Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Does a cashless society benefit everyone?
Cash, plastic or mobile? Coins and banknotes
are issued by the central bank of a country. So, there usually one currency in
a country. Plastic cards, such as credit cards or debit cards are issued by
card issuers like banks under certain financial services bands, such as Visa or
Mastercard. There usually are a few or more brands that dominate each market. Mobile
payments are usually done by smartphones via mobile payment service providers,
such as Apple Pay, WeChat Pay or Alipay. While cash can be handed directly from
one to another, card or mobile payment goes through electric transactions. It
is convenient, efficient and safe if both the payer and receiver are in the
same transaction loop. However, if you don’t have access to those services, or
if the receiver is reluctant or unable to accept cash, how do you make a
payment for a cup of coffee or a ticket for a bus ride?
Such problem is arising in Sweden where cash payment
is discouraged and has become unpopular among retail stores and shops. Plastic
is now the popular and standard payment method in the Scandinavian country. In
China, mobile payment is becoming the de facto payment practice in shops,
restaurants and even for tax payment.
It seems that you may need to download a local
mobile payment platform when you visit another country instead of stopping by a
currency exchange counter.
But who will enjoy the benefit the most, and
who will suffer inconvenience the most?
Enjoy reading the article and think which your
preferred payment method is.
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