3 ms·

I imagine that the labor and security required to handle cash is costly. This is the best number I could find: "The cost of cash handling can range on average

• mcguire 8y ago
  I hate to cast aspersions on the source, but... "IHL Group is a global research and advisory firm specializing in technologies for the retail and hospitality industries. The company, based in Franklin, Tenn., generates timely data reports, offers advisory services and serves as the leading retail technology spokesperson for industry and vendor events." (Hey, Franklin, TN!) Anyway, here's some more: https://www.cashmatters.org/blog/paying-with-cash-costs-less-time-and-money-finds-bundesbank-study-feb-2019/ https://www.cashmatters.org/blog/paying-with-cash-costs-less... "Key findings "Cash payments are about 7 seconds faster than card payments with PIN entry. "Cash payments are about 16 seconds faster than card payments with with signature. "Cash payments up to €50 are cheaper, since the fixed costs for cash payments are on average lower." https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321386231_Costs_and_Benefits_of_Cash_and_Cashless_Payment_Instruments_in_Germany_Module_2_The_Benefits_of_Cash https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321386231_Costs_and... "The assertion that cash is inefficient is often based exclusively on cost considerations and a purely partial-analytical or business perspective (eg Bloching, 2007; Guibourg & Segendorf, 2007). Benefit aspects are not taken into consideration. Moreover, the empirical evidence is by no means clear-cut. Even in the more business-oriented approaches with regard to costs, cash payments are not necessarily more expensive than cashless alternatives. In Germany, the cost per transaction of cash is even lower than that of debit and credit cards. In terms of cost per turnover, debit cards are cheaper than cash, whereas credit cards are more expensive (Krueger & Seitz, 2014, Chapter 3; Thiele, 2016). In a study commissioned by the ECB covering several countries (Schmiedel et al, 2012), the findings did not reveal a uniform picture: in some countries, cash is the cheapest means of payment, whereas in other countries, cashless payment instruments are the cheapest." https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265496400_The_Economics_of_a_Cashless_Society_An_Analysis_of_the_Costs_and_Benefits_of_Payment_Instruments https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265496400_The_Econo... "We present three case studies that illustrate the welfare implications of substituting one kind of payment method for another. We find that when all key parties to a transaction are considered and benefits are added, cash and checks are more costly than many earlier studies suggest. In general, the shift toward a cashless society appears to be a beneficial one." https://www.bundesbank.de/resource/blob/710096/4f27e9114ce3a08b74b6c6effee04f65/mL/costs-and-benefits-of-cash-2014-data.pdf https://www.bundesbank.de/resource/blob/710096/4f27e9114ce3a... [Ok, so I can't find a good summary quote. But it looks interesting. I think it's module 1 of the first link above.]
  • Nursie 8y ago
    Most of the cashless places I see are also contactless-only, which is certainly going to be faster, if that is a concern.