PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Kevin Rutter
AU  - Morten Wilhelm Winther
TI  - Is a Cashless Society Achievable?
AID  - 10.3905/joi.2019.1.079
DP  - 2019 Mar 31
TA  - The Journal of Investing
PG  - 73--87
VI  - 28
IP  - 3
4099  - https://pm-research.com/content/28/3/73.short
4100  - https://pm-research.com/content/28/3/73.full
AB  - Given the increasing amount of physical cash in circulation in many areas, a cashless society is likely not soon achievable for most countries. However, there are certain countries, particularly the Nordics, where the rise of digital payments is accompanied by a decrease in physical cash. While consumer preferences may drive towards a near-cashless society in these countries, a fully cashless society is not possible without first addressing several obstacles. First, a credible technical solution would need to exist as a substitute for physical cash, given the risks to consumers of strictly holding money with defaultable private sector institutions. Second, laws and regulations regarding the use of physical cash would have to change. The authors discuss high-level designs for how a retail-facing central bank-issued digital currency (CBDC) could be built on R3’s Corda and evaluate legal changes in Norway.TOPICS: Currency, portfolio construction, wealth management