Examining the Accessibility of Digital Payment: The Rise of Socioeconomic Inequality due to the Cashless Revolution

This paper analyzes the evolution of cashless payment, known as the cashless revolution, and its complex contributions to socioeconomic inequality. While a cashless global society is ultimately inevitable, it will contribute to significant inequity. People who cannot access bank accounts will struggle to participate in the buying and selling of goods and services. In societies with a weak social welfare net and a low percentage of overall banked citizens, there must be multifaceted solutions to mitigate effects of the ongoing cashless revolution. These solutions include the issuing of central bank digital currencies, financial literacy programs, and economic incentives to offset the cost of accepting cash in a retail establishment below the 'cash transaction threshold'.