Cash-free Society

Information technology is changing the world through automation, by bypassing middlemen and by digitization. We see dramatic effects today in the music industry, going from CDs to streaming, in newspapers, from paper to online, and in the banking industry, from branch offices to the Internet. One of the most fundamental changes is the replacement of physical cash, money and coins, by bits in a computer.A Cash-Free Society is about this dramatic change. It shows the advantages and disadvantages and discuss how we – consumers, businesses and the society -can prepare for a new world where cash is no longer king. Banks are closing down branch offices and removing cash services. Customers wishing to withdraw money as cash are directed to ATMs. But the number of ATMs is declining. Mobile payments, either for paying bills or for person to person transactions will be the last nail in the coffin for cash.These changes are fed by the overwhelming advantages, both for consumers and businesses, to electronic payments. In the countries that lead this transition to a digital economy, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, nearly all transactions, both in volume and number, are digital. Today less than 3 percent of consumer payments are in cash in Norway. Though there are some disadvantages, there are clear benefits: cheaper transactions, less crime, simpler tax processing and it will become more difficult to operate in the black-market economy.

“A Cash-Free Society provides a simple and clear explanation of the movement toward new forms of financial transactions. Olsen again demonstrates his ability to tell a story that everyone can understand. He manages to stay true to the complexity of the underlying technology while helping the reader to see the transition in easy to understand terms. The book is worth reading just for his brief introduction to computer applications and his story-telling reaches new heights with 'Uncle Joe's Island.'”

An original, detailed, informative, impressively presented, thoughtful and thought provoking study, "A Cash-Free Society: Whether We Like It or Not" is an essential and unreservedly recommended addition to community, college, and university library Contemporary Economics collections and supplemental studies lists. Midwest Book Review
A Cash-Free Society provides a simple and clear explanation of the movement toward new forms of financial transactions. Olsen again demonstrates his ability to tell a story that everyone can understand.  He manages to stay true to the complexity of the underlying technology while helping the reader to see the transition in easy to understand terms.  The book is worth reading just for his brief introduction to computer applications and his story-telling reaches new heights with 'Uncle Joe’s Island.' -- Michael B. Spring, Professor, School of Computing and Information, University of Pittsburgh
We are living in a digital world.  Digital currency’s supporting infrastructure is inevitably taking over cash payments. Moving towards a cash-free society may be challenging.   In this excellent book,  Kai Olsen wisely describes technologies, processes, and implications  of this movement, providing the reader with a complete picture of this crucial topic for our future society. -- Alessio Malizia, Professor of User Experience Design, University of Hertfordshire, UK
The cash-free society is arriving without much notice, and Olsen highlights important implications, offering a forward looking discussion of this significant transition. -- Petter E. Bjørstad, Professor, University of Bergen
Olsen 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. Recommended. CHOICE

Kai A. Olsen-- Professor, Molde University College (Associate professor from 1982, full professor from 1993); adjunct professor at Department of Informatics, University of Bergen (1993 - ), adjunct professor University of Pittsburgh (1995 - ). Professor Olsen is widely published in the journal literature particularly dealing with a range of issues in eBusiness. He has been interested, and written about, the cashless society for many years and has had many articles published in the press and has been interviewed often on the subject. A book on this topic by someone with the professional respectability of Olsen promises to be reviewed broadly and have relatively high sales.

Information technology is changing the world through automation, by bypassing middlemen and by digitization. We see dramatic effects today in the music industry, going from CDs to streaming, in newspapers, from paper to online, and in the banking industry, from branch offices to the Internet. One of the most fundamental changes is the replacement of physical cash, money and coins, by bits in a computer. A Cash-Free Society is about this dramatic change. It shows the advantages and disadvantages and discuss how we - consumers, businesses and the society -can prepare for a new world where cash is no longer king. Banks are closing down branch offices and removing cash services. Customers wishing to withdraw money as cash are directed to ATMs. But the number of ATMs is declining. Mobile payments, either for paying bills or for person to person transactions will be the last nail in the coffin for cash . These changes are fed by the overwhelming advantages, both for consumers and businesses, to electronic payments. In the countries that lead this transition to a digital economy, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, nearly all transactions, both in volume and number, are digital. Today less than 3 percent of consumer payments are in cash in Norway. Though there are some disadvantages, there are clear benefits: cheaper transactions, less crime, simpler tax processing and it will become more difficult to operate in the black-market economy.

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