Will we see a cashless society by 2023? (2024)

FAQs

How long until we are a cashless society? ›

Physical currency isn't becoming obsolete any time soon, so it's important to weigh up your options before deciding to go fully cashless in 2024. Ensuring you can accept some cashless payments though, is essential to keeping with today's trends and customer expectations.

The US is moving toward cashless payments, with a substantial increase in the use of mobile wallet apps and contactless cards. A report from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco found that payments made using cash accounted for just 18% of all US payments in 2022.

Although paper-based currencies are becoming less popular, they will likely stick around for the foreseeable future. Dollars and cents may become harder to use, but as with many obsolete technologies, there are enough users to ensure demand doesn't disappear completely.

It took Sweden 362 years to transition from being the first nation in Europe to adopt banknotes in 1661 to becoming the world's first cashless economy in 2023. Everyone in Sweden has access to mobile coverage, and the majority of purchases made in the country are electronic.

More than half of all bank branches no longer handle cash. Seven out of ten consumers say they can manage without cash, while half of all merchants expect to stop accepting cash by 2025 (Arvidsson, Hedman, and Segendorf 2018).

A cashless future enabled by technology

We may not be a cashless society by 2060, much less by 2030. But the fact is we're closer to becoming a nearly cashless society every day. The transition from a mostly cash to nearly cashless society didn't happen overnight.

Is the cashless society really coming? Despite the rapid development of convenient, seamless digital payment methods, the 100 per cent cashless society remains a distant prospect. Cash is a trusted, reliable and essentially secure way to spend, and still adds up when it comes to straightforward everyday budgeting.

Norways is the most cashless country, with only around 2% of payments being made by cash, and 100% of the population having a bank account.

In less than 20 years, China has, with impressive speed, closed the gap with Britain in terms of a cashless society, Matthews noted. This has shown how fast the technology of cash-free transactions and payment has moved in China and how quickly the Chinese society has accepted it, he said.

In short, if you have less than $250,000 in your account at an FDIC-insured US bank, then you almost certainly have nothing to worry about. Each deposit account owner will be insured up to $250,000 - so, for example, if you have a joint account with your spouse, your money will be insured up to $500,000.

Should I hold cash in 2023? ›

“In fact, despite today's elevated yields for cash vehicles, a diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds likely generated superior performance in 2023.” Haworth says investors holding money in cash that is intended to help meet long-term goals should consider ways to put it to work more effectively.

China's cashless evolution is a remarkable story, as the country transitioned in less than two decades from a cash-first society to one with an 86% mobile payments penetration rate.

Cash is still alive and well, and no pandemic can take it down. Like it or not, there are plenty of people who like and rely on using dollar bills. And as long as those people are around, no, we won't be moving to a cashless society anytime soon.

The Federal Reserve has made no decision on issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) and would only proceed with the issuance of a CBDC with an authorizing law.

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.

From paper to polymer banknotes

We have been issuing banknotes for over 300 years and make sure the banknotes we all use are of high quality. While the future demand for cash is uncertain, it is unlikely that cash will die out any time soon.

While a cashless system would likely make it easier to track the transactions and freeze the accounts of certain criminals, the lack of an easy, cash alternative would likely push many larger criminal organizations into offshore banking, Bitcoin-style currencies, and other sophisticated digital tricks that would make ...

The elderly members of society are at particular risk, as they are often not confident using digital payment methods or online banking services.