Benefits of going Cash less

India is moving towards a digital revolution. The transition while drastic has been in cards for a long time now. Post demonetization, there has been a frenzy in the minds of the general public with regards to the whole digitization process. We have witnessed a major chunk of our population embracing this digital change. To encourage the public to come onboard the digital transactions bandwagon, the government has come up with a slew of discounts, incentives, and freebies. But there still exist hoards of skeptics who still doubt the digital transactions and payments system. They still seem to be unaware of the numerous benefits that they can enjoy once they decide to go cashless. If you are one of them, then here are some reasons why you should go cashless right now:

1. No more bulky wallets

Yes! If you decide to go cashless you can get rid of those bulky wallets. You need not have to face further discomfort while sitting with those heavy wads of paper bills in your back pockets. Deposit your cash into the bank and join the millions who are enjoying the ease of digital transactions using credit cards, debit cards, mobile wallets, UPI apps and USSD Banking. Having these also means that you don't need to stand in the long queues of ATMs anymore. Just swipe your plastic money or flash the QR code while making payments for your purchases.

2. Ease of transactions

Once you get hang of the digital payment and transactions system, you are sure to become a fan of online shopping. One of the most lauded benefits of going cashless is the ease with which all the payment transactions can be performed. Digital and cashless transactions have paved way for e-commerce where you can shop for any object right from the comfort of your home. According to Mr. Jayant Pai, Head, Marketing, PPFAS Mutual Fund a major advantage of adopting digital payments systems is that one will have the freedom to transact whenever and wherever they want. A person doesn’t need to be physically present to conduct a transaction or be forced to do so only during office hours.

3. Freebies, discounts and lucky draws

Your decision to adopt the digitization process and to go cashless can help you enjoy many incentives, freebies, and discounts. While government themselves have announced a list of incentives for going cashless, one should not forget the offers, discounts, and cashbacks provided by various mobile wallet operators like PayTM, Mobikwik etc. A lot of e-commerce websites provide you special discounts when you make the payment digitally instead of going for COD option. If those were not enough, then you should know that government has launched special lottery and lucky draw schemes especially for consumers who indulge in less of cash transactions and more cashless transactions.

4. Easy way to track spendings

If you are one of those who gets baffled by your empty bank account at the end of the month then going cashless may come to your rescue in a great way. You may no more need to worry where all your hard earned money went at the end of the month. Cashless transactions executed digitally have this unique feature of leaving a trail. For most times this is done through the indigenous technology of the humble SMS. Also, if you decide to go cashless, then you can easily track your spendings through the various statements that you receive from your bank and wallet operators at the end of the month. This way you will exactly know where your money went and kick away the ever growing concern of not knowing the same.

5. Stay within your budget

As earlier said, the SMS trail after every transaction helps you to keep a track of your spendings. But if you look at it in a different light you will find that this also helps you to stay within your budgets. When you indulge in cashless payments for your spendings, you are constantly reminded of the available bank balance after each transaction. This constant reminder will help you refrain from spending on unnecessary items and thus help you stay within budget. With a little budgeting and following your payment and transaction trends, you can even plan your monthly expenditure in advance and stay free of worry for the rest of the month

6. Less risky

Imagine a situation where you are traveling abroad and all of your cash gets stolen. You are stranded in an alien nation with no money. What will you do then? Cash once stolen hardly ever comes back. The money is lost forever. But if you get robbed of your debit or credit cards, you can easily block them remotely and be assured that you will face no loss of money. That is a major plus of going cashless. With the continuous improvements being made to financial digitization technology, soon we will have cards which will be enabled by our biometrics, and then it will become extremely difficult for anyone to rob us of our hard earned income.

7. No tension of counterfeit currency

Just like stolen cash never comes back same is with the counterfeit ones. Every economy in this world faces the problem of counterfeit currencies. While the government is taking stringent actions against the counterfeiters, once the counterfeit currency comes into circulation, it is the general public that faces the loss once the counterfeit is identified. If you decide to adopt financial digitization then you need not worry about the counterfeit currency at all. The debit cards and credit cards cannot be counterfeited and thus going cashless keeps you away from the hassles of handling counterfeit currency.

8. Cleaner and Greener

While this reason may not amount much, but going cashless does contribute to a cleaner and greener country. More people joining the cashless revolution would mean reduction in the volume of paper money to be produced. This would definitely help the environment and our surroundings as less paper requirement would mean lesser trees being cut. Here I can even mention the hazard of all the germs and bacterias that are present on a paper currency which touches so many hands during a day. Going cashless would mean coming in contact with less of such unhygienic currencies. Thus we see it makes one truly healthy, wealthy and wise.