With the advancement of technology, the use of electronic payment is on the rise. Nearly all of us own an Octopus card, don’t we? While electronic payment methods like Alipay and WeChat Pay are expanding their businesses, it stirs up controversy on whether we should go cashless. I’m on the affirmative side. Read on!
The major advantage of cashless payment is about, of course, convenience. Electronic payment allows users to combine multiple functions into handheld one. Needless to say, electronic payment eliminates the need to carry cash. Will we prefer using an Octopus card or coins for payment when we get on a bus? Most of us are undoubtedly on the side of the former. It is embarrassing that people queuing up are staring at you, exerting pressure on you while you are looking coins for payment. These problems will not exist if we go cashless. It’s convenient. Neither do we have to carry a large sum of cash when dining out nor do we have to stand in never ending queues to take out money from ATM. Moreover, we can even settle our ‘loans’ to friends through electronic payment. Don’t we find it annoying when our friends have to look for coins to go Dutch? Through cashless payment like O!ePay. the sum of money can be directly transferred to the Octopus card. It’s much simpler than cash payment. What’s more applying electronic payment in monthly bill payment is convenient. We may easily forget about monthly utilities and this results in extra charges. Through electronic payment like Autopay, payments can be made with a tap of smartphone. It causes fewer troubles to us. Going cashless makes our life more comfortable and convenient. Why don’t we go cashless?
Apart from convenience we enjoy by electronic payment, another reason for us to embrace e-payment is to keep pace with the world. Going cashless is a global trend. Even in developing countries like China and India, e-payments are becoming a part of people’s everyday life. In China, even wet markets, public transport and small retailors accept mobile payment. Empty pockets are the new fashion. According to a survey,40% of Chinese regularly have less than RMB 100 cash in their wallets. The cashless society is in full swing. In developed countries, people are more relying heavily on cashless payment as well. In Belgium, France and Canada, over 90% of consumer payments are made via cashless modes, reflecting that cashless payment are sweeping through the globe. Hong Kong prides itself being up to date with the latest technology. However, the fact is we are lagging behind. In fact, we’ve started e-payment already. Hong Kong was one of the first places in the world with a cashless payment system when it introduced Octopus card in 1997. We can reap the fruits of going cashless by just going one more step forward. Being regarded as a ‘smart city’, attracting tourists and investors and so on- going cashless is definitely a blessing to us.
Another benefit of going cashless is that we can enjoy various discounts offered by many companies using electronic payment. To boost the incentive of customers to pay through electronic payment, many related companies have different strategies to attract customers. For example, Alipay held a 24-hour Christmas shopping festival, ‘Double 12’on 12thDecember. In order to promote the use of Alipay, people paying it would receive exclusive gifts, rewards and discounts. These discounts could only be enjoyed by electronic payment. Doesn’t it sound attractive to go cashless?
Some people may yet raise the concern of security problems when using electronic payment, claiming that hackers may easily steal their details for various purposes. In fact, a vigorous security system is in place. As long as we keep our password under our heads, others cannot steal our information easily. Publicity has been made by the government to enhance public awareness on safety issues. If people are cautious and put their information on guard, the hackers will have no chance to steal their details. It’s actually easy to shut down digital wallets remotely if it falls into wrong hands. Also. The biometric ID is unique and hard to copy. Cashless payment actually ensures safety.
All in all, it’s undeniable that cashless payment is getting more and more popular. It will eventually dominate the consumer market. Yes, in the digital world, electronic payment provides us with convenience, discounts and security. Why don’t we opt for a CASHLESS society?