In the UK buses and taxis increasingly take cards, and are phasing out cash. Same goes for shops. Having a card becomes the norm because it's less fiddly and more convenient - great!

To open a bank account you need a fixed address and proof of ID in the form of a passport or driving license.

In the last year several thousand people have had bank accounts closed under the presumption of being a "politically vulnerable person", one example was a teacher who went to volunteer in Ukraine for while.

If your bank account is overdrawn you get fees and are unable to use your card.

My mother is 85 and doesn't understand ATMs, never mind online banking. The decreased access to cash has left her confused, and when stressed she can't remember her pin number.

So, the most vulnerable in society are gradually being squeezed out of the ability to live day-to-day thanks to cash being phased out ... the same is a desirable end-point for many capitalists elsewhere in the first world because they don't see the value of people on the bottom rung.

I agree electronic payments are more beneficial than harmful. In terms of privacy in the mass surveillance world we live in, using cash just forces the watchers to use your cellphone data instead. I think privacy these days is mostly about living an uninteresting life.