The evolution of money from payments in kind through coins to paper currency is one of mankind's most remarkable achievements. Now an even more abstract form - electronic money - has entered the arena, bringing substantial logistical benefits, eg, through satellite-based clearing systems. Unfortunately, fraudsters have already learned to exploit this global potential.
Most people use electronic money daily in the form of debit cards, home banking, etc. Nonetheless, the volume of cash in circulation continues to rise throughout the world, partly owing to people's innate resistance to change and preference for the known and familiar.
Admittedly, measured against the long history of money from ancient times to the present day, people have had only a short time to adjust to its newer forms. Many people have other incontrovertible reasons for preferring banknotes. They value the anonymity and cost neutrality of cash transactions. Moreover, they continue to have doubts about new, alternative means of payment that are neither easily understood nor completely without risk.
Source:
René Sedillot: Muscheln, Münzen und Papier
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