Have you ever noticed that when you pay for something using a debit or credit card, it somehow doesn’t seem like you’re spending ‘real’ money? It’s somehow a lot harder to hand over a wad of banknotes or even a handful of change than it is to slot your card into the machine, or even wave it over the contactless scanner.
That feeling that somehow electronic money isn’t as concrete as hard cash is something we’re having to reconcile, since we are becoming an increasingly cashless society. It is certainly a lot more convenient to carry around a way of accessing the money in your bank account than it is to carry around sufficient cash for whatever you may need. Most banks now charge for the privilege of this convenience through a monthly or annual current account fee (which may also include certain benefits such as travel insurance).
But while going cashless is undoubtedly a choice that anyone can make, there are some who stop to ask what a cashless society would mean in terms of the information that our purchases could tell anyone who cared to find out. We are all aware of the notion of a ‘surveillance state’ and the presence of CCTV in our streets is now simply accepted as part of daily life – a necessary form of surveillance if we want to be kept safe from the criminal elements of society.
Passing cash between a buyer and seller leaves no trace (other than an anonymous till entry), but electronic payments between bank accounts do leave a definite paper trail that could allow the government or police to trace sales and purchases made in person or online. Is that a bad thing? Well, many people would argue that the only people who would not want their transactions to be monitored are those who are up to no good – and surely it is a good thing that the government or police could keep track of how they were spending their money