The notion of a cashless society has been around for quite some time. The first mechanical cash dispenser was built by Luther George Simjian in 1939 and was installed in New York in 1939. However lack of customer adoption resulted in it being removed six months later.

The electronic cash machines we know today were invented a quarter-of-a-century later by Hampshire printing firm, De La Rue; the same company behind high-security paper and printing technologies used in the printing of bank notes. Actor Reg Varney from the popular 1960s TV sit-com ‘On The Buses’ was the first person to use the new cash machine, which was seen to be a strong guerrilla marketing tactic and designed to ensure public adoption of the electronic cash dispenser. As a result, the cashless society was born.

In recent times, the number of cashless alternatives has continued to grow. No longer confined to banks or building societies, cash machines can now be found everywhere; from petrol stations to pubs and there are also more credit and debit card options available than ever before. Furthermore, transactions such as salary payments and direct debits are performed by BACS (Banks automated clearing system), while e-commerce has gained almost worldwide acceptance.

In March 2000, ‘Confinity’, a palm-pilot payment and cryptography company merged with X.com, an Internet financial services company. This merger created the online payment service, PayPal, which was well-received by internet users, with its members being rewarded with $5 for every new member they referred. Before long, Paypal was adopted as the preferred payment method for the online auction site, eBay. Today PayPal boasts in excess of 123 million accounts and operates in 55 different markets, including China.

With such widespread adoption, PayPal can now be used to buy a wide variety of goods and services. Not only can it be used to buy and sell goods on eBay, but PayPal can also be used to reserve a hotel room online. In fact, some of the UK's leading tour operators have started accepting PayPal transactions via their website. Google are also planning to launch Google Checkout, an online payment service which will further contribute towards the notion of a cashless society.

Nowadays, even teenagers are being targeted towards a cashless society, with a major credit card firm recently launching a prepayment card aimed at children. Although these cards are limited by the amount that their parents deposit onto the card, the scheme has seen a number of concerns raised by the National Consumer Council, who have warned that the cards will get children so used to spending money that isn’t theirs, they will find themselves hopelessly in debt once they are old enough to apply for a credit card. However, supporters of the scheme believe that the cards will familiarize children with using plastic to pay for purchases without spending too much.

It seems that a truly cashless society is inevitable. With recent technological innovations allowing for online banking, bill payments and money transfers, the notion of a cashless society seems to be closer than ever. However, as technology continues to evolve, peoples’ perceptions of a cashless society are getting closer to reality. Some people fear that a cashless society might have a detrimental effect on many of today’s civil liberties that we currently enjoy. For most people though, the advance towards a cashless society is wholeheartedly embraced.