What do we lose when we lose physical cash? Engaging with the economy is an essential and critically important part of citizen life. Payments represent a digital footprint of citizens’ online and offline behaviour. Covid-19, and the consequent lockdown, seem to be accelerating the adoption of digital payments. The Covid-19 pandemic presents a unique case study for the movement towards emerging ‘cashless’ economies.
Cash affords both privacy and universal market access. Digital payment systems and the management of associated digital information have implications for trust, identity, privacy, and security (TIPS). This project investigates future digital payment systems with respect to TIPS, contributing to the identification of policies and technologies that best serve the public interest. Our multidisciplinary approach investigates pre and post Covid-19 financial information, analyses legal, policy and regulatory aspects, assesses innovative technologies for digital payments, proposes simulations of future scenarios, and engages stakeholders and user-groups to understand perspectives, opinions, and concerns. The project also aims to further advance this line of enquiry by identifying suitable pathways for future research.
Awarded date
2020
Degree of recognition
National
Granting Organisations
Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)