As a payment instrument, cash has some unique features:
- it is the most widely usable and fastest payment instrument for retail transactions and it is the most important contingency payment instrument;
- it is considered the cheapest instrument for small retail payments – the average overall cost per transaction for small payments is lower for cash than for comparable electronic payment instruments;
- it is “inclusive”, as it ensures that people who have no bank accounts or limited access to them or who are unable to use electronic forms of payment can still make payments;
- it enables people to keep a close check on their spending;
- it is a payment instrument and store of value in one; and
- it has proved to be secure in terms of fraud/counterfeiting resistance.
In view of these features, society is not ready to do without cash. Cash will remain indispensable as payment instrument for many years to come.
