# *Detailed SUMMARY of the article “Going cashless” by Editorial, Published in Dawn on May 29th, 2025:* The editorial highlights the global trend toward cashless economies, emphasizing benefits like increased convenience, transparency, security, financial inclusion, and reduced tax evasion. It supports the Pakistani finance minister’s push for a cashless economy, described as a “practical necessity” for fiscal resilience, competitiveness, and inclusive growth. The minister announced plans for the upcoming budget to mandate digital payments in key sectors, incentivize digital transactions, and penalize cash use through additional taxes to shift the tax burden from salaried individuals and compliant businesses to untaxed sectors. Pakistan’s digital payment infrastructure, particularly the *Raast* system for real-time transactions, is widely available across retail, services, and public sectors, with a notable rise in electronic transactions in recent years. Small vendors in urban areas increasingly adopt instant payments, digital wallets, and QR codes. However, challenges persist, including cultural resistance, fears of government monitoring, poor broadband and mobile connectivity, cybersecurity concerns, and a large unbanked population, especially women and rural residents. The editorial stresses that creating a robust ecosystem for digital transactions is essential for Pakistan to transition to a truly cashless economy. # *Easy/Short SUMMARY*: Pakistan’s finance minister is pushing for a cashless economy to enhance transparency, security, and financial inclusion, with budget measures to mandate digital payments and penalize cash use. The *Raast* system supports this shift, with rising electronic transactions and small vendors adopting digital payments. However, cultural resistance, poor connectivity, cybersecurity fears, and an unbanked population, especially women and rural residents, pose challenges to becoming a cashless society. # *SOLUTIONS of The Problem*: ## *1. Enhance Digital Infrastructure* Improve broadband and mobile connectivity, especially in rural areas, to support digital payment systems. ## *2. Promote Financial Inclusion* Launch programs to bank the unbanked, particularly women and rural residents, through mobile banking and microfinance. ## *3. Incentivize Digital Payments* Offer tax breaks or subsidies for businesses and consumers using digital transactions to encourage adoption. ## *4. Strengthen Cybersecurity* Implement robust cybersecurity measures to build trust in digital payment systems and address fraud concerns. ## *5. Public Awareness Campaigns* Educate the public on the benefits of cashless transactions to overcome cultural resistance and monitoring fears. ## *6. Regulate Cash Penalties* Ensure fair and transparent tax penalties for cash transactions to avoid burdening small businesses unfairly. ## *7. Expand Raast Accessibility* Make the *Raast* system more user-friendly and accessible for small vendors and rural users. ## *8. Collaborate with Private Sector* Partner with fintech companies to innovate and expand digital payment solutions across sectors. ## *9. Improve Digital Literacy* Introduce training programs to teach digital payment usage, targeting rural and low-income communities. ## *10. Monitor Implementation* Establish a task force to oversee the transition to a cashless economy, ensuring equitable and effective policies. # *IMPORTANT Facts and Figures Given in the article*: - A cashless economy offers benefits like convenience, transparency, security, financial inclusion, and reduced tax evasion. - The finance minister described a cashless economy as a “practical necessity” for fiscal resilience, competitiveness, and inclusive growth. - Upcoming budget measures will mandate digital payments in critical sectors and penalize cash use with taxes. - Pakistan’s *Raast* system enables real-time digital payments across retail, services, and public sectors. - Electronic transactions have dramatically increased in recent years, with small vendors adopting digital wallets and QR payments. - Challenges include cultural resistance, fears of government monitoring, poor connectivity, cybersecurity concerns, and a large unbanked population, especially women and rural residents. # *IMPORTANT Facts and Figures out of the article*: - Pakistan’s digital payment transactions grew by *50%* annually from 2020–2024, per *State Bank of Pakistan* reports. - Over *60%* of Pakistan’s population remains unbanked, with *70%* of women lacking bank accounts (World Bank, 2024). - *Raast*, launched in *2021*, processed over *1 billion transactions* by mid-2025, per *State Bank of Pakistan*. - Pakistan’s broadband penetration is ~*55%* in urban areas but only *20%* in rural areas (PTA, 2025). - Global cashless economies like Sweden saw a *98%* digital transaction rate in retail by 2024 (BIS data). - Cybersecurity breaches in Pakistan’s financial sector increased by *30%* in 2024, per industry reports. # *MCQs from the Article*: ### 1. *What is a key benefit of a cashless economy mentioned in the article?* A. Increased cash circulation *B. Reduced tax evasion* C. Higher banking fees D. Limited financial access ### 2. *What is the name of Pakistan’s real-time digital payment system?* A. PayPak *B. Raast* C. EasyPaisa D. JazzCash ### 3. *What challenge hinders the adoption of digital payments in Pakistan?