Move over digital payments: is cash money the real future of currency?

Former Boston Federal Reserve adviser Jay Zagorsky says physical money is better for society, savings and security

Despite more options than ever for digital payments, some argue that physical cash is the best way to preserve savings and even enhance national security.

Despite consumers having more digital payment options than ever and physical cash payments on the decline in many parts of the world, there are some, like Jay Zagorsky, who say paper money needs to be part of the future and that, in some cases, national security depends on it.

"In a cashless society, you make yourself less resilient to your enemies because if everything is done cashless, and if your enemies hack into the banking system or the wire transfer system, they can take down the economy without ever firing a shot," the professor of markets, public policy and law at Boston University's Questrom School of Business said.

"If nobody can spend money because the credit or debit card systems aren't working, how are we supposed to buy things? How are we supposed to live?"

Prof Zagorsky, who also spent time as an unpaid adviser to the Federal Reserve of Boston, said he was once a staunch advocate of using credit cards and digital banking, only to slowly but surely change his mind after studying how payment systems worked.

"I would rack up frequent flyer miles by charging things on credit cards, but then I realised the credit card system was acting like a reverse Robin Hood," he said, explaining that many who receive credit card benefits don't often question where they come from.

"Those benefits and points awarded are primarily coming from the poor and those who are not financially sophisticated," he said.

The Boston University professor said with the demise of physical cash payment options, especially in recent years, he decided to write a book about his studies of physical currency.

That book, The Power of Cash, lays out Prof Zagorsky's push for cash payment continuity on several levels.

He says that physical cash can give consumers back the power over increasingly burdensome hidden fees and can also help preserve security against bad actors who seek to compromise credit card data.

Credit card companies, he said, especially with increasingly prevalent buy now and pay later set-ups, are often taking percentages in fees from merchants.

"Those merchants often say 'well my costs went up, so now I have to pass that on to the consumer,'" he explained.

With cash, Prof Zagorsky argued, those types of hidden costs don't exist for the most part, and that despite the appearance of frictionless digital payments, ultimately there's often a hidden cost making it possible behind the scenes.

"A large number of studies have suggested that of all the payment methods, cash still tends the be the least costly," he said, also noting the psychological aspect that he said, makes physical cash superior for those seeking to stay disciplined with their spending.

"When you're out of paper money in your wallet our purse, you're done spending," he said. "If you're using debit or credit, you can increase the limit and ask for more."

Prof Zagorsky is not alone in his push to keep physical money in the payment rotation.

Cash Matters, which describes itself as a movement to support the existence and relevance of cash as a major part of the payment landscape, regularly provides updates to those who aren't necessarily on board with the idea of a cashless, and therefore digital only, payment society.

"We have been actively and successfully advocating for cash with all stakeholders, industry, political, central banks, NGOs, society at large, since launching in 2017," reads a statement on the organisations website, which also echoes the themes in Prof Zagorsky's book that physical cash can safeguard personal independence, ensure currency stability and ensure payment security for consumers.

The organisation, funded in part by the International Currency Association, also talks about the importance and overlooked idea behind currency design for countries around the world.

"Banknotes and coins reflect a nation's identity and its magic moments, presenting its most significant people, landmarks and values to the world," reads a portion of the Cash Matters literature."

Professor Zagorsky said his book, which clocks in at 20 chapters, doesn't address the connection and relevance of design and physical currency , but he completely agrees with the notion.

"Who is the head of state? Who are the important people of society? Those things definitely help a society form a national identity," he explained.

Despite having more digital options for spending money, some of the latest data indicates there's broad support for keeping the option of physical cash payments alive.

According to one report, 2024 Future of Cash Survey, conducted by a Philadelphia-based advertising agency, preserving physical cash and currency as a payment method bridges the traditional generational divides between Baby Boomers and Gen Z.

Seventy per cent of those from Gen Z told the survey they do not favour the idea of a cashless society, and 79 per cent of Baby Boomers surveyed felt the same.

"When asked how they feel about the potential of a cashless society, the most commonly cited concerns across all age groups were privacy, security and anxiety about accessibility and inclusivity," read a highlight from the report.

Yet there seems to be no stopping the push in many parts of the world towards cashless payments.

In October, Dubai officials unveiled a strategy hoping to make 90 per cent of all transactions cashless by 2026.

The recent pandemic, which caused a significant drop in store foot traffic, also expedited a drop in physical cash use, and in turn, a spike in credit card use.

A consumer affinity for paying through smartphones, combined with what many perceive to be the inconvenience of cash and change, have also made it difficult in some cases to pay for items in stores with cash in some places, with merchants opting for digital transactions instead.

Prof Zagorsky said consumers have the power to reverse that trend.

"Go to retailers and use some cash," he said. Using some cash every now and then tells the retailers the need to be able to handle cash, pure and simple."

With mounting concerns about banks and cybersecurity amid an increasingly interconnected world with nefarious actors, Prof Zagorsky insisted that using cash was a way to ensure national defence around the world.

"If you're a little concerned about national security, using cash is a way to make the country more secure, it's difficult to disrupt."

Some of the arguments in favour of cash payments made by Prof Zagorsky, such as the preservation of anonymity, are occasionally made by law enforcement and even governments seeking to disrupt criminal enterprises or money laundering, yet he said those comparisons often melt on contact in the real world, and unfairly give physical cash a stigma.

"People like to say, 'well you know cash is used by mafias or terrorists, things like that,'" he explained.

"But in reality, terrorism is one of the cheapest things that people actually do, you know, creating bombs and things like that don't actually take very much money, so even if we banned cash payments, we'd still probably have terrorism.

Cash, he said, was a symptom of problems fuelling things like organised crime and terrorism, and far from being the cause of it.

"If we banned all cash, do you suddenly think terrorists would say, 'oh there's no more cash, I'm not going to be a terrorist any more,'"?

Prof Zagorsky also said the same applies to the idea that physical cash makes it easier to bribe various officials, whereas in reality, he said that they could easily be bribed with material items as well.

He hope that his book sparks a vigorous debate, and he insists he's ready for the counterarguments and sceptics.

"I haven't received any pushback yet but I'm fully expecting it," he said.

The Power of Cash: why using paper money is good for you and society, goes on sale on April 1.