SURVEILLANCE
Rise in cashless society offers state unprecedented powers of surveillance
‘A cashless society is a surveillance society’
As on every other continent, Africa is experiencing the rise of the cashless economy. The race to consolidate positions in Africa’s budding fintech space sees the top four telecoms companies battling it out for market share.
African cashlessness is predominantly driven by mobile payments services — provided by the likes of Orange, Vodafone, Airtel Africa and SA’s MTN. In SA, cashlessness is nascent but being brought about through a “cash-lite” rationale, probably because of the 11-million or so unbanked or underbanked citizens in the country. More broadly, the shift in African spending habits reflects changes occurring elsewhere in the world, from Sweden to China...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.