No More Cash: Are We Ready for the Big Move?
America votes on a cashless society
There will be a time — I don’t know when, I can’t give you a date — when physical money is just going to cease to exist.
US Secretary of Labor Robert Reich
Should we move to a cashless society? This is a question that was recently discussed in a Wall Street Journal post, emphasizing the fact that the use of physical money is declining in the US. Despite this fact, only 39% of Americans are ready for the big move to a cashless society, a recent TruePublic poll revealed.
What’s the buzz about?
The role of cash in the U.S. economy is rapidly declining, thanks to the quick progress of technology that allows for so many other payment options. Cards, Paypal, Mobile wallets and even cryptocurrencies are rising in popularity and that’s not surprising: cashless transactions are rather quick and secure.
According to the Federal Reserve’s most recent survey of payment choices, American consumers used cash in 32% of all retail transactions in 2015, down from 40% in 2012. Cash accounted for just 9% of the value of payments by consumers in 2015, down from 14% in 2012.
This brought forward the question whether we need cash in general. Is there a chance that we can eliminate cash completely in the near future? And are people going to be happy about such a change?
What Does the Internet Community Think?
The opinions about this issue vary significantly.
General public opinions highlight concerns about what might happen in the event of a cashless system crash. As well as fears of an increase in cyber-crimes that may interfere with access to money.
David Wolman, author of the Death of Money, told CBS why he thinks cash is impractical:
“Everyone thinks cash is so simple and so easy and so fast and so secure. It’s NONE of those things. It’s really expensive to move it, store it, secure it, inspect it, shred it, redesign it, re-supply it, and round and round we go!”
Contrary to this, the Guardian’s Dominic Frisby, said:
“Cash empowers its users. It enables them to buy and sell, and store their wealth, without being dependent on anyone else. They can stay outside the financial system, if so desired”.
TruePublic Users Have Their Say
On TruePublic, the anonymous opinion app, the following question was asked: “Are you in favor of moving to a mostly “cashless” society?” There were 2 options to choose from:
- Yes, I am
- No, I’m not
While 62% of Americans didn’t support the idea of going cashless, let’s dive deeper into the issue and see how the answers varied depending on gender, region, age, race and political leaning.
According to our results, men are slightly more opposed to the idea of cashless society than women.
The responses varied significantly depending on region. Thus, the majority (51%) of respondents from the Pacific and Northeast would be okay with tossing out the cash. As opposed to this, only 26% of Americans in the Midwest supported the transition to cashless society.
When it comes to how different age groups answered, Millennials are slightly more supportive of the idea: 39% voted in favor of cashless society, against 28% of Gen-X and 34% of Boomers.
There’s significant difference in the way Blacks, Hispanics, Whites and Asians voted. Notably, 57% of Blacks and 51% of Hispanics favored the idea of eliminating cash. The majority of Asians and Whites (69% and 66% accordingly), on the other hand, opposed the idea.
The political leaning of respondents is also notable: While 50% of Democrats would support the idea of going cashless, the majority of independents and Republicans (65 and 68%) aren’t willing to see such a change happen.
This is how Americans voted! What about you? Are you ready to do without physical money?
Join the conversation right now with TruePublic. Share your opinions with total honesty and instantly compare with the rest of America.
Download TruePublic in the App Store or Google Play Store.
If you are interested in our methodology and the full numbers around this poll, please contact our team. You may use this data and content freely if you cite the “TruePublic App” as your source in any written, video or audio publication. If you would like access to more data like this please contact our team: info@truepublic.com
