The 10 most cashless countries in the world - where does

the UK rank?

 Sophie Smith 
10 OCTOBER 2017 • 8:49AM

The UK is the third most cashless society in the world, pipped to the post by Canada and Sweden, which
were found to be ahead of the trend in ditching cash.

The rankings were based on six metrics: the number of credit cards per person; the number of debit
cards per person; the cards in issue that have contactless functionality; the growth of cashless payments
over the past five years; payment transactions made using non-cash methods; and the number of people
that are aware of what mobile payments options they have available to use.

The research, conducted by Forex Bonuses, looked at 20 of the world’s top economies, with only the top
10 ranked.

Canada topped the table because its citizens have more than two credit cards per person, and the
majority (57pc) of payments are made using cashless methods. However, it had the lowest number of
debit cards per capita of all countries included in the research, and only 26pc of its debt cards
have contactless functionality.

In Sweden, 59pc of consumer transactions are completed through non-cash methods, and 47pc of
citizens are aware of the types of mobile payment services available to them, making it the second most
cashless country in the world, according to Forex Bonuses.

In the UK, 41pc of cards have contactless functionality, and British consumers own 1.48 debit cards per
capita, pushing it to third place in the charts. 

China ranks at number six in the list. While the Asian superpower has strong scores for many metrics, it
is let down by a lack of credit card usage and a high remaining prevalence for cash payments, using
cashless methods for only 10pc of transactions.

Debit, credit and charge cards were used for 10.3bn transactions in the UK in 2016, a rise of 5pc on
2015, giving plastic a 54pc share of all retail payments by volume, according to the figures from the
British Retail Consortium (BRC) in July.

It marked the first time that cards have surpassed the 50pc level in terms of volume of retail payments,
with the popularity of plastic bolstered by the rise of different types of payment technologies such as
contactless.

The use of debit cards in particular has grown, accounting for 8.1bn retail transactions last year.

Despite the move towards plastic, cash is still predicted to make up around a fifth (21pc) of payments in
10 years' time, according to Payments UK.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/future-of-money/10-cashless-countries-world-does-uk-rank/
Countries that Are Going Cashless

Australia
Citibank in Australia decided in November 2016 to get rid of cash at all its branches. This includes no cash
machines. The decision was based on lack of consumer demand, as only 4% of its customers made cash
transactions at a branch last year. Citi's head of retail banking Janine Copelin reportedly said, "This move to
cashless branches reflects Citi's commitment to digital banking and we are investing in the channels our
customers prefer to use." The same month, UBS analysts recommended that Australia phase out its
AUD$100 bill, arguing that it would reduce criminal activity on the part of those who prefer to avoid a digital
trail, and that increased deposits of the bill would create a type of forced savings for Australians.

Belgium
In Belgium, it's already illegal to buy real estate using cash – or indeed make any purchase in excess of
3000 euros in cash, with the exception of second-hand goods. 

Ecuador
Don't assume that the most prosperous nations will be the first to go cashless. Ecuador, for example, has a
real per capital GDP of only US $6,000 but in 2014, it became the world's first nation whose central bank
introduced a virtual currency. Until then, Ecuador had no fiat money of its own;  it has been using the US
dollar as its currency since discontinuing the sucre (its national currency) in 2000.  

India
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ambitions to move the nation toward cashlessness, partly in a bid
to curb the underground economy. In November 2016, India's central bank took a step in that direction by
banning the 500 and 1000 rupee notes. In a radio interview a few days later, Modi said, "I want to tell my
small merchant brothers and sisters, this is the chance for you to enter the digital world."

Kenya
Many argue that the countries where it makes the most sense to have a cashless society are the ones with
large unbanked populations (people with no personal bank accounts). Sub-Saharan Africa
continues continues to account for the majority of live mobile money services. Of these nations, one of the
most advanced is Kenya, which has seen great success with m-Pesa, a mobile payment system created by
British telecom company Vodafone Group (VOD) in 2007. According to a 2015 GMSA report on Kenya, 59%
of adult Kenyans have used mobile payments.  With 26.2 million mobile money accounts and 12.5 million
active mobile money users, Kenya now has one of the highest mobile money penetration rates anywhere in
the world.

Singapore
Singapore has serious ambitions to lead Asia in going fully cashless. Hundreds of retailers have already
adopted a "Sorry, No Cash" policy. The nation has one of the most bitcoin-friendly business environments in
the world, opening the way for bitcoin funds to set up shop there – though "cashless" for most people will
likely mean using ordinary credit or debit cards. In 2014, Singapore became one of the world's first nations
to adopt "Fast," a 24/7 interbank fund transfer system. 

South Korea
The Bank of Korea, South Korea's central bank, has plans to go cashless as soon as 2020, and adopt a
national digital currency comparable to bitcoin. The plan is to phase out cash in steps, for example by having
merchants give change to customers in the form of electronic credit, rather than in cash. The nation was one
of the earliest to adopt virtual currency, in the form of video-game–based credits that took on the role of
cash. In January 2010, the nation's supreme court made the landmark decision that gaming currency was to
be recognized as convertible to cash. 

Sweden
The first country in Europe ever to issue official banknotes (in 1661) could be the first in the world to stop
using them. Currently, you can't buy subway or bus passes with cash in Sweden. According to the Riksbank,
the Swedish central bank, only 20% of all store purchases in 2015 were made with cash. How did this
happen? According to the Riksbank, it's due to a few factors: 1) a sparse population makes the distribution
of physical currency relatively inefficient and costly; 2) there are only a few banks, making it easier for them
to cooperate on streamlining payment systems; and 3) the society is tech-friendly. 
https://www.investopedia.com/slide-show/countries-are-going-cashless/?article=1