Cashless society

A cashless society describes an economic state where financial transactions are not conducted with money in the form of banknotes or coins, but rather through the transfer of digital information between the transacting parties. Cashless societies have existed and cashless transactions have been possible using digital currencies such as bitcoin. However, this article discusses and focuses on the term "cashless society" in the sense of moving towards, and implications of, a society that is replaced by the digital equivalent, in other words, legal tender (money) still exists, is recorded and exchanged only in electronic digital form.

Such a concept has been discussed widely, particularly because the world is experiencing a rapid and increasing use of digital methods of recording, managing and exchanging money in commerce, investment and daily life in many parts of the world and transactions which would have been historically undertaken with cash are now undertaken electronically. Some countries now set limits on transactions and transaction values for which non-electronic payment may be legally used.

History
The trend towards the use of non-cash transactions and settlement began in daily life in 1990s, when electronic banking became popular. By the 2010s, digital payment became more widespread in many countries, with examples such as PayPal, digital wallet schemes such as Apple Pay and Android Pay, contactless or NFC payments like smartphone, and electronic bills and banking, all in widespread use. By the 2010s, cash had become actively disfavored in some kinds of transaction which would historically have been very ordinary to pay with physical tender and larger cash amounts were in some situations treated with suspicion, due to its versatility and ease of use in money laundering and financing of terrorism, and actively prohibited by some suppliers and retailers, to the point of coining the expression of a "war on cash". By 2016 in the United Kingdom it was reported that 1 in 7 people no longer carries or use cash. The 2016 United States User Consumer Survey Study claims that 75% or respondents preferred a credit or debit card as their payment method while only 11% of respondents preferred cash. By 2017, digital payment methods such as Venmo and Square contribute to cashless transactions. Venmo allows individuals to make direct payments to other individuals without having cash accessible. Square is an innovation that allows primarily small businesses to receive payments from their clients.