United States staring down the barrel of becoming a cashless society

America for the last few years has gradually become less reliant on cash. Everywhere you go, cards are accepted, or you can even just pay with your phone. Cash, while not obsolete, has become a significant afterthought in American society. But as we near the back half of 2024, there is rising concern that becoming entirely cashless is on the horizon.

Switzerland recently moved toward a cashless future, but installing instant payment systems, allowing transactions to hit accounts faster. While not an uncommon move, most countries have that, it is bringing about some questions over the cash future in the United States.

Writer Elizabeth Ames says Switzerland's move to this is more just modernization, but the eyebrows are raised.

"Some governments have even been looking at their own Crypto...Bureaucrats like a cashless society because it allows them to regulate everything, and control everything, eliminating the cash economy," she says.

One rule of thumb in America is do not cheat the government out of money. They will get what they feel they deserve, by hook or by crook. All just to then send that money over to places like Ukraine just because their president begged for more money.

Credit cards hold a lot of the blame in the US. It began making everything accessible to pay later, without having to carry wads of cash. Convenient, simple, and more efficient. You can get on board with the idea, and there are some pros to it.

"What that means for you and me...we will have more options to transact business," she says.

Crypto has been one of the new avenues to purchasing things, with many places even accepting it as a basic form of payment now. Apple Pay is another feature on most people's phones, where you can hook your card up, and just pay with a simple phone scan. Again, both are convenient.

However, the concern comes when you start considering the technological aspect. What if the electric grid fails? What is there is a cyber attack? These are not outlandish thoguhts either, as cyber attacks seems to increase weekly, and power grids face more strain. Not to mention all the uncertainty ongoing on the global landscape in the Middle East.

So, that has people turning to new methods to protect their wealth.

"That is why gold is at highs we have not seen in a long time, almost $2,500 an ounce...people are concerned. That is a way to shelter your wealth...it is not an investment, it is an alternate form of money," she says.

She adds that gold is the best way to have a fall back in case a cashless society hits a roadblock.

Only time will tell if we truly become a cashless society. But you might want to prepare by buying some gold...or just stuffing some cash under the mattress.