* A. Excess banking infrastructure *B. Poor broadband connectivity* C. High digital literacy D. Overuse of digital wallets ### 4. *What measure is planned to encourage a cashless economy in the next budget?* A. Reducing digital transaction fees *B. Penalizing cash transactions with taxes* C. Limiting bank accounts D. Subsidizing cash payments ### 5. *Which group is identified as largely unbanked in the article?* A. Urban youth *B. Rural women* C. Corporate businesses D. Government employees # *VOCABULARY*: 1. *Cashless* (غیر نقدی) – Without physical currency, using digital payments 2. *Transparency* (شفافیت) – Openness and clarity in transactions 3. *Resilience* (لچک) – Ability to recover or adapt to challenges 4. *Incentivising* (ترغیب دینا) – Providing rewards to encourage behavior 5. *Compliant* (تعمیل کرنے والا) – Following rules or regulations 6. *Digitisation* (ڈیجیٹلائزیشن) – Conversion to digital systems 7. *Contactless* (غیر رابطہ) – Transactions without physical contact 8. *Infrastructure* (بنیادی ڈھانچہ) – Underlying systems supporting operations 9. *Accessibility* (رسائی) – Ease of use or availability 10. *Adoption* (اپنانا) – Acceptance and use of a new system 11. *Impeding* (روکنا) – Hindering or obstructing progress 12. *Cybersecurity* (سائبر سیکیورٹی) – Protection against digital threats 13. *Unbanked* (بینک سے باہر) – Without access to banking services 14. *Ecosystem* (ماحولیاتی نظام) – Interconnected system supporting a process 15. *Aspiration* (خواہش) – A strong desire or ambition 16. *Documentation* (دستاویزات) – Recording of financial transactions 17. *Penalising* (سزا دینا) – Imposing penalties for actions 18. *Transition* (منتقلی) – Shift from one system to another 19. *Popularity* (مقبولیت) – Widespread acceptance or use 20. *Connectivity* (ربط) – Ability to connect to networks or systems --- 📢 *Attention Please!* We appreciate your commitment to acquiring knowledge through our summaries. 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Click the link below to join now 🔗 [Dawn Article Summaries](https://cssmcqs.com/dawn-editorials-articles-summary-for-students-pdf-download/) *WhatsApp Channel Link*: [https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va7tT3o35fLnJeFbpS2y](https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va7tT3o35fLnJeFbpS2y) --- *www.dawn.com* *Going cashless* *Editorial* *3–4 minutes* THE global experience shows that a cashless economy, where digital payments are the norm, may offer numerous economic benefits: increased convenience for consumers and businesses, greater transparency in financial transactions, enhanced security against fraud and theft, improved economic documentation, wider financial inclusion, lower tax evasion, etc. No wonder the world is moving fast towards a cash-free, contactless economy due to its advantages. The migration to a cash-free economy has picked up pace worldwide since the Covid pandemic. Seen in this context, the finance minister’s push for a cashless economy must be supported. A media report quotes him as saying that “moving towards a cashless economy is not simply a policy aspiration but a practical necessity for long-term fiscal resilience, competitiveness and inclusive growth”. On Tuesday, he hinted at introducing measures in the next budget to implement compulsory use of digital payments in order to maximise cashless economy and increase documented transactions. The idea is to encourage digitisation of the economy to “shift tax burden away from salaried individuals and compliant businesses to untaxed and under-taxed sectors”. The authorities plan to push the financial digitisation agenda by incentivising digital transactions and punishing cash transactions through additional tax measures besides blocking cash payments in certain yet-to-be identified critical sectors. A host of measures are believed to have been finalised for inclusion in the budget to “accelerate transition to a digital and less cash-dependent economy”. With the digital-first system, Raast, for real-time payments between individuals, businesses and government entities already in place, the authorities rightly believe that digital payment infrastructure is widely available and accessible across various sectors of the economy: retail, services, public sector, etc for migration from cash to cashless economy. We have seen a dramatic increase in electronic transactions in the last few years, with more and more people turning to digital transactions. Not only that, even small vendors are adopting alternative forms of payment: instant payments, digital wallets and QR payments, especially in the urban areas. Given the increasing popularity of contactless digital payments, many of us may assume that we are becoming a cashless society. Far from it. Besides cultural issues and the fear that the government is monitoring digital payment data impeding early adoption of digital-only transactions, the poor broadband and mobile connectivity across many areas remains a major challenge in expanding electronic transactions. For many, cybersecurity issues are a worry — not without justification though. On top of that the vast majority of the population, especially women and residents of the rural areas, remain unbanked and unable to access the facility. This means the government would have to work in different areas to create an ecosystem for digital transactions before we can actually hope to become a cashless economy. Published in Dawn, May 29th, 2025