The Relentless War on Cash
By Pastor Hal Mayer
Dear Friends,
Welcome to Keep the Faith Ministry. Once again we are going to explore a major prophetic development that I hope will help you see that we are very near the end of time. I want you to understand that our monthly messages are not meant to scare you, but to urge you to get ready. But please don’t get ready for the coming of the Lord because you are afraid of the mighty conflict that is about to engulf the world. Get ready because you love Jesus and you see that His coming is near. Christ is the center of our hope. He is the one that will sustain us through the time of the end. It is Jesus that will be the victor in your life against the enemy.
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To begin, let us bow our heads in prayer. Our Father in heaven, thank you for Jesus who loves us with an everlasting love. Thank you for providing Your Holy Spirit to help us understand the signs of the times. Please send Him today as we study this important topic concerning the relentless war on cash. Teach us from Your word how we are to navigate the times in which we live. In Jesus’ name, amen.
The old adage “cash is king” will eventually have no relevance. But as you will see, we are rapidly coming to the time when cash will be eliminated. The technology is already essentially in place.
Listen to this statement from the Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 8, pages 27 and 28. “The world is a theater, and the actors, its inhabitants, are preparing to act their part in the last great drama. God is lost sight of. With the great masses of humanity, there is no unity, except as men confederate to accomplish their selfish purposes. God is looking on. His purposes in regard to His rebellious subjects will be fulfilled. The world has not been given into the hands of men, though God is permitting the elements of confusion and disorder to bear sway for a season. A power from beneath is working to bring about the last scenes in the drama—Satan coming as Christ, and working with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in those who are binding themselves together in secret societies. Those who are yielding to the passion for confederation are working out the plans of the enemy. Cause will be followed by effect.”
Did you hear that about confederation and secret societies? There are many secret societies today, and their aim is to confederate the world into one global system of government and control. And this cannot happen without them getting total control of the global economy.
But, let us start today with some important Bible verses that puts the issue of a cashless society into perspective. Revelation 18:11-19. Listen to this carefully. “And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more…” And now come to verse 15. “The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.”
Notice that there will be a great crisis for the merchants of the earth, the central bankers. They will be in such a bad place that they will throw dust on their heads, and weep and mourn. They are going to lose their power and whole nations will go bankrupt. And it’s likely to happen suddenly. The moneymen of the earth, the corporate sharks, and the central bankers are headed for a crash like they never dreamed of.
The Bible says these merchants of the earth have collaborated with the Vatican to achieve enormous wealth. They manipulate the economy to enrich themselves. It is like a game to many of them. And while you and I struggle to make a few coins to rub together, they are living high on the hog. They suck the life out of your assets by manipulating currencies, by taxation, by the control of inflation and by controlling the economic flows of the world. They bleed your economic potential and hand it to the few bankers and merchants that control the system. While this sounds unbelievable, it happens to be true.
And the more digitized a nation’s money is, the easier it is for banks to impose negative interest. What’s that? Well, that is when you pay the bank to hold your money. Instead of paying interest to the lender (which is you, the bank customer), you pay the bank for the privilege of loaning them your money. If you are forced to keep all your funds in a digital format, banks can impose negative interest rates and suck more out of you than you could ever imagine. It’s about as upside down as you can get.
Sweden, Denmark, and Switzerland all have negative interest rates. And their economy is already almost completely digital. But the U.S. Federal Reserve recently discussed the possibility of using negative interest rates in the U.S. too. Negative rates could not exist in a free market. They destroy the motivation to save and build capital, which is the basis of prosperity.
If you don’t like that plan, you can stash your cash under your bed. Cash limits how far governments and central banks can go with negative interest rates. The more it costs to store your money at the bank, the less inclined people are to do it. So banks have to go digital to achieve their goals.
Of course, central planners don’t want you to withdraw money from the bank. This is a big reason why they want to eliminate cash, so you can’t. They want everybody to have a bank account. And as long as your money stays in the bank, it’s vulnerable to the sting of negative interest rates and also helps to prop up the unsound fractional reserve banking system.
If you can’t withdraw cash, you have two choices: You can accept negative interest rates, or you can spend your money. Ultimately, that’s what central planners want. They will use negative interest rates to force you to spend your money, or otherwise you will have it taken from you a little at a time. The War on Cash and negative interest rates are huge threats to your financial security and your liberty.
But why do the central bankers and the governments of the earth want to control the money flow? Well, it is money that makes the world go round. Money to these merchants is everything because they are getting rich by it. They have a vested interest in controlling it. They use the economic system to their advantage. When they have all the cash under control, they can manipulate the system even more. But most of all, governments can control their citizens.
By removing cash from society, governments are bringing all your financial transactions under the radar. When they bring all the economy into the digital environment, it gives them complete control over everything that goes on in your life. They know that most people cannot live without at least some money. They know that if they have all your money under their control, they can track you and manipulate you into compliance with the new world order so that you are not free. It will strengthen globalization so that it can be enforced more easily.
A cashless economy gives the government the ability to centrally plan everything for you. Like communism, it gives even “democratic” governments complete control over their citizens. Often the media use a curious neutral-sounding word to describe these central planners and globalists. That word is “policymakers.” But there is no difference.
