Naturally, it was an announcement that had our ears pricking up here at PayPal too. For years, we’ve been helping businesses and customers leave their banknotes and loose change at home in favour of simple, secure card and mobile payments.
Innovations like the PayPal Here app and card reader, which allow anyone to accept card and mobile payments via their smartphone, are part of a future in which the digital wallet supersedes the leather one.
But could the UK follow in Denmark’s footsteps and become truly cashless? And is the Danish government right to give businesses licence to turn away customers looking to pay with their hard-earned krone?
For us, it will always be about choice – both for businesses and consumers. The option to buy or sell goods with your mobile device should be available to anyone, which is why we will continue to develop technologies that allow exactly that. Likewise, any large organisation wishing to accept payments from home or abroad via their website deserves the tools and encouragement to do so.
Yet at the same time, a future completely devoid of cold, hard cash is perhaps a change too far. Of course, PayPal will always advocate (and improve) the ease and security of payments. But we also understand that, particularly when it comes to smaller, everyday purchases, some people still prefer to break out a fiver.
That is both their right and their privilege. The job for us and the businesses we support is to make sure we offer them viable, cashless alternatives – whenever, however and wherever they need them. To help us move towards a society where we don’t have to carry money all the time if we don’t want to.
Whatever your nationality, that’s surely the best of both worlds.