Korea Values Cash for Inclusion and Resilience

The Bank of Korea has spoken up for cash in a recent campaign intended to guarantee its acceptance everywhere, recognising its vital importance to social inclusion and a resilient economy.

Korea JoongAng Daily reports the campaign statement as: ‘For some, cash is the only means of payment. Please be considerate and allow people to use cash everywhere so that no one is left out.’ It observes that anyone can find themselves needing cash—perhaps due to a dead phone battery or a network outage such as the Kakao platform crash that prevented millions of people from making cashless payments in late 2022. It also notes that less tech-savvy members of society and individuals on lower incomes who may be barred from using cashless options rely on cash for all their payments.

Foreign visitors can also find themselves dependent on banknotes and coins, with Reddit users sharing struggles with card acceptance (for example due to Korean card readers not typically offering PIN verification, which may be required by providers) and also highlighting that the nation’s celebrated street food vendors often operate in cash.

In a recent publication, the Bank of Korea identifies another key benefit of cash, which is that it underpins a nation’s economy, providing an anchor of value for the monetary system.

On its website, the bank also notes that cash is a crucial aspect of emergency management, being the only means of transacting that remains when electricity and internet fail. As a tangible store of value, citizens also turn to it in uncertain times when other forms of wealth may become inaccessible or be subject to sudden changes.

The recent pro-cash acceptance campaign aims to ‘guarantee the option to use cash’ for the resilience and stability of the economy, and to counter ‘financial exclusion and restrictions on the consumption activities of vulnerable groups.’