Will we still be using cash in 10 years?

Researchers at Lancaster University believe advancement in digital technologies have raised the possibility the use of cash could die out altogether.

And it could be overtaken by wholly digital or mobile currencies.

Now Dr John Carter McKnight, research associate in the and the university’s sociology department, and his colleagues have launched a project called ‘The Future of Money – A Design Conversation’.

As part of thei research, they are planning a series of workshops to get public input and hope their work will lead to improvements in the way we will access financial services in the future.

Dr McNight said; “We are investigating the prospects for new technologies – digital and mobile, among others – to change the nature of money and personal finance over the next decade.

“We are also examining how people think about, talk about, and use money and financial products in daily life and how products that could be designed with current technology might be used to meet their needs better than those that are available today.

“By studying how users of money and other financial products would like to be able to manage transactions, we hope to offer insights into the design of current financial technology that are based on examples from the real world.”

As part of the initiative, the Sociology Department organised a series of interactive workshops to examine the subject – and people don’t need to be economics’ experts to take part.

They have been taking place around the county throughout this week.

Dr McNight said: “We think it’s going to be a really informative exercise, and we’re looking forward to hearing how people view the future and how money will look and be used 10 years from now.”

This study is part of the 3DaRoC project that is being run jointly with research partners from Lancaster University, Brunel University, and the University of Bristol.