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THE WORLD IS going increasingly cashless but Ireland still has a few hang-ups in going completely digital with payments.
According to analysts at the research firm GlobalData, the new decade will see a lot of change with increasing uptake of cashless payments as some countries make greater strides than others.
The research said that e-commerce accounted for $3.5 trillion of worldwide sales in 2019 and forecasts which economies will be leaders in cashless payments by 2022.
Ireland ranked eighth overall in the research but GlobalData said it comes top for the frequency of use of payment cards.
Increasing card use and the advent of mobile payments and fintech apps have facilitated much of this rise.
The overall move away from cash has been made up of a mix of mobile and card payments in traditional bricks-and-mortar stores and online payments.
“We’re seeing massive investments in digital by the main financial institutions,” Eamonn Hughes, an analyst at Goodbody, said.
“One of the factors behind that is the whole transition in financial services and the interaction with people’s mobile phones and the capabilities of those phone getting better and better.”
Finland, which has a similar-sized population to Ireland, took the top spot in GlobalData’s research with South Korea, Norway, Sweden and China making up the rest of the top five.
These are all economies that have had strong early adoption rates when it comes to new technology.
The Nordic countries have seen a particularly vibrant uptake of digital payments with a Deloitte report from January 2019 predicting that at least one Nordic country will be “de facto” cashless in 2025 with limited use of paper money in the economy.
In Asia, its biggest economies like China have seen considerable adoption of digital payments with several major indigenous players while companies like PayPal, which recently acquired a Chinese payments firm, continue to push into the notoriously difficult market.
Challenges
There remain challenges in reaching widespread uptake, whether it’s the availability of digital payments in all businesses, protection from fraud, or concerns over privacy of transaction data.
Goodbody’s Hughes told Fora that while Ireland is “definitely headed down those roads” towards being cashless, there are still obstacles.
“It feels like it’s happening quickly but it’ll take a long time and I don’t know whether we end up completely cashless.”
One obstacle is having the relevant infrastructure in place, such as strong broadband up and down the country.
The systems run by banks and startups alike need to be robust in their deployment as well. Cash will often remain the back up when payment terminals and infrastructure fail – late last year both Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank suffered IT outages.
A cashless society would be a boon to the likes of card and payments giants Visa and Mastercard.
The former has previously lobbied for policy changes to mandate wider acceptance of digital payments.
In its budget submission last year, it called for mandating the acceptance of digital payments in taxis and on public transport – the National Transport Authority has plans in place to replace the Leap Card with cashless payments by 2027.
Meanwhile, Visa has repeatedly urged the introduction of a government-run merchants’ incentive scheme to help small businesses offset the costs of buying electronic payment equipment and carrying out training.
Another hurdle is more societal. The Dublin Mint Office carried out a survey last year that found people have some reservations about a largely cashless society.
It found that 67% of people said they would not like to do away with notes and coins and that 88% believe a cashless society will leave some people behind, such as the elderly, the homeless or small businesses that still rely on cash transactions.
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Written by Jonathan Keane and posted on Fora.ie
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Some improvement from 4 days and stops/hops.
Aptly dubbed the kangaroo flight.
@Eamonn Duggan: although, just because they can fly non stop doesn’t mean they should. 17 hours stuck in a seat is almost too much to bare. I’d still break up the flight by stopping somewhere in Asia. Nice step forward all the same. I’d say in another 10 years it will be half that.
@Peter Cavey: With scram jet technology we should be able to travel from Sydney to London in 2hours. Although we might have to be fit enough to be able to withstand the G-forces involved. Looking forward to the next few years of this hypersonic test flights.
@Peter Cavey: how are they gonna half the time in 10 years ??
@Paul Power: With supersonic craft on a sub-orbital trajectory, akin to an ICBM.
@Eamonn Duggan: It is a big improvement on “4 stops”. However I’m sure you are of the Australian route these days is one of three from Ireland.
1..Dublin – Doha- Australia ( various cities)…. Qatar Airways Daily.
