a bank or hidden in secret vaults, maybe counting coins with a very serious face.
Today, the world is moving quickly toward a cashless society. This means that people use less paper money and coins. Instead, people pay with digital money. At first, this started with small tokens, like cards for games or bus rides. Now, it is part of everyday life in many countries.
According to Sajter (2013), a cashless society replaces coins and paper money with virtual money. This includes credit and debit cards, transport cards, bank transfers, and even cryptocurrency.
Governments’ Gentle Nudges
Some older people still like to touch and hold money. But in many countries, governments are encouraging cashless payments. For example, in Louisiana, USA, it is now illegal for secondhand shops to pay cash. This helps prevent fraud because checks, bank transfers, and other electronic payments leave a record. In Italy, since 2025, people cannot pay more than 5,000 euros in cash. Larger payments must be done with cards or bank transfers so they can be tracked.
Japan: Cash Please
Many tourists are surprised that Japan used to be very cash-focused. Before COVID-19, some stores even said, “Cash only!” But after COVID, more shops started accepting digital payments. Today, cashless payments are becoming more common. Young people, who buy online and play video games, trust digital payments more than older generations. Governments and companies also try to make online payments safe, even though hacking still happens sometimes. At least, they hope the hacking career gets less and less attractive through harsher punishments for such crimes.
Kenya: Leading the Way in Africa
Some African countries are very advanced with digital payments. In Kenya, M-Pesa lets people pay bills, send money, and buy things using basic mobile phones. Ghana has a similar system called Momo. Zhong (2023) explains, “The convenience of digital transactions has become irresistible for consumers and businesses. The relentless march of technology has produced many innovative platforms from mobile wallets to buy-now-pay-later schemes, each competing in this growing market.”
A Sad Story
Not all stories about digital money are happy. James Howells, a Welsh IT technician, accidentally threw away a hard drive with 8,000 Bitcoin in 2013. By 2025, the value of this Bitcoin could be about $950 million. He wanted to dig it out of a landfill but was not allowed. That is a very expensive mistake! Stories like this make people miss cash sometimes, but the move to a cashless society continues.
No Turning Back
In fairness, cash is still important in some places, but digital payments are growing fast. People around the world are learning to use digital money for convenience, safety, and speed. The cashless society is not coming slowly. It is here, whether we like it or not.
So…there…Are you fully on board with cashless or do you keep some bills and coins stashed away?
Written by Everett Ofori