Phones seems to run our lives. With new apps coming out every day, its replacing a lot of our other technology. Including our wallet.
But don't bet on the demise of the dollar bill anytime soon.
Cash is not likely to go away any time soon, and here's why.
If cash didn't exist, governments would lose the ability to ward off economic calamity. If people start flocking to alternate currencies, governments lose much of their power to influence economic issues such as inflation and unemployment.
Not everyone has a bank account. The FDIC reports roughly 20-million Americans don't have access to banking services.
In 2016, the Identity Theft Resource Center estimated that 1 in every 16 people was a victim of identity theft. The best remedy against that...cash. Your identity isn't likely to be stolen when you pay with cash, because your identity isn't linked to that piece of paper.
Right now, virtual currency is still risky and most people don't trust it. Cash is still essential in a crisis.
Without cash, people would just end up using something else. We think of cash as paper bills but realistically anything that serves as a means of exchange would serve the purpose that cash currently holds. It's called the barter system.
If you think old fuddy-duddy's are the only ones using cash…you're totally wrong. Surprisingly, younger generations are actually more likely to use cash, according to the Federal Reserve.
It's convenient, reliable, widely accepted and anonymous.
So as of now cash still reigns king in America.