Challenges of going cashless for consumers may keep the cashless economy from happening long after governments and banks are ready to get rid of all of the cash, according to an article on MarketWatch. The article reviews the recent study from Harvard Business Review and experts from Tufts University and puts the question of the cashless society to various people in the payments industry.
“Changing ingrained habits is not something that is easily overcome,” said Mark Ranta, the head of digital banking solutions at ACI Worldwide ACIW, -1.52% , a payment systems company, in an email. “Having physical cash and handing it over to someone is a real experience and one many people use for budgets or to keep their spending habits in check.”
The article also considers payments privacy and settlement times as hurdles and acknowledges there is a long way to go, though one of the authors of the study believes that the cashless economy is still only a matter of time.
Overview by Ben Jackson, Director, Prepaid Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
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