Cash won't die anytime soon

SCAMS: NOT EVERYONE TRUSTS DIGITAL MONEY

- Ciaran Ryan

Demand for currency is growing everywhere, especially in Africa.

International cash handling group Travelex is in South Africa to train local banks and cash handlers on the latest dollar counterfeit banknote scams - which have become increasingly sophisticated - to keep abreast of the advances in banknote security.

It seems counterfeiters are more focused on the dollar than local currencies that often depreciate with alarming speed.

As the world's reserve currency, the dollar is in demand everywhere.

"US currency in circulation has grown at an average rate of about 7% annually over the past few decades, about two percentage points more rapidly than US nominal GDP," wrote Ruth Judson in a recent study titled Demand for US Banknotes at Home and Abroad: A Post-Covid Update.

The rate of growth in demand for banknotes has remained steady despite falling US GDP. Cash, it seems, will not die anytime soon.

Although countries like Sweden have tried (and failed) to eliminate cash, it will likely be around for as long as most of us are alive, and probably longer.