Could Coronavirus Fast Track the Move to a Cashless Society?

For some time, we've known that the world is heading towards a cash-free society, as the lure of digital technology causes us to toss our pennies to the bottom of the economic well. However, with changing spending habits, in the midst of a global pandemic, could this future be more imminent than we ever imagined?

It's only four months since Covid-19 entered our lives and already, it has totally mutated our financial security. Across the globe, economies are slumping; unemployment is soaring and major retail giants are falling like dominos into administration. Yet, there are some positives that can be reaped from this unprecedented situation. Due to social distancing and work-from-home protocols, it has fostered a new found appreciation for technology. And it's not just our current working conditions, which are propelling us towards a more tech savvy world; it's our spending habits too.

Following warnings, issued by the WHO, about the transmission of Covid-19 via bank notes and coins, we have seen numerous measures to endorse cashless payment methods. In Sweden, trade union Kommunal has been lobbying for a cash ban on all public transport. Meanwhile, earlier this month, UK supermarkets announced an increase in the contactless limit to £45. One must also acknowledge the effect this pandemic is having on global consumer behaviour. As billions self-isolate, E-commerce appears to have outshone in-store purchasing, casting doubts upon the survival of the high street. A report from the analytics firm Contentsquare showed a 221% growth in transactions on UK supermarket sites, during the week commencing March 29th. Moreover, according to marketing platform Emarsys and analytics platform GoodData, online orders among primarily store-based retailers were up 56% in North America, 82% in Asia Pacific and 71% in Western Europe year-on-year during the two week period between March 22nd and April 4th.

Of course, the prospect of a global cashless society is nothing new in the world of economics. For decades, nations have been preparing for the shift and competing to claim the grand title. Sweden, a text-book contender, has long since dominated the conversation, with the 2009 Vastberga Heist echoing its anti dosh parable. Just 1% of the Swedish GDP circulates in cash, which, as of this February, has prompted The Riksbank to launch testing of the e-krona. And they're not the only ones embracing digital currency. China, another vanguard in fintech and E-commerce, have drafted laws for the E-yaun. Stateside, the House of Democrat has also recently rolled the monopoly dice, this time passing a $2.5 trillion Coronavirus stimulus bill which will establish a digital dollar.

In conjunction with cryptocurrencies, the mobile banking eco system is booming. Most notably, according to a McKinsey global report, published last year, banking in Africa is "a hot-bed of innovation", with 40% of Africans surveyed, favouring digital channels for transactions. Despite the efficiency, convenience and reduced cost, there are drawbacks to becoming too tech reliant, which could be set to sour the cashless dream. Not only do they require a Wi-Fi connection, online payments run a higher risk of account hacking and data breaches. Andrea Enrea, chair of the ECB's supervisory board, warned that Coronavirus could trigger a surge in cyber security related fraud and scams. Furthermore, companies' IT systems could be put under strain by a higher reliance on remote banking.

During such uncertain times, nobody knows what the future holds. Nevertheless, one thing is for sure: Coronavirus will leave a permanent imprint on our lives from the ways we work, educate and spend our money.

My reaction to Harry and Meghan: Now is not the time for Sanctimony

Way back in February, my dad took to his bed for several weeks with what we assumed to be a nasty cough. All the home remedies were prescribed: honey and lemon; satsumas; chicken Soup. Yet still, the symptoms persisted. It was a mystery.

After numerous antibiotics and back-and-forth trips to the GP, my dad was admitted to hospital with sepsis. It turned out the precautionary overnight bag he'd packed was not quite sufficient, because he would stay in that hospital, moving between wards for 36 days. His condition quickly deteriorated from Sepsis to double pneumonia, then a rare auto-immune disease called Myositis in which the body attacks healthy muscle cells. And, despite being tested for Covid-19 upon admission, he was later swabbed again and this time it came back positive.

