The Journey Toward ‘Cash Lite’: Addressing Poverty, Saving Money and Increasing Transparency by Accelerating the Shift to Electronic Payments

Governments, the private sector, and the development community distribute billions in cash payments worldwide in the form of benefits, pensions, social programs, humanitarian aid, or payroll. As bulk payers, these institutions have a unique role to play in initiating a deliberate, strategic shift toward electronic payment systems. Evidence from a range of sources indicates that such a shift brings material benefits for governments, the private sector and the development community, as well as for individuals—in terms of reduced costs, improved transparency, enhanced security, and access to financial services.

This research by BFA Global for Better than Cash Alliance examines the shift from cash to electronic payments and aggregates the findings of the benefits and barriers of electronic payment adoption.