‘Cash is Expensive and Inefficient’: CEO of Azimo.

This week marks the 50^th anniversary of the cash machine once again sparking the debate around cash and whether we are heading towards cashless societies across the world.  Michael Kent, CEO of Azimo offers his view on the subject championing the importance of digitalisation of finance and the benefits of a cashless society.

“The Bank of England has recently estimated that it spends about £35-£40 million per year on replacing notes in circulation. Compared to the cost to the economy of producing and handling cash, it is clear that digital money costs do not have the same barriers.

It has been predicted that this year the number of UK contactless transactions will reach 9 billion. The ubiquity of electronic payment systems has steadily been growing and there has been a huge shift in consumer behaviour – at the expense of cash. This year a corresponding decline in cash transactions is expected – that’s a reduction of 15-30% in the UK.

While I believe it is expensive, inefficient and impractical to cling on to notes and coins, I don’t believe that cash is going to disappear just yet. Looking ahead to the future though, it’s likely we’ll see a society where we will no longer use cash, and funds will be instantly available to all via their mobile wallets. Given that it has been estimated that 6 billion people will have access to smartphones by 2020, and already people are more concerned by losing their phone than their wallet, it seems inevitable that we are moving towards this cashless society. 

So, whether people like it or not, it seems that the time has come to let go of our notes and coins and get on board, because it may be slower than expected, but change is coming.”