While payments by credit card are growing rapidly, the boss of the Monnaie de Paris recalls all the advantages of "cash"

Is keeping the possibility of paying in cash, in a digitized world, a guarantee of freedom? Readers of Margaret Atwood will remember that in her dystopia The Handmaid's Tale, the author had created in 1985 a totalitarian society where cash no longer existed: dematerialized money, which became a means of control, had been confiscated from women.

Decades later, as digital means of payment continue to gain ground at the expense of cash, the CEO of the Monnaie de Paris, Marc Schwartz, sounds the alarm, in a note, "The great paradox – or why the reign of cash is far from over", published on Friday 8 January by the terra nova think tank.

Within the euro area, the use of bank cards increased by five points between 2016 and 2019, from 19% to 24% (41% in value). Since then, the possible transmission of Covid-19 through coins and banknotes has accelerated the changeover. "At a horizon of twenty years, the use of cash will be (...)very limited," David Marcus, the co-founder of Libra, the digital currency project of Facebook, told Le Monde on June 7, 2020. "A cashless society looks attractive. A modern idea, symbolizing real technological progress, it is in tune with the times, admits Mr. Schwartz, fueled by campaigns skilfully orchestrated by economic actors finding their interest in it.

tracing

However, cash has serious advantages, according to the boss of the currency manufacturer. It makes it possible to settle a transaction anonymously and protect individual data, while "card or online payments leave behind a payment history accessible by private or public institutions," the report said. A tracing that the neobank Pixpay already offers to parents of teenagers, to allow them to block their purchases in shops deemed inappropriate.

Cash also remains the only completely free means of payment for individuals, the report points out. Bank cards or payment applications on the other hand have a cost.

"Inclusive", only cash finally allows those who do not have a bank account or who do not have sufficient mastery of digital tools to access a means of payment. "There are still about 30 million adults without a bank account in the Union", Brussels said in September 2020, which "expects member states to ensure the acceptance and accessibility of species as a public good". It could take measures at the end of 2021 to protect the availability of euros in cash.

Countries that were forerunners of "cashless" have begun to correct the situation. In Sweden, where the value of cash in circulation halved between 2007 and 2018, the government passed a law requiring banks to continue offering cash-related services from 1 January 2021. In the United States, several cities, such as New York, Philadelphia or San Francisco, have recently banned businesses from accepting only bank cards.