Cash

The rapid development of the Indian mobile wallet market demonstrates the importance of reactivity and adaptability. Huge opportunities await those who can successfully navigate the transformative impact of regulation, emerging technologies and shifting consumer expectations, writes Elina Mattila, executive director of the Mobey Forum.

While Starbucks is making a tentative move into cash refusal at one location, it's unlikely any retailer would widely refuse cash payments in the near term.

North Korean counterfeits haven't been documented since 2008, but recent sanctions may have pressured the country to return to making undetectable U.S. cash.

Prepaid2Cash has launched a mobile app enabling recipients of card network-branded gift cards to convert them to cash — targeting what the National Retail Federation says is nearly $30 billion in funds spent via gift cards in the U.S. during the holiday season.

Consumers’ behavior around paying bills is often fluid and millennials put a high priority on paying bills immediately, which sometimes means with cash.

Transit agencies worldwide are attempting to eradicate cash and the bottlenecks that it causes from situations where customer throughput is paramount. But is this effort truly viable given the entrenched payment behaviors and requirements for serving everyone, even digital naysayers?

While many consumers are indeed adding smartphone-driven digital pay and mobile order and pay options into their payments toolbox, cash continues to resonate with American consumers, who show little interest in being "all in" with cashless, or having their choices limited in any way, writes Brian Bailey, managing director of North America for Cardtronics.

The ROI with the incremental costs and considerations will determine whether to proceed or not whether it is cashless, cash, or other alternative payment methods, writes Laura Townsend, senior vice president of the Merchant Advisory Group.

Cash is resilient, especially during times of crisis or uncertainty. But there are significant efforts to make cash less relevant in areas where it has typically been a mainstay.

What makes Shake Shack's cashless store so potentially powerful — even if it's only one location in Manhattan — is what the burger chain can do when every customer is known to it.

The Federal Reserve's nationwide preparedness plan for cash emergencies is being put to a unique test in Puerto Rico. Stocks are being replenished with daily flights, but the lack of power to ATMs and branches is contributing to reports of cash shortages.

In post-hurricane San Juan on Monday, commerce picked up ever so slightly. With a little effort, you could get the basics and sometimes more: diapers, medicine, or even a gourmet hamburger smothered in fried onions and gorgonzola cheese. But almost impossible to find was a place that accepted credit cards.

The Reserve Bank of India will continue incentivizing merchants and consumers to move away from cash following last year’s demonetization of 80% of bills in circulation, including extending terms of a cash-back promotion for merchants.

Cash is still the most popular payment method in the U.K., but contactless cards and mobile payments gained significant momentum over the past year, according to new data.

The machine is among the more commonly pitched solutions for high-risk merchants that can't normally handle payment cards because banks won’t partner with them. But for dispensaries, they can be a hassle.

The cashless ATM is meant to make it easier for legal dispensaries and other high-risk stores to accept card payments. But for Alden Linn, owner of World of Weed, it became a hassle.

In the next phase of India’s push to diminish the country’s heavy reliance on cash, the Reserve Bank of India has approved the rollout of a national electronic bill-payment system.

At least one winner has emerged from India’s crackdown on so-called black money: the country’s richest banker.

Cash and checks are still the most transparent and predictable form of payment for grocers, writes Mark Horwedel, CEO of the Merchant Advisory Group.

Despite the best efforts and significant budgets of those who seek to replace cash with more efficient digital alternatives, paper money refuses to shuffle off its mortal coil.