How long will it take banks to phase out physical cash completely?

[electronicash]

It's completely country dependent. Some like Sweden are nearly there already. Others like Japan are nowhere near it.

In the UK they've pledged to keep it alive as millions of oldies don't know any different. They wanted to kill off cheques too but had to roll that back when they realised millions of people still use them.

Really?

Phase out cash? and what for?

To increase control and surveillance of course. A fully digital currency will be a one stop shop to mess with our lives.

surveillance and increase control made me hope that my government will not do it. China been doing it to have more data to get from their citizen.
i hope there will be another bullrun before they will do it though. because it will help me prepare for whats to come.

100 more years or never many many reasons people use physical cash

anon
easy of use
control
poor people no bank
and many more

i think it will come eventually and there will be adoption just as samsung had been developing.
10 years from now the phones will probably just be worth $20 and somehow does have a built in wallet for the digital fiat which we can turn into cryptocurrency also.

[gentlemand]

i think it will come eventually and there will be adoption just as samsung had been developing.
10 years from now the phones will probably just be worth $20 and somehow does have a built in wallet for the digital fiat which we can turn into cryptocurrency also.

That's possibly the biggest threat to crypto's progress. If they go cashless and roll out governmentcoins too they will have full control and all it takes is the pressing of a button to restrict all transactions to and from exchanges.

P2P will continue but perhaps surveillance will be so all encompassing they'll be able to come down hard on that too.

The best thing that can happen is a closed loop crypto economy developing, but many would bail if they had the options to get back into fiat when needed heavily restricted.

[abhiseshakana]

This pandemic speeds up some processes of digital transformaton and I think we are getting closer to cashless society.
But to my opinion isn't not up to banks but up to people, their clients. We still have rather high demand for cash, especialy among older population and in underdeveloped countries. So, banks has the eyes in.the market and they can't deprive clients from something they want. However, I think that in the next five years we might live in cashless society.

Will physical money lost from circulation be replaced by digital money such as print media that are lost from circulation after the rise of social media? The pandemic accelerated the process of digital transformation both nationally and globally in terms of behavior and motives. Digital technology is a tool to innovate to exploit the momentum that arises from changing conditions of society and consumer behavior.

The phenomenon of low touch economy makes people moved to adopt digital technology because during the pandemic many community activities that relied on technology developed, such as online meetings, distance learning (home learning).

It all depends on the government when will withdraw cash from circulation. I think when the majority of citizens have mobile phones with internet networks, the government can start to withdraw the circulation of banknotes. The pandemic created the momentum to slowly withdraw paper money from circulation and begin the TINA campaign (there is no alternative) except to use non-cash.

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/digital-payment-adoption/

[tbterryboy]

I do not think governments will stop issuing physical cash just for the reason on containing the spread of covid19. But what I guess is, government may focus on innovating methods which will effectively prevent the spread of virus even with physical cash. I mean they may start issuing cash in the form a new material where virus may live shorter time frame compared to how viruses are doing right now. I agree stopping completely physical cash must be the easiest solution here but practically that is not possible hence governments may work on new type of physical cash with less infective by nature.

Fortunate or unfortunate all the consequences of pandemic is somehow lead to trigger adoption of cryptos. Like, due to job losses we start working for freelancing which is usually making use of cryptos for known reasons and when stocks are not doing well due to lockdown reasons, bitcoin is trading stable which makes investors start focusing on it. Similarly if governments stop cashes then that will help people adopt cryptos immediately or after experiencing their government issued digital things.

[Ibizugbe1]

It will take the bank a long long time to completely phase out Physical cash due to many technology problem facing different nations and together with the rate of literacy in the world. Banks are still making huge fund in all these but with time things will need to just change.

[plvbob0070]

The government can easily phase out physical cash if they want to, and if all people would agree to this. But the problem is, it won't be easy to do that for now, knowing that millions of people are still dependent and highly relying on paper money. Moving to digital cash needs a lot of time and preparation because not everyone affords digital cash and payment.

Many places and countries are getting left behind when it comes to technological adoption so digital cash isn't accessible for them. Even with the pandemic, I don't think the government will find it as a reason to phase out physical cash. Even with the virus spreading, we can't deny that majority are still using paper cash in day to day transactions because it's much convenient. Completely adapting to the digital method will take us a long time before we can see that.

[slapper]

We can not predict precisely when banks will cease to accept cash. But in my opinion, decades will pass when cash is 100% eliminated. CBDC is awesome and it contains a lot of useful functions and benefits. However, most of the people are still using cash as their primary way of payment. Cash has been trusted for many years and it is also easy to use, especially when you want to buy something cheap near your house.

