Well, last week we got a glimpse of the vulnerability of global IT systems, including payment systems, the latest and perhaps most significant of a chapter of accidents, ranging from banks systems going down, through to disruption from floods and fire, when only physical payments in cash were accepted. US cyber-security firm CrowdStrike said it was responsible for the mayhem, which started on Friday after sending a ‘defective’ update to machines running Microsoft apps. Microsoft has suggested customers try rebooting their computers 15 times to resolve the issue.
The IT outage prompted federal politician Bob Katter to demand cash remains in circulation amid the “danger” of relying on digital technology. “This a wake-up call that the risk associated with a cashless society is too high for us to pay,” Mr Katter said.
According to a recent online survey, titled Cashless Future 2024’ while fewer payments may be made in cash these days, Australians are still expressing serious concerns about heading towards a cashless society. Seven in 10 say they’ve concerned, while two in five Aussies are extremely concerned about notes and coins becoming relics.
Significantly, even people who don’t use cash can be concerned about moving towards a cashless society for reasons including privacy concerns, security risks and dependency on technology. This includes concerns about their transaction data being tracked and analysed by corporations or government agencies, and digital payment systems can sometimes be vulnerable to technology outage, hacking or fraud. A recent report said: “Concerns about technological glitches, network outages, or power failures could lead to worries about being unable to make payments in the absence of cash.”
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