Cashless Transactions

During pandemic, cashless transactions became necessary to avoid contracting Covid19. Post pandemic, digitalisation of organisations and transactions were integral to scaling businesses and enable globalisation of businesses.

Cashless transactions can be said to be safe and convenient because people do not have to make cash withdrawals at the banks or bank ATMs, make cash purchases, pay bills, etc. People can pay bills or purchase items online and transfer funds to beneficiaries’ accounts (via bank mobile applications), e-Wallets or mobile phone numbers.

Examples of the above-mentioned are Boost, CIMB Click, UOB TMR, Am Online, MAE, HSBC Mobile Application, TnGo e-Wallet and GrabPay. These are safe and convenient because they have 2FA (Two Factor Authentication), Secure Key, Kill Switch, Face ID or Touch ID, Secret Password. Transfer of funds via these applications will be approved by payers before transfers can proceed.

However, this mode of payment has its own set of drawbacks. It is vulnerable to hacking and cyber-attacks. In addition, sometimes merchants request for cash payments due to technical issues or internet connections. Therefore, it is best to keep a bit of cash in hand just in case. This reminds me of "business continuity plan" or BCP when I was working in the financial services sector. A backup plan for in case of emergency, for example, power outage, internet system down, etc.

Cashless transactions landscape is a work in progress but worthwhile to work on. It is fast, convenient and free from worries of carrying large amounts of cash with us to make payments/purchases.

Cash or cashless, voila!