In many third world countries, they are still in debt and poverty which prevents them from having high technologies in order to interact with digital cash. At least one phone is required. But right now they are too poor and most of them don't have a chance to learn or even have electricity

Therefore, From my perspective, we are one generation away for banks to fully destroy digital cash. And at some points, I even believe that cash is still necessary by that time. But we dont know what will happen in the future. Just wait and see how our world changes

[angrybirdy]

The government can easily phase out physical cash if they want to, and if all people would agree to this. But the problem is, it won't be easy to do that for now, knowing that millions of people are still dependent and highly relying on paper money. Moving to digital cash needs a lot of time and preparation because not everyone affords digital cash and payment.

Many places and countries are getting left behind when it comes to technological adoption so digital cash isn't accessible for them. Even with the pandemic, I don't think the government will find it as a reason to phase out physical cash. Even with the virus spreading, we can't deny that majority are still using paper cash in day to day transactions because it's much convenient. Completely adapting to the digital method will take us a long time before we can see that.

It is only if the government will actually wants to do it. The government might be the first one to object to this topic, even if we are developing and seems ready to do cashless transactions, I really doubt that the government will allow this to happen, they might probably disagree of phasing out physical cash if this was discussed.

[exstasie]

i think it will come eventually and there will be adoption just as samsung had been developing.
10 years from now the phones will probably just be worth $20 and somehow does have a built in wallet for the digital fiat which we can turn into cryptocurrency also.

That's possibly the biggest threat to crypto's progress. If they go cashless and roll out governmentcoins too they will have full control and all it takes is the pressing of a button to restrict all transactions to and from exchanges.

Can't they already do that right now? All they need to do is lean on the banks, then the banks will cut off the exchanges.

Maybe I'm thinking about this the wrong way, but a CBDC hurts banks more than anything. It would eat into banks' market share of global payment transactions, especially modes like debit cards. Given how bank-friendly the elites are, that tells me any transition will be slow, giving the banks plenty of time to shift resources into other sectors.

[Latviand]

That's possibly the biggest threat to crypto's progress. If they go cashless and roll out governmentcoins too they will have full control and all it takes is the pressing of a button to restrict all transactions to and from exchanges.

P2P will continue but perhaps surveillance will be so all encompassing they'll be able to come down hard on that too.

If this happens then, it is bad for most of us due to a lack of democracy of using our own assets or money.

If government will take a full control of our cryptocurrency, probably they will monitor most of the transactions between P2P or any other transactions.

Restricting transactions is not good as it can interrupt a persons activities regarding business transactions. We should not let the government to take our freedom on using physical money with our own will because we are the one who own and worked for it for a certain period of time. They should give us two options, to use digital currency and physical money in different ways and circumstances. Digital currency transactions only is not a good option for most of us.

[Yatsan]

Now the real question is, how long will it take banks to start the transition from physical to digital cash (CBDC)? Do you think that physical cash will still be used right after governments adopt CBDCs in their entirety? Or will it take decades before every single person in the world stops transacting with physical cash, paving the way for a full-fledged cashless society? Your input will be greatly appreciated.

It depends on the country on how long will it take for the banks to phase out fiat or paper money because it will still be dependent on the decision of the government and the ability and capability of the country together with its people to adapt on getting into a cashless society on which people will be just using cryptocurrencies, credit/debit card or digital banking to be used as way of doing payment and other related transactions.

It will be a real challenge for the countries to adapt on getting into a digital economy because not everyone on its people can keep up following the trend just like the poor country where I came from that people will be choosing physical money more than digital money for they want tangible things rather than intangible ones.

It would be easy to shift from physical money to digital cash if the people can keep up on getting into that situation. But since not everyone are capable on doing that, it would really take time like years before a successful shifting would be done once everyone agrees on it and once everyone are ready to adapt on it.

[Sanitough]

I think it would take forever as it's not possible that the government will phase out physical cash when majority of the people are still experiencing its convenient compared to using the online currency or majority of the people are still using paper money and has not used online currency yet.

This is just a kind of question where some see it's possible but IMO, I think we are living in a world where development is not equal, so those who live in a under developed and undeveloped countries will always be behind the technology so they'll remain using the paper money.

[nelson4lov]

Physical cash won't be completely wiped off. It will continue to be around. It will be difficult to move to a full-fledged cashless society. Let's take a moment to consider those living in rural areas and villages with little to no access to necessary resources like power, cellular network, majority of people in these areas are even unbanked. The government is just trying to mitigate the effect of the pandemic and not transitioning to a full fledged economy. They won't do this unless they're sure of having full control over the demand and supply of digital currencies.

