The Global War on Cash – Lessons from History

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Softening Up Society for the Decommissioning of Cash

In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re all being hit upon by some pretty powerful institutions who are trying their best to convince us that it is an inevitability that physical cash will go the way of the dodo. As just a couple of examples, firstly here is a TV commercial which is currently being run in the UK by state-owned RBS subsidiary Nat West Bank:

For those who don’t want to or are unable to view the clip (its worth watching just for the sheer creepiness of it, reminiscent of the scene from Frankenstein where the monster encountered the girl and the pond) the key message from the commercial is encapsulated by the line:

“… then we thought, in a time when the next generation may not even use pennies, isn’t it up to us to educate them for their financial future?”

As always with the invisible hand’s invisible little helper — often referred to as advertising — you know something is up when we’re told things will happen but how those things come to happen lacks any agency. Just who, exactly, is responsible for the next generation not using pennies? What has happened to them? Why?

Secondly, this is typical of the nudge-theory messaging which however well-intentioned it might be nevertheless contributed to the generation of a low-level anxiety about the “dangers” of carrying physical cash:

Be afraid, be very afraid

This poster was in the storefront of a bank. Of course, thieves will steal cash. But crime statistics show (Table 6 pg. 26 refers, UK data) that there is little difference in the rates of crime for thefts of cash as opposed to thefts of vehicle parts, mobile phones or bicycles. But never have I seen similar warning posters displayed on car dealerships, mobile phone companies retail outlets or bike shops.

Consumer Behaviour — Economic Democracy or Coercion ?

Why are users of physical cash being targeted in this way by governments and banks? The simple answer is to dissuade us from using cash and to encourage us to use as little of it as is possible or to create a perception that if we do use cash, we’re behaving like some outmoded throwbacks and the kids will look on us as — horror of horrors — in danger of becoming obsolete.

But there’s a more complex question behind that rather obvious response. Are powerful actors like governments and banks suspecting that they may not be the most influential determiners of technology and that payment systems users have a great deal of bargaining power too?

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