When I arrived in Bangkok from the US in 2011, one of the first shocks was the cash-centric nature of local commerce.
Personal cheques weren’t the done thing. Credit and debit cards drew plenty of nervous smiles but little love, except at the big malls. I quickly learned that leaving the house without a bit of dough in your pocket was an invitation to trouble.
It was a rude awakening for someone whose long habit had been to carry no cash at all. The habit itself was probably unwise: everyone should carry at least some cash in case of emergency. But an idea had fixed in my head from an early age - that the key to thrift was removal of temptation at the source - so with a cash-free wallet my younger self went.
Going cashless wasn’t as hard then as it sounds now. From the first bank account I opened (we’re in the early 1990s here), a debit card was always part of the deal. You flashed the plastic wherever Visa was accepted and, like magic, the money came right out of your account. Couldn’t be easier!
That sort of swipe-and-go convenience was missed when I set foot on these shores. Times have changed, though. The government has vowed to take the country cashless as part of the Thailand 4.0 initiative, and it’s not just talk. 2017 saw the aggressive launch of a national e-payment system. QR codes are providing shoppers a fast and painless experience at the checkout counter. With the right app, you can pay your bills at home in your underwear.
Still and all, the drive towards a cashless society has hit a few roadblocks that I can see.
QR codes are great, but the option isn’t available everywhere. Most shops and restaurants now take credit or debit cards, but the catch is that there’s often a minimum amount you’re required to spend: 200, 300, even 500 baht - an absurd condition if you’re just popping into the corner store for a few things.
Taxicabs, true to style, have been slow to keep up with the trend. In my experience, very few traditional taxis take cashless payment. Small wonder that ride-sharing services like Uber and Grab are gobbling up fares.
Caveats aside, there’s no denying the progress. But now that a cashless future seems within reach, due diligence demands asking whether the push for such a society is even worth the effort. Are there downsides to going cash-free?
Luckily we have a ready-made example to consider: Sweden. The home of Ikea and bikini teams was actually the first European country to introduce paper money, back in 1661; now it stands on the verge of becoming the world’s first truly cashless economy. A mere 1% of the country’s payments are made using banknotes or coins (shops have the legal right to refuse both). The central bank is even mulling an “e-krona” to fill the currency void.
Anecdotal evidence points to satisfied Swedes. “I don’t use cash any more, for anything,” one told the Guardian. “You just don’t need it. Shops don’t want it; lots of banks don’t even have it. Even for a candy bar or a paper, you use a card or phone.”
Dissenters exist, though. Most prominent among them is Bjorn Eriksson, the Swedish former president of Interpol. He cites a laundry list of potential problems, including security risks and the impact on groups with iffier access to cashless options (such as felons and the elderly).
If I’m honest, my earlier resistance to cash was probably due in part to never having had much of the stuff to begin with. I’ve evolved in this respect … enough to admit that, set against a crash-prone national e-payment system, there is something reassuringly tangible and immediate about a mattress stuffed with cash.
As flimsy and crumbly as paper money can be, cash does have the benefit of universality and physical presence. In other words, cash is not a medium that could be easily wiped out by a random solar storm.
It’s all academic at this point. Thailand’s government officials and captains of finance have promised a cashless society, and now they must deliver it. Are they ready to swap their own hardearned stockpiles of cash (that portion not already tied up in homes, guns and luxury watches) for the ethereal ones and zeros of “e-baht”? On this issue at least, don’t hold your breath waiting for leadership by example.
Christopher Caillavet is Chief Sub-Editor of Business at the Bangkok Post. Send comments to christopherc@bangkokpost.co.th