[Rengga Jati]

As we enter the digital realm due to the effects of COVID-19, the process of central banks phasing out physical cash from existence might take place soon.

Well yeah, as what becomes one of the media of spreading the virus, cash money becomes one of the most media that can spread the virus very easily without nay awareness from many people around the world. Although we have a deal with the physical distancing, money, they can be in our hands or pocket that can make easily transfer the virus.

Banks and governments are in talks of adopting CBDCs which could completely eliminate the need to pay for things with physical cash.

It should be that thing, moving from the cash money to the digitalization. But, is every country ready for it? Of course not. Big countries may be able to implement the CBDC to replace cash. But, for other countries whose people are still not closed with technology, it will be very difficult.
let's see what happens in my country. there are still many traditional markets that always use cash for transactions. They are more than 50% market like this with the condition of the economics and ability of the citizen. That is why it may be difficult to be the only one transaction to be used for CBDC. cash cannot be eliminated in my country. I'm sure that some other countries may also face similar conditions.

[DoublerHunter]

This is just a kind of question where some see it's possible but IMO, I think we are living in a world where development is not equal, so those who live in a under developed and undeveloped countries will always be behind the technology so they'll remain using the paper money.

^ We really do not know what will happen in the future or probably it will never happen to replace paper money into a cashless payment using digital currencies. But that is definitely right, the technology, not all countries worldwide are always updated on technology or they educate about technology. Probably it will take a decade but there is no exact time frame on it. Nevertheless, I think it is good if we use them both, they had different factors that we probably consider and all of them are useful to us. If the bank will phase out money, banks become useless.

[Sanitough]

This is just a kind of question where some see it's possible but IMO, I think we are living in a world where development is not equal, so those who live in a under developed and undeveloped countries will always be behind the technology so they'll remain using the paper money.

^ We really do not know what will happen in the future or probably it will never happen to replace paper money into a cashless payment using digital currencies. But that is definitely right, the technology, not all countries worldwide are always updated on technology or they educate about technology. Probably it will take a decade but there is no exact time frame on it. Nevertheless, I think it is good if we use them both, they had different factors that we probably consider and all of them are useful to us.

More options will serve all the people as it's our right to use the available resources that we think valuable and easy to use, and I think paper money provides us privacy too compared to using online money where transactions can easily be trace, unless it's decentralized, but it's not since it's issued by the government.

If the bank will phase out money, banks become useless.

No, they would only phase out physical cash, they will still exist issuing a digital currency.

[royalfestus]

Im not sure that they really need it. Speed of this process will depends from goverment of every country

I feel after 10 years in finance, bitcoin wont be looking to take over the fiat. It will prefer the asset class than the currency, I also think no coin will win the race to replace fiat even if allowed by the government.

[MCobian]

I doubt if the government will eliminate physical cash completely, right now all countries are in a special condition, namely the existence
of a pandemic. So the government advised residents to reduce the use of physical cash, to prevent the spread of the corona virus. But in this
case the government does not ban the use of physical cash. So there's no way the bank will eliminate physical cash, and anyway this pandemic
it won't last as long, because I'm sure a few more months the vaccine will be found and the corona virus can end. Then use physical cash will
occur as usual again.

[South Park]

I doubt if it ever would happen globally... remember a large amount of people are illiterate. "While only 12% of the people in the world could read and write in 1820, today the share has reversed: only 14% of the world population, in 2016, remained illiterate. Over the last 65 years the global literacy rate increased by 4% every 5 years – from 42% in 1960 to 86% in 2015." - Source : https://ourworldindata.org/literacy

Add to that the percentage of old people who are not technological inclined, then you have a significant amount of people who would not be able to operate digital cash.

There will also always be 3rd world countries in rural areas without electricity and infrastructure that would not be able to use digital payment methods.

Agreed, even if cash has lost its prominence against electronic means of payments during the last decades it is inevitable that at least a part of the transactions around the world are performed using cash, also we must not forget that cash is truly anonymous and can be used to buy stuff that you do not want to be reflected on your credit card balance, people know this and as such they are going to keep using cash even if governments would like for cash to disappear completely.

[Stedsm]

Banks won't really stop using physical cash, nor normal people will do. I'm saying this because banks are possibly running their business over physical cash only while many high-end people and even authorities are involved in having their money being kept black (black money I'm talking about) and if physical cash goes extinct, I believe many big dogs will commit suicide the exact same day or die due to such a heart-attack giving news. I don't think that banks will ever decide to go digital fully without that piece of paper being involved.