I'm pleased to report he is back home and doing much better. This is all, of course, thanks to our NHS. Before the pandemic, I knew our health workers were amazing. However, these last months have proven they are heroes. The same goes for the care workers, emergency service workers, grocery workers and delivery drivers, who are all propping this country up in such unprecedented times. What also makes me proud to be British is the strength and community spirit we have rallied: roads filled with applause every Thursday night; people volunteering; neighbours looking out for each other; restaurants delivering meals to those on the frontline. It's extraordinary. Oh and how could we forget, beacon of light Captain Tom Moore, the legendary war veteran whose garden walks have nearly smashed £30 million.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for all our celebs. Some have shown great generosity and outpourings of support. Others have been indulging in a little too much sanctimony for my liking, which I shall summarise via the following categories. First up, the cringey crooners, otherwise known as the One World crew. Now, holding virtual concerts may be a lovely initiative to spread joy. But do these artists have to introduce their performances like they are accepting a Grammy? Spare us the gushing 'oh my God, I wanna start by thanking Global Citizen for having me tonight' speech and just get on with it and sing! Additionally, if they wish to cheer us up, why do they pick such depressing, cliché songs? Take Jennifer Lopez's rendition of People by Barbara Streisand for example. Somehow, even when J.Lo attempts Streisand in a garden festooned with fairy lights, it still evokes the same inward groan you get when a cocky 16-year old swaggers on to the X Factor stage and announces they're going to take on Whitney (yeah right, in your dreams).

Next up on my list are the quarantine queens. These stars remind us daily to live our 'best lock-down lives', often posting virtuous selfies of themselves baking sourdough; putting the bins out in designer dresses and heels; or lying in a bathtub, surrounded by rose petals. I mean, the Instagram lifestyle was FOMO-inducing enough, without lock-down envy thrown into the mix. Far from promoting a sense of high-School Musical-esque solidarity, their 'we're all in this together' spiel merely serves to accentuate how our lives are worlds apart. For most people, lock-down is less Hollywood mansion or Christian Laboutins and more along the lines of:

1. Being unable to bake sourdough because A. it's too much of a faff and B. flour is now gold dust.

2. Living in comfy leggings and woolly socks with hair that could seriously do with a wash.

And 3. Enduring cold, 30-second showers, because the hot water's broken and there's no plumber to fix it.

The prize for the most sanctimonious however goes to a couple who have made regular appearances in our headlines lately. Yep you guessed it: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. As it goes, I was once a hard-core fan of the Duke and Duchess. Not in the screaming, Shawn-Mendes-fangirl sense; just that I thought they were very talented individuals who have made huge contributions to important causes. Therefore, when they became an item and got married, my admiration for them only grew. That is until they began preaching about climate change, whilst casually flying private jets; buttering up Disney directors; suing multiple newspapers; enlisting lawyers whose clientele featured premiere football players; and sacking off their royal duties over Instagram. In other words, the sort of behaviour one might expect from a Kardashian, not working royals.

Before anyone has a go at me, I fully respect their decision to lead a normal life. I can also understand Harry's instinct to protect Meghan, bearing in mind the trauma himself and William have been through losing their mother. However, I point-blank refuse to accept this scapegoating and war against our press. They are not the enemies here. While the online trolling and racism Meghan's received has been abhorrent, this has zero to do with our press. Newspapers have followed the Independent Press Standards. From where I'm stood, their coverage has been fair, honest and largely positive. Moreover, any criticism given has been within reason and down to the couple's own hypocrisy.

Just when we thought their PR blunders couldn't get any worse, Harry and Meghan put their foot in it not once, not twice, but three times in the space of about two weeks (I know, a new PB even for them). On this occasion, it wasn't their desire to 'thrive, rather than survive', tactlessly revealed during their trip in one of the world's poorest countries. Neither was it the dubious decision to inform their followers of their departure before the Queen, leaving Her Majesty to stumble across such a bombshell via a BBC News notification on her iPad. Oh no. This time the Duke and Duchess chose to weigh in on a worldwide pandemic. I have no words.

