Mark of the Beast Watch/Cashless Society: Cashless society getting closer, survey finds
The study, which was conducted in 13 European countries, the United States and Australia, also found that in many places where cash is most used, people are among the keenest to ditch it.
Overall, 34 percent of respondents in Europe and 38 percent in the United States said they would be willing to go cash-free, according to the survey conducted by Ipsos for the ING bank website eZonomics.
Twenty-one percent and 34 percent in Europe and the United States, respectively, said they already rarely use cash.
FILE PHOTO: Samsung's new Samsung Pay
mobile wallet system is demonstrated at its Australian launch in Sydney,
June 15, 2016.
REUTERS/Matt Siegel/File Photo
Ian Bright, managing director of group research for ING wholesale banking, said he did not believe people would quit cash entirely, but the direction was obvious.
"More and more people will end up with a situation where they can quite comfortably get by for two days, three days, four days, even a week, without ever using cash," he told Reuters Television.
Payment systems such as contactless cards and mobile-phone digital wallets have become so prevalent the issue has become political in some countries.
Cash-loving Germans, for example, have been concerned that a move by the European Central Bank to phase out the 500 euro note by the end of next year is the start of a slippery slope.
Germany is one of the countries that uses cash the most. The ING survey showed only 10 percent of Germans saying they rarely use cash, compared, for example, with 33 percent and 35 percent, respectively, in neighbors Poland and France.
The survey also showed that, in general, countries where cash is much in use were most likely to want to go cashless.
Only 19 percent of Italians said they rarely used cash but 41 percent said they would be willing to go cash. There was a similar trend in Turkey, Romania, the Czech Republic, Spain and even Germany.
Mark of the Beast: New Age Luciferian Initiation
Third of Europeans ready to dump cash ahead of digital future
Over a third of Europeans would
be happy to abandon cash and rely on electronic payments if they could,
according to a study by ING bank released on Wednesday. The survey of
almost 15,000 respondents showed that over half used less cash over the
last year, with 78 percent wanting to use less cash in the next 12
month. The study covered respondents from 13 European countries and
revealed that in many places where cash is most used, people are among
the keenest to get rid of it. With the rapid development of cashless
payment systems such as contactless cards and mobile-phone digital
wallets as well as the expansion of
digital currencies, the future of physical money has come under the
spotlight. The increasing interest of central banks in new cashless
schemes has promoted the trend. “A cashless society is not only possible but could be accepted by at least part of the population in many European nations,” said the researchers led by senior economist Ian Bright as quoted by Bloomberg. The economist stressed that there’s a “gulf” between those changing payment methods and those who are still sticking with cash. READ MORE