'Cash is King!' This is a long time catch phrase through so many generations. Online payments, cashless payments like PayPal, ApplePay, AndroidPay probably took some shine off the King, but it is still and in my opinion should always be King.
I would probably think that one of the contributing factors for our low crime rate in Singapore is the increasing usage of mobile payments and is making cash so rarely seen that bank robbers are left with nothing to steal. Although one guy did manage to get away with a successful bank robbery a few months back only to be caught 3 days later.
However, I do hope that the day we completely phase out cash don't come anytime soon.
A chat with an acquaintance of mine brought up the topic of cashless payment in her child's primary school in Singapore. Every child is given a cash card with pre-loaded cash in it and all the child has to do during recess time or lunch time is to use that card and tap at the stall vendors' counter after making purchase of his food. Same way as how we take the MRT or Bus.
That is actually a very convenient and efficient way of handling money, especially when you consider the pros of it. Your would not have to worry about your child losing some money here or there. Your child would less likely to be short changed by that nasty stall owner. In fact you can even restrict your child's spending in school or out of school.
All that sounds like a whole lot of benefits but it also brings us back to a very fundamental problem we are creating here. That is.. the value of MONEY. If every transaction involves a slight tap of a card, not much thought or emotion is involved, and being a child, one would be misled into thinking that money comes easy.
The thing is, when a child transact in cash, he has a feel of the real money in his hands. By having to work out the exact amount to pay and the amount of change he should be getting back, it involves calculation and the working of his brain! (Eg. A packet of juice costs $1 and I have $2, how much change should I be getting back?) Tapping a card eliminates all that thought process!
Let's just hope that mobile payments be just one more way to pay and not the only way.
For people who struggle with debt, cash is always king. Time to cut up the credit cards and make some hard and fast decisions about your finances. This is just the best course of action for most folks.
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