by The Indian experience suggests that the obsession with digital transactions as a marker of social and material progress may be misplaced and even counterproductive. Indeed, policy attempts to push a rapid transition to cashlessness may be both infeasible and regressive. Cashlessness relies on very substantial development of infrastructure, universal access to banking, and strong and reliable internet connectivity — and while it provides convenience, it also can lead to greater monitoring and cyber-insecurity. Even in favourable conditions, it should essentially be a choice rather than an imposition for most small transactions, and the shift must be based on people preferring digital payments for their convenience rather than being driven by the physical absence of cash. There is a
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The Indian experience suggests that the obsession with digital transactions
as a marker of social and material progress may be misplaced and even
counterproductive. Indeed, policy attempts to push a rapid transition to
cashlessness may be both infeasible and regressive. Cashlessness relies on
very substantial development of infrastructure, universal access to banking,
and strong and reliable internet connectivity — and while it provides
convenience, it also can lead to greater monitoring and cyber-insecurity.
Even in favourable conditions, it should essentially be a choice rather than
an imposition for most small transactions, and the shift must be based on
people preferring digital payments for their convenience rather than being
driven by the physical absence of cash. There is a deeper issue here: forcing
people to go cashless by reducing the currency in circulation amounts to an
infringement of their civil liberties even as it transfers incomes to financial
intermediaries.
The specific form of financialization exhibited in the enforced push to
e-transactions is therefore an extreme example of a coercive strategy that
purports to provide convenience and formalization, but actually increases
inequality. It assists the generation of profits for financial companies by
adding another layer of costs to systems of payment. In doing so, it not only
makes those involved in such transactions poorer to that extent; it also renders
them more vulnerable to all-encompassing monitoring and surveillance, as
well as data and identity theft. This particular form of surplus extraction by
finance therefore also poses a challenge to democracy itself.