In future payments via cash will be replaced by card or online apps. In my opinion it will definitely the case in near future. However, some elderly people will not like the idea of this change due to the fact that the could not keep up with the technology advancement.
Paying by credit or debit cards earns you cashback or reward points that you can later redeem for buying things. In addition to that, making online purchase on the website gives you additional discounts, which is understandable as shops not necessarily has to keep inventory for all products. And most obvious doesn’t need to worry about carrying cash in their pockets. For example, companies like ‘Amazon’ only accepts payment via cards or online apps for their products and get it delivered to individual’s house.
Among the drawbacks, some people find it hard to transit from cash to cashless. Out of which most are elderly people who can’t remember passcode/PIN for their cards and sometime tend to share it with other accidentally. However, it could be argued that all bill payments doesn’t require PIN, while checking out. There is also the danger of online theft, where people lose money , if not been careful. It is more applicable to naïve children who fall for phishing scams. Nevertheless, any payment made should be thoroughly checked or supervised can eliminate such problems.
Cashless future is inevitable. Although there are downsides to this trend. I believe that they are outweighed by the advantages to both people and companies.