And this is where religious freedom comes into it. While governments and central banks are collaborating to organize a digital economy and enforcing it on the nations, creating more centralization of power in a globalized world, the Papacy is standing ready to enforce her religion on everybody once those mechanisms are in place globally. After all, Revelation 13:8 says that all the world will worship the beast, or the Papacy. How will that happen? By coercion – economic coercion. And verse 17 makes it clear. If you don’t accept the mark of the beast, you will not be able to buy or sell.
And the merchants of the earth are already collaborating with the Vatican. So when the time comes, they will be ready to enforce the papal worship plan. And the technology men are part of it too. Without them, the digital economy would not work. No wonder it was so important for Pope Francis to connect with men like Erich Schmidt, the CEO of Alphabet, the parent company of Google and a number of other technology companies. He also met with Tim Cook the CEO of Apple and with Kevin Systrom the founder of Instagram.
Google’s Eric Schmidt Meets With Pope Francis at the Vatican
Apple’s Tim Cook meets with Pope Francis
#Pontiff: Instagram CEO meets with the pope
Francis also met with Christine LaGuarde last year, the director of the International Monetary fund. This globalist financial institution places money under the control of corrupt leaders of banana republics and other struggling nations, who take some of it and hide it in those shell companies in protected places. The pope has also had audiences with Jim Yong Kim, President of the World bank, Mario Draghi, President of the European Central bank and others.
Pope Francis meets with IMF’s Christine Lagarde
World Bank Group President Kim and Pope Francis Meet to Discuss Mutual Efforts to End Poverty
Pope Francis holds talks with ECB head Draghi
The economy is very important to the Vatican. If she is ever going to get the world to worship her or in her way, she has to control the money because most people worship money. If she is ever going to enforce her worship as the Bible says, she has to collaborate with global corporations and individual CEOs to get rid of cash, or at least minimize the use of cash so that governments and businesses will be able to enforce her will on the people in exchange for making them rich. That’s why the Vatican is an organization that pushes globalism.
But larger and more global solutions are being developed to remove your liberty and independence and get everyone on the so-called, “economic grid,” so that every transaction can be tracked through international banking conglomerates and by governments. Once the controls are in place, the enemy of souls can bring in the reign of the mark of the beast and enforce it with no-buy, no-sell laws. Let’s read it in Revelation 13:16, 17. Listen to what it says. “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”
In other words, unless you accept the mark of the beast, you won’t be able to buy or sell. You can’t conduct any transactions or use your smart phone or your online banking account. You won’t be able to walk into a store or shop and buy even a pack of chewing gum. You won’t be able to buy fuel. You won’t be able to heat your home, pay your electric bill or your mortgage. In other words, you won’t have any place to live. You won’t have any place to go. And you won’t have any place to hide – if the powers of this earth have their way. Surveillance will surround you and you cannot escape. If you don’t have cash and your bank assets are “frozen” (which refers to your money being locked and inaccessible), you’re stuck. The infrastructure for this is already essentially developed. Sound scary?
You will have to choose to rely totally on Christ or fall under the enemy’s dominance. What an amazing experience – to be dependent on Christ to provide even your bread and water! You will be completely reliant on Christ to survive from day to day. That’s not something that most people are ready to do. They are used to earning money so they can pay their bills. They are used to using their cash or their credit card or smartphone to buy their groceries. Do you think God might have to feed you like He fed Elijah in the wilderness? Remember, Elijah went on the strength of that food for 40 days and nights.
Friends if you don’t learn to become dependent on Christ now, how will you ever be ready to depend on Him then? When God gives you an opportunity to trust Him, why do you whine and complain? Christ knows what you need, even before you actually need it. He gives you grace to hold on even when it seems impossible to do so.
Friends, I know what that is like. I know that there have been times in my life when I have been completely without resources. I have had no options, no choices, no place to turn. I could only turn to Christ. In times of trouble, we must automatically turn to Christ. I’m very serious in what I am saying. I believe we must learn the meaning of real trust. Unless we do, we will be caught up in the overwhelming surprise that will take the world captive in Satan’s snare.
Here is a statement from Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 8, and page 28. “Transgression has almost reached its limit. Confusion fills the world, and a great terror is soon to come upon human beings. The end is very near. We who know the truth should be preparing for what is soon to break upon the world as an overwhelming surprise.”
And that involves cash. Until cash is controlled Bible prophecy will not be completely fulfilled. When it is, God’s faithful people will be reduced to the barter system overnight. Most people will freak out when that happens. How will they survive? How will they pay for their obligations, their debts, their mortgages, and their credit card debt? How will they support their children’s education? How will they plan for retirement? I dare say that there are many of God’s people who have no idea what is coming upon them. They continue planning for a life of ease and tranquility, but they don’t realize that there is a storm brewing that will be to them an overwhelming surprise. But all of that is the big picture. Let’s talk about the way this impacts our daily life.
