Is a cashless society nearer than we think?

Most people think of a cashless society is something that is way off in the distant future.  Unfortunately, that is simply not the case. The truth is that a cashless society is much closer than most people would ever dare to imagine. In America today  only 7% of all transactions are carried out using cash.

It should also not be a surprise that most governments around the world are favoring a cashless society as the following reasons explain;

Cash is expensive to print, inspect, move, store and guard

Counterfeiting
Counterfeiting is always going to be a problem as long as paper currency exists. Cash if favored by criminals because it does not leave a paper trail. Eliminating cash would make it much more difficult for drug dealers, prostitutes and other criminals to do business.

More government control
Most of all, a cashless society would give governments more control. Governments would be able to track virtually all transactions and would also be able to monitor tax compliance much more closely.

The Banks
And they are not alone, The big banks want a cashless society because it is much more profitable for them. The big banks earn billions of dollars in fees from debit cards and they make absolutely enormous profits from credit cards.

And since these are the people that control our finances, they will not force such a system on us all at once rather the big banks and the governments of the industrialized world are doing all they can to get us to voluntarily transition to such a system. Once 98 or 99 percent of all transactions do not involve cash, eliminating the remaining 1 or 2 percent will only seem natural.

Is Uganda ready for a cashless society?
And for Uganda and Africa, entrepreneurs are coming up with all ways to make mobile payment, and mobile banking easier. As of today, you can transact between you mobile money account and almost any bank account. Also with services like World Remit, you can receive money from around the world. This trend might be the basis of Uganda and Africa’s’ cash less society. “It amazing how you can pay for all your utilities and most services using mobile money”. The raising innovations in the mobile payment arena and the rate at which the masses embrace these innovations is a sure indicator that the country is on a fast track to cashlessness.

For entrepreneurs and innovators, the cashless society space in Africa still has a lot to offer, and the users will always love the convince that a cash less society breeds.