With an ever changing technological landscape, the idea of a cashless society is quickly gaining traction. The gains in efficiency and convenience for the customer have been evident with the increased use of self-service across most supermarkets and retailers where contactless payment is often essential. A much weaker risk of theft and loss poses as a bonus for retailers and restaurants. With large cash registers, venders within the Students Union and the wider university could face serious security risks. So, the adoption of a cashless policy would dramatically decrease this risk.
Newcastle University has long standing commitments to the environment, which has brought success for the University in meeting sustainability goals, reflected in the sustainability league tables. Going cashless could help contribute to the university's already impressive sustainability performance. The mining of metals for coins contributes large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and the new polymer banknotes initially thought to be more sustainable, actually release more CO2 than the old paper notes in manufacturing.
the new polymer banknotes initially thought to be more sustainable, actually release more CO2 than the old paper notes in manufacturing.
However, one of the main arguments against going cashless is the adverse effect that it has on the elderly. Change is not easy, especially for those who have been set in their ways for so long. For many elderly people cash is, and will be, their staple form of payment and removing that could cause serious harm for those people who already find the technological changes difficult to cope with. But in the context of the University, this problem is somewhat minimised with the vast majority of customers on campus being students who increasingly use electronic payment. So, the transition to cashless probably makes sense for the university in the context of its wider technological and sustainable progression, but in the wider society the jury is still out on the future of a cashless world.