The Better than Cash Alliance was founded by a number of Non-Profit Organizations (UNCDF, Ford Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to name a few) and a few Companies (Visa and Citibank). The objective of the BtCA is to provide expertise to help with the transformation to digital payments. It is the view of the alliance that all will benefit from this transition (governments, the development community and private companies).Governments and other parties have been urged to join the alliance. At this stage, the alliance have fourteen members and hope to entice more to join.
At a breakfast hosted by Bill Gates, the benefits of a cash-less economy was discussed (Read here). There was general agreement that numerous benefits can be achieved, but five specific benefits were highlighted. These were (quoted from the article):
- Transparency: Less corruption and theft when payments can be easily tracked.
- Security: The money gets where it’s supposed to go.
- Financial inclusion: Electronic payment is a way for unbanked people to establish a record of on-time payment of their bills.
- Cost savings: Moving physical cash around is costlier than zipping electrons.
- Access to new markets: This benefit is mainly for providers of financial services.
The ideals of the alliance is well worth supporting. Let us hope that many organizations become members and that this is not just words, but something that can be put into practice.
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