Boston Herald May 9, 2020
Last year seems a lifetime ago, but even then, cash was no longer king. The greenback had already lost its premier role as Americans’ medium of exchange in dollar terms. Plastic card and digital transactions had taken over. And that’s how stores, restaurants and other businesses seemed to want it.
COVID-19 has accelerated this process for several reasons. Cash cannot change hands at a distance of six feet, and besides, who wants to grab that dirty bill? Sheltering at home means more purchases are being done over the internet.
The move away from legal tender was well on its way pre-virus. Some stores and eateries had stopped accepting cash altogether. If you’re a sandwich shop doing a brisk lunch business, processing plastic takes less time than waiting for someone to fish 55 cents out of their pocket. The restaurant chain Sweetgreen ran a stopwatch and found that cashless payments could be completed up to 15% faster than ones using paper money. That would enable businesses to hire fewer of what we used to call “cashiers.”
The Federal Reserve reports that debit cards are the most frequently used means of paying. Cash is employed in 26% of all transactions and 49% of those under $10. But every age group up through the baby boomers is doing more of them using digital means and plastic than cash. Not surprisingly, millennials lead the pack.
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