A Cash-Free Society : Whether We like It or Not

Olsen (Univ. of Bergen, Norway) outlines alternatives for using cash and explains complications associated with those alternatives. He describes the history of gold, silver, coins, banknotes, checks, and credit cards. Barcodes, transaction fees, digital credit, and debit cards, bitcoin, and blockchains complicate the transition to the digital world. The best part of the book is the summary of the strengths and weaknesses of the digital economy. Some strengths include fighting crime, reducing costs, using better data, and protecting the environment. Some weaknesses include maintaining privacy and paying individuals who don’t have digital payments set. The first part of the book tends to wander into topics outside its main purpose, such as autonomous cars, robots, estimated time of arrival, big data analysis, machine learning, and apps for plumbers. The end of the book includes survey results on the popularity of digital payments in Norway. Internet transactions at places such as pubs or bars have increased, while the use of cash, ATMs, and branch bank offices have declined. He concludes by stating that economies are becoming cashless.