While theft will always be a problem—whether paying with physical or digital currency—it takes on a new dimension when it moves online, with entire bank accounts available for emptying rather than a single wallet or register. The delays inherent in cashless payments also open opportunities for abuse, with street vendors expressing a preference for cash payments due to the possibilities for faking digital payments (for example taking a screenshot of a genuine transaction, then showing it to a different vendor without having made a payment).
Keeping cash secure is as much a concern as other payment methods, but when banknotes are scooped out of a register, the amount a business is losing is likely to be considerably less than when it suffers digital theft. Juniper Research recently published a study forecasting losses from online payment fraud exceeding $362 billion globally over the next five years, attributing this to a growth in eCommerce in emerging markets and an associated acceleration of fraud.
Cash is also a high-tech product, with anti-counterfeiting measures that are monitored and refined year on year. The European Central Bank reported the number of counterfeits was at the second-lowest level ever recorded, and at its headquarters, devices such as 3D microscopes and ultra-sensitive scales are employed to study developments in counterfeiting and feed information into databases that help police track criminal groups, and designers develop new security measures.
