How often do you use cash? Surveys indicate that the majority of us expect the UAE to be cashless by the end of the decade. Cash, they say, is no longer king. A simple personal audit of day-to-day spending could tell you that prediction seems firmly on track.
In my own world, regular cash transactions have now largely shrunk to a triptych of neighbourhood shops: the local bakery where customers queue to buy straight-out-of-the-oven flatbread with dirham coins, the always-busy laundry next door and the baqala a few metres further on from that, although it has a card reader and is happy to take digital payments.
Apart from that, any cash we have in the house is usually reserved for the “tipping economy”, principally for the delivery people who arrive on the doorstep. But again, their presence has usually been triggered by a digital payment. The transition to cash-free or cashless is happening quickly, and almost all at once, all over the world – induced, accelerated and cemented by the habits most were required to adopt during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Even the previous widespread practice of writing multiple post-dated cheques to cover future instalments of car loans or rent is in decline.
I’ve written before about my landlord’s preference to receive post-dated rent cheques and mine for sending him the money by bank transfer. I fully expect us to conduct a similar negotiation over this for some time to come, but most other regular payments in my monthly outgoings are cashless, of course, whether that is for streaming services, social club memberships or even school fees, with direct debit schemes replacing previous practices of cash or cheques.
The immediacy of digital should far outweigh legacy products, but people also have a nostalgic and emotional attachment to the past
In our ever more frictionless and digital lives, even paying for parking involves a requirement for data and an app, rather than scrambling for discarded loose change in your car’s cup holders, as one did in bygone years.
On a recent short trip to the UK, I didn’t use cash once, although given that a cluster of European nations, including the British Isles, are regarded as the most cash-free economies in the world, that’s no real surprise.
While some of us like to carry some small quantities of local currency when travelling to pay for taxis, tips, souvenirs and sundries, that may be out of long-held habit rather than genuine necessity.
So where does that leave cash?
Even those elements of the informal and formal economy that still trigger cash payments may soon be, or are already, switching to app-based services or phone-to-phone transfers. And, the UAE has previously been ranked high on those cashless league tables.
Beyond that, much of the debate about “digital payments or paper currency” could easily settle within the framework that audiophiles use to argue about the merits of listening to music through a physical medium as opposed to on a streaming platform, such as Spotify or Apple Music, or the pros and cons of books versus eReaders, or even printed newspapers versus catching up with news online.
But all of those are asymmetrical arguments of habit, taste and ritual.
The immediacy of digital should far outweigh legacy products, but people also have a nostalgic and emotional attachment to the past and, perhaps, an awareness that physical unwired objects are immutable when the worst digital crisis happens, such as during last month’s Crowdstrike-induced global outage.
I’d also argue that some of the most valuable and hardest lessons on monthly budgeting can be learnt from cash or envelope stuffing rather than on an app, although a third way would be to use a prepaid credit card, essentially a digital envelope in this example to pay for regular outgoings in particularly tough or budgetary-constrained months.
It would also be good to see data on the longer-term impact on charitable donations by the apparent shift away from cash, although previous World Bank data found, perhaps predictably, that young people made charitable contributions through digital means during Ramadan. This suggests that the convenience factor may help rather than hinder donations in future.
So, cash is no longer king? In some nations it no longer has a seat at the top table. In the UAE, there are also points to note on both ends of the debate. Recent Central Bank data points to slightly less currency being issued (0.4 per cent) in January this year and more currency being in circulation (Dh900 million) outside banks.
What that suggests is that we won’t be completely cashless for a while yet. The economy still has places where cash has utility, even if its usefulness ebbs and flows like the tide. It also hints that those clothes in your wardrobe may still have pockets with discarded cash in them, just like decades ago.
TERMINAL HIGH ALTITUDE AREA DEFENCE (THAAD)
What is THAAD?
It is considered to be the US's most superior missile defence system.
Production:
It was created in 2008.
Speed:
THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.
Abilities:
THAAD is designed to take out ballistic missiles as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".
Purpose:
To protect high-value strategic sites, such as airfields or population centres.
Range:
THAAD can target projectiles inside and outside the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 150 kilometres above the Earth's surface.
Creators:
Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.
UAE and THAAD:
In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then stationed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Alaan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202021%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Parthi%20Duraisamy%20and%20Karun%20Kurien%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%247%20million%20raised%20in%20total%20%E2%80%94%20%242.5%20million%20in%20a%20seed%20round%20and%20%244.5%20million%20in%20a%20pre-series%20A%20round%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs: 2019 Aston Martin DBS Superleggera
Price, base: Dh1.2 million
Engine: 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 725hp @ 6,500pm
Torque: 900Nm @ 1,800rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.3L / 100km (estimate)
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
Indoor Cricket World Cup Dubai 2017
Venue Insportz, Dubai; Admission Free
Fixtures - Open Men 2pm: India v New Zealand, Malaysia v UAE, Singapore v South Africa, Sri Lanka v England; 8pm: Australia v Singapore, India v Sri Lanka, England v Malaysia, New Zealand v South Africa
Fixtures - Open Women Noon: New Zealand v England, UAE v Australia; 6pm: England v South Africa, New Zealand v Australia
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Wednesday and the pair embraced but he failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset was due to a personal matter.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
MORE ON THE US DEMOCRATIC PRIMARIES
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20myZoi%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202021%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Syed%20Ali%2C%20Christian%20Buchholz%2C%20Shanawaz%20Rouf%2C%20Arsalan%20Siddiqui%2C%20Nabid%20Hassan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2037%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Initial%20undisclosed%20funding%20from%20SC%20Ventures%3B%20second%20round%20of%20funding%20totalling%20%2414%20million%20from%20a%20consortium%20of%20SBI%2C%20a%20Japanese%20VC%20firm%2C%20and%20SC%20Venture%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
