Will electronic payments solve the accessible currency problem?

I often hear the argument that electronic payments can ultimately replace currency in which case it won’t matter if bank notes are accessible for disabled people. There is certainly some truth to it, but it is much more complex. Let’s see if electronic payments will solve the need for accessible currency.

While it is true that in many countries one can mostly exist without using coins and bank notes, the reality is that it is only a speculation at this time that money will not be used in the future. Though trends are pointing to this direction, it is definitely not going to happen in the foreseeable future. According to a New York Times article, “Will cash disappear?“, from 2017, we can find some interesting statistics about the use of money. Among all the data I found it most interesting that according to the estimates, electronic payments will grow by 10.9 percent each year. Yet, billions of coins are minted and bank notes are printed every year. Millions of people do not have access to electronic payments, or to the internet itself.

In countries where electronic payments are widely available, it is possible to make transactions using credit cards or mobile phones only. Throughout my travels, even in developing countries, my experience was that I was able to get by using electronic payments only, though in certain situations I had to be flexible about where I shop and pay for services. However, personally, I always preferred to use cash, but that’s expected from a coin collector, but we will get back to this later.

For a second let’s imagine a scenario where people are able to choose if they want to pay using cash or make electronic payments. At this point, we can theoretically say that accessible currency is not necessary. But this only applies to making payments. Receiving payments is another story, because there are many people with disabilities operating their own businesses or making everyday transactions with people, who choose to use cash for no particular reason, other than their own personal choice. In this case, currency will have to be accessible, otherwise our scenario of being able to choose between cash or electronic payments will not work.

The other issue is the freedom of choice. Until cash is used, people with disabilities should have a choice of their mode of payment, and should not be limited to one method or another only because it is more accessible. It is not only fair, but the choice is mandated by the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which was signed by most countries, therefore, this freedom needs to be provided by legislation. Just like in many other areas of life, it is unacceptable to offer limited options to people because of their disabilities. It is because the choices and reasonings can be very personal. While one person may prefer to make electronic payments because of its ease of use, another person may consider cash payments more secure and more personal.

Another consideration is the accessibility of electronic payments. Depending on the platform, one service maybe more usable than others for people with disabilities. For example when a phone app is not working properly with a screen reader, blind people will have no other option but either using cash payments or if it is not available, to use a different service.

While in one country if cash is accessible, all people can use it, each electronic payment service will individually have to ensure that it is usable for all people. Of course it is more complex than it sounds, because making a set of currency accessible is much more work than making a mobile application accessible. If a country wants to make their currency usable for all people, it will take years, new legislation, currency redesign, the adaptation of the new money and the withdrawal of the old currency. It is certainly much easier to make one electronic payment system more accessible, but it only works if all electronic payments are equally usable.

The reality is that we are just as far from accessible electronic payments than from accessible currency. Though there has been a huge progress in this direction in the last few years, often times people with disabilities are forced to use services based on the level of accessibility, and not based on what they want to use. Personally I have often chosen hotels and airlines not because I wanted to use them but because their web sites or mobile applications worked best with a screen reader. Sometimes, it takes an extra layover or a larger bill while I don’t even get what I exactly want. It is even more problematic in many developing countries where there isn’t an accessibility legislation, services are less usable for people with disabilities, and often there is not much they can do other than asking the providers to consider their needs, and hope for the best.

When electronic payments are accessible, sometimes it can be much more beneficial than using paper currency, especially in countries which don’t have accessible currency. People no longer have to worry about receiving the right amount, they can check their bank account to make sure they got charged the right amount, or even receive a text message about each transaction, which can be confirmed even before they leave the establishment where they made a payment. Again, it only works if electronic payments are available to all people. In Kenya for example, more than half of the population is able to make payments and transfer money using E-Pesa, but the bigger question here is how many people are still not using it, or are not able to use it even if they wanted to, either because they don’t own a mobile phone or don’t have internet access. But the situation is certainly quickly improving.

Electronic payments will only make sense once we can establish that when a service is launched, it is immediately accessible to all people.

But let’s look at the other side, what if there is an accessible currency while electronic payments are also available. It only works if cash can be used as well, which is less and less the case. For example, if I wanted to make an airline reservation, I would have no idea where can I pay cash for it. For that matter, in the United States, it would immediately raise a red flag that I want to pay cash for something most people are buying electronically. At this point I have to rely on the accessibility of the airline or the travel agency that they provide an experience which is usable with a screen reader.

At this point it appears that in many situations, there is an advantage and a preference of using either cash or electronic payment.

It seems that until there is circulating physical money, there will be a need for making this money accessible for people with disabilities. Once it will no longer be the case, a system will have to be in place which will make electronic payments available to all people, because while not all currencies are accessible, there is still a way to use them, but when an electronic payment system is not accessible, people with disabilities are not going to be able to use it at all.

I would conclude that most likely cash is not going away soon, and while it is still around, there is a need to make it available to all people. Using electronic payments can often be an advantage, but it will not eliminate the need for accessible currency.