The cash debate and the war on cash

In a nutshell, the cash debate refers to the ongoing discussion about whether or not cash should be abolished.

The war on cash is waged by governments seeking more control over their people, and private companies seeking to monopolise the payments landscape. Their reasoning? That cash should be abolished because of association that it has with tax evasion, crime and terrorist funding.

However, this is a weak argument as there is no evidence concluding that eliminiating cash will put an end to any of these illegal activities. If criminals don't have cash, they will conduct their shady business by trading with other goods, or worse, with people. Meanwhile, a cashless society would leave law-abiding citizens at greater risk of cyber crime, vulnerable to losing their entire financial independence with just one click.

Download our white paper, Keeping Cash for clarity on the cash-crime misconception.

Download our white paper, Virtually Irreplaceable, which makes a case for cash as a public good.

Cash supporters argue that the most widely accepted payment option should always and rightfully be available to the public. They believe that the demise of cash should only occur if the people choose to stop using it but not as a result of artificial incentives forced upon the public by self-interested policymakers.

Excerpt from Business Insider article

There is a global push by lawmakers to eliminate the use of physical cash around the world. This movement is often referred to as “The War on Cash”, and there are three major players involved:

1. The Initiators
Who?
Governments, central banks.
Why?
The elimination of cash will make it easier to track all types of transactions – including those made by criminals.

2. The Enemy
Who?
Criminals, terrorists
Why?
Large denominations of bank notes make illegal transactions easier to perform, and increase anonymity.

3. The Crossfire
Who?
Citizens
Why?
The coercive elimination of physical cash will have potential repercussions on the economy and social liberties.

Read full article here

Sources

Desjardins, Jeff. 'Governments have declared a war on cash'. Published 19 January 2017.

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