2…Dublin – Abu Dhabi – Australia ( various cities)…. Etihad Airways twice daily.
3…Dublin -Dubai – Australia ( various cities) .. Emirates. Twice daily.
All routes take 16 to 20 hours depending on destinations.
I would suggest also the mid-east airlines are far superior to Australian carrier Qantas in terms of comfort and service.
Brave route, but doubtful if it will last.
That’s a long time to be stuck in recirculated farts. Wouldn’t do it meself but class that it can be done! I’m also wondering how many meals are served. 3/4?
@Gareth Wogan: and tbh all the worthwhile places to see in Oz are on the east coast so….
@Gareth Wogan: lot to see in the west. Just depends what you consider ‘worthwhile’.
@Bilbo Baggins: name 5 good things to do.
@Gareth Wogan: Personally I prefer western Australia. It’s a shame most people tend to travel up and down the east coast.
@Gareth Wogan: I flew the Dubai – Auckland a couple years ago, 17.5hrs. Think we got 4 meals in economy. Surprisingly comfortable and a very modern, up to date entertainment system. Made the journey much easier than I thought.
@darren: I was there few months back. I guess what I want to say is that for all that way to travel it doesn’t really have lots going on. Lots of wine tours and went to rottnest island which is cool but east coast has way more things to do. I should say that I really don’t like Oz anyway. Asia is the spot to go
@Gareth Wogan: I went to WA via Thailand and wish I had stayed longer. WA actually made me want to return to Australia to see the east side ( I went via Japan and again wished I had stayed longer). Although I will agree the east has more to do I liked the west better. Rottnest.. beautiful walk, I did that in 45 degrees which wasn’t the smartest idea! Would love to see more of Asia but I may have to wait for the kids to grow up now.
It’s about the same length of time as waiting in A&E in the hospital (17 hrs). so I could cope with That!
@Gerry Fallon: Very true, the A&E seats are not so comffortable and no food or drink provided.
17 hours is a long time to be stuck on a plane…I hope they show plenty of movies.
@CharlotteFrench.ie: They have are normal long haul flights
Time in the air comfort is down to the plane and the carrier.
787 Dreamliner is the quietest, most comfortable plane I’ve been on to date.
Qantas air cabin crew are quite cheery too.
If travelling for that length of time one would frequently get up and walk around. The 787
has a load of space at the back, larger than any other plane I’ve seen. This feeds in to a happier crew
and good exercise room for a passenger to ward off DVT.
Tesla time to step up your game…
@Karl Doran: Putin has this sorted. Just need to strap yourself to one of his missiles
I’d hate to be stuck on a plane for that length of time
A complete mare. 17 hours in cattle class on Quaintarse. Why would you do it. Insane!!!
@Alex Carroll: The novelty is the same as Concorde, without cconsidering the waiting time in airports.
Give us a break!
It’s not the first time, there were scheduled services before I believe using a B777-200LR (which to this day is still the longest range passenger aircraft excluding military tankers) Not sure which airline but I think it was quantas. They stopped it for a few reasons, as it was discovered that there’s only so long you can put people in economy. Then there was a brief period of business class only flights and in the end the fuel burn just made the whole thing uneconomic.. 787 fuel burn is probably what’s making this viable again.. anyone know if the 787-9 has longer legs than the triple?
Fair play, great to see this and will hopefully get faster in a few years time
It is a big improvement on “4 stops”. However I’m sure you are of the Australian route these days is one of three from Ireland.
1..Dublin – Doha- Australia ( various cities)…. Qatar Airways Daily.
2…Dublin – Abu Dhabi – Australia ( various cities)…. Etihad Airways twice daily.
3…Dublin -Dubai – Australia ( various cities) .. Emirates. Twice daily.
All routes take 16 to 20 hours depending on destinations.
I would suggest also the mid-east airlines are far superior to Australian carrier Qantas in terms of comfort and service.
Brave route, but doubtful if it will last for reasons above
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