Cash

The method is still based on paper money, but the model includes steps that get consumers ready to adopt e-commerce. Given the region's smartphone penetration, that's an inevitability.

More than half of consumers visit an ATM at least once a month, although men—and Baby Boomers—tend to get cash more often, according to a new survey from TD Bank.

In markets such as Africa there's a huge market for mobile payments, but a regulatory environment that has not caught up

India’s latest efforts to shift to digital payments and reduce the nation’s tight grip on cash are in the spotlight, following the government’s recent cash recall and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) giving its blessing to about a dozen digital payments startups. The newest, BHIM, is controlled by India’s government and is off to a fast start after its first week.

On the heels of India’s move last month to discourage cash-hoarding by demonetizing certain bills, Prime Minister Narenda Modi on Dec. 30 announced the rollout of a government-managed mobile payments app.

Payments software provider Ezetap says an agreement with Pax Global Technology Ltd. will bring "hundreds of thousands" of mobile and mini point-of-sale terminals to India as the country lessens its use of cash.

In another move that furthers India's movement away from cash, police in Pune plan to initiate a cashless policy by the end of the first week of January.

A new analysis from the Federal Reserve shows checks as one of the few non-cash payment types to decline, while many others are on the rise.

The largest denomination of Venezuela’s crippled currency was pulled from circulation before the new, larger-denomination bills were able to enter it, ATMs and wallets are mostly empty, and Christmas is just a little more than a week away.

Roughly 24 hours ahead of a planned rollout of much awaited -- and much needed -- larger-denomination bolivar bills in Venezuela, banks had yet to receive the new tender on Wednesday, nor was it clear whether the banknotes had even arrived in the country.