Editing Cash (section)

===Cashless payments===
{{Main|Cashless society}}
[[File:Credit-cards.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Credit card]]s are used for cashless payments. With a credit card, the credit card company grants a [[line of credit]] to the card holder. The card holder can make purchases from merchants, and borrow the money for these purchases from the credit card company.]] 
[[Cashless society]] can be defined as one in which all financial transactions are handled through "digital" forms (debit and credit cards) in preference to cash (physical banknotes and coins). Cashless societies have been a part of history from the very beginning of human existence. Barter and other methods of exchange were used to conduct a wide variety of trade transactions during this time period.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://newsroom.mastercard.com/2013/10/09/cost-of-cash-in-the-united-states/|title=Cost of Cash in the United States|website=MasterCard Social Newsroom|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-05|archive-date=2021-08-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210806105101/https://newsroom.mastercard.com/2013/10/09/cost-of-cash-in-the-united-states/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Since the 1980s, the use of banknotes has increasingly been displaced by credit and debit cards, electronic money transfers and [[mobile payment]]s, but much slower than expected. The [[cashless society]] has been predicted for more than forty years,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cashrepository.com/2017/03/myth-the-cashless-society-is-just-around-the-corner/|title=Myth: The Cashless Society is Just Around the Corner|access-date=2019-07-11|website=Currency Research|archive-date=2019-07-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190711001625/http://www.cashrepository.com/2017/03/myth-the-cashless-society-is-just-around-the-corner/|url-status=dead}}</ref> but cash remains the most widely used payment instrument in the world and on all continents.<ref name=CashReport>{{Cite web|url=https://cashessentials.org/app/uploads/2018/07/2018-world-cash-report.pdf|title=World Cash Report 2018|access-date=2019-07-11|publisher=G4S Cash Solutions, Payments Advisory Group|publication-date=2018-07-01}}</ref>{{rp|14}} In 17 out of 24 studied countries, cash represents more than 50% of all payment transactions, with Austria at 85%, Germany at 80%, France at 68%. The United Kingdom at 42%, Australia at 37%, United States at 32%, Sweden at 20%, and South Korea at 14% are among the countries with lower cash usage.<ref name=CashReport/>{{rp|27}}

By the 2010s, cash was no longer the preferred method of payment in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/nation-now/2016/09/04/cash-cashless-society-credit-cards/89726644/|title=A cashless society? Some retailers turn noses up at currency|last=Tompor|first=Susan|website=USA TODAY|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-05}}</ref> In 2016, the United States User Consumer Survey Study reported that three out of four of the participants preferred a debit or credit card payment instead of cash.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://count-money.com/2016-and-2017-surveys-of-consumer-payment-choice-summary-results/|title=2016 U.S. Consumer Payment Study|last=Count-Money|date=2016|website=count-money.com}}</ref> Some nations have contributed to this trend, by regulating what type of transactions can be conducted with cash and setting limits on the amount of cash that can be used in a single transaction.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cashappguide.com/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027112755/https://cashappguide.com/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2020-10-27|title=cashappguide|date=2017-12-14|access-date=2019-12-05}}</ref>

Cash is still the primary means of payment (and store of value) for [[unbanked]] people with a low income and helps avoiding debt traps due to uncontrolled spending of money. It supports [[anonymity]] and avoids tracking for economic or political reasons.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://reason.com/2019/07/02/hong-kong-protests-show-dangers-of-a-cashless-society/|title=Hong Kong Protests Show Dangers of a Cashless Society|date=2019-07-02|access-date=2019-07-11|last=O'Sullivan|first=Andrea|quote=Many digital payments can be tracked, potentially assisting an authoritarian crackdown.}}</ref> In addition, cash is the only means for [[contingency plan]]ning in order to mitigate risks in case of [[natural disasters]] or failures of the technical infrastructure like a large-scale power blackout or shutdown of the communication network.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cashmatters.org/blog/swish-crashes-during-popular-football-event-in-skovde-sweden/|title=Swish crashes during popular football event in Skövde, Sweden|website=Cash Matters}}</ref> Therefore, central banks and governments are increasingly driving the sufficient availability of cash. The [[Federal Reserve|US Federal Reserve]] has provided guidelines for the continuity of cash services,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.frbservices.org/financial-services/cash/business-continuity/index.html|title=FedCash Services Business Continuity Guide|access-date=2019-07-11|website=The Federal Reserve}}</ref> and the Swedish government is concerned about the consequences in abandoning cash and is considering to pass a law requiring all banks to handle cash.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cashmatters.org/blog/swedish-government-expected-to-pass-law-requiring-all-banks-to-handle-cash/|title=Swedish government expected to pass law requiring all banks to handle cash|date=2019-04-18|access-date=2019-07-11|website=Cash Matters|quote=If the power supply is cut it is no longer possible to make electronic payments. For reasons based purely in preparedness, we need notes and coins that work without electricity.}}</ref>