Future of Money- Kenya 
By Walter Sorochan

Posted December 16, 2015; updated November 15, 2021.

Money, Money, Money! Money is the cause of all evil! Is this really true? Well, the evil is not really money in itself. It is what we do with money that leads to bad situations. For example: some persons steal money while others go into debt by spending more than they earn.  It is not just people who end up with money problems but also governments and countries as well.

Money is just one way of paying for services or products.  Before money was invented, people used barter as a way of paying for good and services.  Bartering in Roman times happened when a poor person paid a physician with a chicken or eggs or labor instead of coins for equal services.

Money, like ancient silver coins and gold was an invented to replace bartering.  Today, there is a new monetary invention to replace paper money and banking.  The country of Kenya is using cell phones and an electronic system of money referred to as cedi.  This article, based on a 60 minute report by Leslie Stahl, explains this new way of money management. 

You can view the video below:

Video: The Future of Money by Leslie Stahl 60 mns   Approx 20 mns:

Kenya future of money  

Commentary:

Kenya's cedi system uses modified cell phones that  creates a cashless electronic society.  The system transacts payments, banking and loans without banks, bank clerks and loan officers as we know today.  The iphones have been modified to work with an internet system.  There is no cash money, no community banks or bank transactions and no middle men expenses.  Instead, 90% of the people have a mobile iphone that is their money, bank, checkbook and that also eliminates bank service payments.  The people of Kenya like the simplified system that simplifies their lives.

This video about Kenya's new money system illustrates all this.  Kenya's cashless system is important because it may be a forecast of what may happen to the American dollar-money cash system and perhaps the global monetary-banking system. There is movement to eliminate cash and paper money!

Other African countries are also considering some form of a cashless monetary system. "Electronic Payment Providers Association of Nigeria (E-PPAN) said they were working to address the regulatory and administrative loopholes discovered in the implementation of the cashless policy, especially the pilot phase in Lagos."  Leadership: Nigeria cashless society 2012

Denmark, with its Scandinavian neighbors Norway and Sweden, is leading the global trend toward electronic money. The Danish government has proposed that most stores could dump their cash registers as of January 2016.  Harrison: Denmark cashless 2015

Case in point: Sweden: In 1661, Sweden became the first country in Europe to issue paper money. Now it’s probably going to be the first in the world to eliminate it.

Sweden has already phased out most cash transactions. According to Credit Suisse, 80% of all purchases in Sweden are electronic and don’t involve cash. And that figure is rising.

If the trend continues - and there is nothing to suggest it won’t - Sweden could soon be another world first cashless society.

Sweden’s supply of physical currency has dropped over 50% in the last six years. A couple of major Swedish banks no longer carry cash. Virtually all Swedes pay for candy bars and coffee electronically. Even homeless street vendors use mobile card readers.

Plus, an increasing number of government restrictions are encouraging Swedes to dump cash. The pretexts are familiar…fighting terrorism, money laundering, etc. In effect, these restrictions make it inconvenient to use cash, so people don’t. So far, Swedes have passively accepted the government and banks’ drive to eliminate cash. The push to destroy their financial privacy doesn’t seem to bother them. This is likely because the average Swede places an unreasonable amount of trust in government and financial institutions.  Giambruno: Sweden cashless society 

The government of United States is considering using a form of electronic credit card transaction to monitor all money activities.  The federal argument for such a monetary scheme is to trace money laundering, fraud, bank deposits and other money transactions.  In such a system, big brother would be able to trace how, when and where you spend every penny; and we would still have the existing banking system.  Supposedly, such a money system would provide money security.  US Gov't: Assets control

References:

US Federal Government, "BANK SECRECY ACT, ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING, AND OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL Section 8.1," DSC Risk Management Manual of Examination Policies 8.1-1 Bank Secrecy Act (12-04). Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. US Gov't: Assets control

Giambruno Nick, "The World’s First Cashless Society Is Here - A Totalitarian’s Dream Come True," Casey research International man,   Giambruno: Sweden cashless society

Harrison Virginia, "This could be the first country to go cashless," CNN Money, June 2, 2015.   Harrison: Denmark cashless 2015

Leadership, "Nigeria: Cashless Lagos - Penalty On Cash Limits Starts Today, All Africa, April 2, 2012.   Leadership: Nigeria cashless society 2012

Stahl Leslie, " The Future of Money," CBC 60 minutes, Nov. 22, 2015. Stahl: The future of money 2015