Their first of three blunders came on April 6th, when they unveiled plans to replace the Sussex Royal Foundation with new charity Archewell, named after 1-year old son Archie. Albeit a worthy cause, royal watchers were quick to slam the announcement for both its 'appalling' timing' and sharp contrast to the message of unity, conveyed by the Queen just 24 hours earlier. This astute appraisal was not enough to deter the Sussexes from dishing out unsolicited pearls of wisdom yet again. During an interview for the podcast Declassified, Prince Harry suggested that the media had exaggerated the scale of the Coronavirus crisis here in Britain. Erm sorry Harry but:

A. What medical qualifications do you have to underpin such a statement?

B. How would you know this when you are living a mere 5,000 miles away in Los Angeles?

And C. How can you just bat away the numbers, as our death toll exceeds 20,000, amongst the highest in Europe?

To top it all off, a representative of the couple wrote a scathing letter to editors, in which they cut ties with four British tabloids including The Sun, The Daily Mail, The Daily Mirror and The Express. Arriving late evening on April 19th, the letter claimed that stories run in these papers were 'distorted, false and invasive beyond reason'. Needless to say, both editors and the general public alike were far from impressed by this controlling nature towards media engagement. Ian Murray, executive director of the Society of Editors, said: "Although the Duke and Duchess say they support what a free press stands for, there is no escaping it that their actions amount to censorship and are setting an unfortunate example'. I personally couldn't agree more.

The whole point Harry and Meghan ran off to Canada was to escape the public eye. Now, it seem that they cannot bear the idea of being irrelevant and so in order to maintain prominence, they have to stir up drama. It's pathetic. And of course, I'm not for one moment disputing their commendable contributions to the pandemic through measures such as volunteering, raising funds and distributing care packages (it's not like they're putting their staff on Furlough). All I'm saying is that their recent comments have been grossly insensitive to those suffering. Not only that, they have had the audacity to insult the amazing work and integrity of our journalists, at a time when they are going above and beyond for this country.

Part of the reason I aspire to be a journalist is because I have seen what a difference the press makes. While you might think it's all about creating headlines and maximising traffic, this is not the case. Journalists work to inform and empower us. They excel at holding governments to account, exposing the hypocrisies of powerful individuals and telling stories which catalyse change. And yes fake news and misinformation may be the products that come with living in a social media centric world. Notwithstanding, the vast majority of journalism is rooted firmly in both the public interest and the quest for the truth. As a pandemic sweeps our globe, this notion could not be more pertinent. Without journalists, who would have lobbied our politicians for keyworker testing? Who would have been left to expose the PPE crisis? And who would have asked the questions and sparked the debates, to ensure that no issue, no voice goes unheard. That is why, when Harry and Meghan throw around inflammatory words such as 'distorted, false and invasive', I have a massive problem.

I often hear people echo similar sentiments. Adopting a knowing tone, they make supercilious remarks such as 'oh my God I can't believe you're reading that rubbish' or 'don't you know everything they write is lies?' (blah, blah, blah). Question them further on their assertion however and in most cases, they are unable to present a single piece of evidence to support it. They become flustered, frantically racking their brains, before settling on the world's most cogent argument: 'erm, well, y'know, it just is, isn't it?' Half the time, I bet these people haven't even read said publication or said article. They're just parroting some ignorant comment, made by friends, relatives and colleagues.

Particularly at the moment, many journalists are having to endure a daily torrent of abuse and it's just contemptible frankly. Does it not occur to these trolls that behind the by-lines, are real human beings. Humans with families and children. Humans who are simply trying to make an honest living and report the facts. What really doesn't help matters is when public figures like the Sussexes decide to wade in guns blazing, because all they are doing is inciting this vile behaviour towards journalists.

I want to end this piece with three, clear messages:

To Harry and Meghan: Think before you act. Stop making ridiculous claims about things you know nothing about. Stop picking fights when people are dying and families are grieving. If you're not careful, you will alienate yourselves not only from the press but from those who saw you as role-models.

To all the cynics and trolls out there: Kindly, get down from your high horse. Journalists are not using this pandemic to further their careers. Quite the opposite. They are working harder than ever to provide us with information and search for answers in an ever-uncertain climate. Along with our NHS heroes and keyworkers, journalists should be applauded, not demonized.

Finally to all the journos out there: You are doing a fine job and for that we thank you profusely.