Will Covid kill Cash?

[Lesley Resnick]

Will covid kill cash?

Digital payments have been growing by leaps and bounds but will this health crisis be the final straw?

I have seen a lot of local businesses request that you pay digitally or in some cases no longer accept cash.  Paying with cash is a far more intimate exchange than using a card.  You hand the cashier money and they make change from a draw that is filled with cash from pervious customers.  The clerk makes change and hands it to you.  It is counted, put back in the customer's wallet and they leave with the money and any germs that may be on the money.  

Some of the new apps and cards that you can just tap against the card machine reduce or eliminate the extra contact.

Collectively the federal government (Treasury, Federal REserve, DOJ) have been trying to limit and/or eliminate it for years.  Will this be the event that is needed to end cash as we know it? 

[Karl B.]

I would much rather risk getting a few germs on my cash than be at the mercy of a tyrannical government who can freeze a digital bank account whenever they see fit to starve a dissident.