Soon the end of cash!
It is clear that faced with the rise of alternative payment methods (mobile payment, PayPal, and cryptocurrencies, in addition to the contactless card), the species are gradually moving towards obsolescence. But how far? Will we come to see cash and ATMs disappear in the near future?
To see more clearly, let's first ask the question of the effective cost of a liquid transaction.
If, for the consumer, there is no additional cost associated with the transaction as such, beyond the cost of the goods purchased, the production and circulation of the coins and banknotes cost money.
Indeed, if we take into account ticket printing costs, which are the subject of the integration of more and more expensive security elements, a cash transaction would cost on average 30 cents. Added to this are fees charged to the merchant for the accounting and transportation of cash to the bank.
Moreover, if we consider the state of relegation of the small currency (coins of 1, 2, and 5 cents) in the bottom of our pockets, bags, and empty pockets, it is clear that their melting by the central bank constitutes a money loss. What some countries have already stopped by stopping production, including Italy, which no longer accepts (since this year) the denominations of 1 and 2 cents for payment to parking meters, distributors, and tolls.
New flow modes
Over the past five years, our way of clearing our debts has progressively moved away from these ringing currencies towards the dematerialization of money. In the first line, the contactless that is found everywhere and for everything (supermarkets, bakery, but also in the church and the markets) - in June 2017 alone, contact lessness already accounted for 12% of transactions made in France. La France.
But it is announced that the payment by phone would be the real future of the dematerialized payment with the creation of banking applications and the arrival soon in France of Samsung Pay.
In addition to the practical spread of these new payment tools, electronic currencies that have been the subject of extensive media coverage in recent months due to phenomenal growth in value are no longer presented.
In addition to the practical spread of these new payment tools, electronic currencies that have been the subject of extensive media coverage in recent months due to phenomenal growth in value are no longer presented.
And not only that of Bitcoin, which is the main showcase, but also that of Ethereum among other cryptocurrencies. The latter, more mature than Bitcoin technologically speaking, would be, according to some, the future of the financial landscape as we know it.
The benefits of a world without cash
The arguments in favor of the dematerialization of our payment methods are not lacking: practicality (who pays now without contact knows what it is), end of counterfeiting, and better regulation - although obviously, the money dematerialized represents, too, its challenges.
According to Érick Lacourrège, director-general in charge of services to the economy and the network, and the manufacture of banknotes, the Banque de France would not anticipate the disappearance of species on a visible horizon (in 10 to 20 years). But it would invest in production - and recycling - adapted to their use, planned downward in the years to come.
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