Smart phones with smart software can now be used to pay for things at the checkout counter. You don’t even have to carry around credit cards, let alone cash. Just your smart phone is all you need, which you authorize by your fingerprint. Maybe some of you have already used these types of transactions. They will only increase as time goes on. The technology is already being tested to have all items on the shelf in stores and shops to be RFID capable. In other words, all you have to do is pass your whole cart by the scanner, verify your form of payment and all the items in your cart or basket will be calculated and added up instantly. No need for a cashier to scan each item individually. Only pass by the scanner, tap your phone on the payment device and out pops the receipt for payment. Magic! Right? Well, hold on. With all that technology goes much of your freedom and privacy, perhaps a lot more than you realize and a lot more than you want to give up.
When pizza is delivered to your door, the driver will have a smart device that you can tap with your phone and the pizza is paid for. The same will happen for other deliveries. Airlines already use scanners to track and report on your baggage, check your boarding pass; they have payment devices for your credit card when you buy onboard food. Vending machines and toll roads are increasingly cashless. Immigration in many countries uses RFID technology to process passengers. Paper use is down wherever these technologies exist. And technologies are being developed to wipe out your need for cash.
Big changes brew in vending industry with a new breed of machines
The aim of the globalists is to get rid of cash. And they are pushing this really hard. Just recently some of the very wealthiest people on the planet were invited to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland for their annual economic discussion to forecast trends and try to understand the coming issues in the world that affect them and their prospects for gaining even more wealth. The Davos meeting is a very important yearly event for these superrich individuals. No doubt there are many there who worship money and horde it in their secret shell companies around the world.
This conclave of the high priests of monetary policy almost invariably sing the same chorus: that only criminals and terrorists use high denominations of cash. This useful mantra gets people to think they need to get rid of cash. It doesn’t matter that it’s not actually true.
Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Laureate and economist made a few remarks at that meeting which should shock you. He suggested that the United States “get rid of currency.” Yes, that’s right, he said the U.S. should not only get rid of its $100 bills, but also its 50s, 20s, 10s, 5s, and even its nearly worthless 1s. Stiglitz thinks that regular people don’t need paper money. As usual, he made the claim that cash is only useful for drug dealers, terrorists, tax evaders, and money launderers.
Nobel Prize winner says US should “get rid of currency”
Of course this is not the whole story. Take the Islamic State for instance. While the U.S. military and others have blown up more than a billion dollars worth of the Islamic State’s stockpiles of physical cash during airstrikes, it hasn’t affected their activities very much. The fact is, the most notorious terrorist group on the planet famously uses both the world’s oldest currency, which is gold, and the world’s newest currency, Bitcoin, an unregulated digital crypto-currency. Bitcoin, by the way is on government radar. They do not like it because it removes the possibility of total control over the economy.
ISIS parks its cash in Bitcoin, experts say
Former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers sings the same tune. He says the analysis “is totally convincing on the linkage between high denomination notes and crime” and that it’s important to stop the use of high denomination notes making it harder for criminals to ply their trade. But the elimination of high denomination notes is just a step away from eliminating lower denomination notes and eventually, all cash altogether.
It’s time to kill the $100 bill
Elimination of High Denomination Bank Notes
Ken Rogoff, Harvard professor and former official at the International Monetary Fund and Federal Reserve, recently published a book blatantly entitled The Curse of Cash. Ben Bernanke, former chairman of the Federal Reserve called it a “fascinating and important book.”
Rogoff, like most of his colleagues, contends that large bills like the $100 note or the €500 note are only used in “drug trade, extortion, bribes, human trafficking,” etc. In fact they jokingly refer to the €500 note as the “Bin Laden” since it’s apparently only used by terrorists. Rogoff believes that most cash transactions in the United States are small and do not require $100 bills. The $100 bill is on the radar. The Boston Federal Reserve said that only 5 per cent of American consumers use $100 notes.
Nobel Prize winner says US should “get rid of currency”
It’s time to kill the $100 bill
The Case for Getting Rid of $100 Bills
While these globalists parrot the old line that cash only facilitates illegal and illicit activity, now days drug dealers and prostitutes accept credit cards. Whatever you are selling on a street corner, hot dogs or marijuana, there are many payment solutions, like Stripe, Square, PayPal, or Apple pay, that allow anyone to accept credit card payments.
But the elites have a reason why they continue to refrain the idea that all the scumbags in the world would disappear if we took away all the cash. They know that most good trusting people will believe this line, especially if it is repeated enough. Fear, especially of terrorists, but also other fears, drives much of what we do. So most elites, including government rulers have jumped on board the “cash ban” bandwagon.
Removing cash from society isn’t about solving tax evasion or crime. There will still be plenty of that. It’s not about illegal activity. There will still be plenty of that. It is about totalitarianism; taking away your liberty, your power of choice and your freedom to live as you please.
And now, after the Cypress crisis, you should know that when you deposit money into a bank account it is no longer yours. It becomes the property of the bank. You are merely an unsecured creditor. And they have the power to freeze you out of your life savings without even giving you a courtesy call.
Physical cash provides consumers such as you and me with another option. If you don’t want to keep 100% of your savings tied up in a system that’s rigged against you, and has a long history of stealing their customer’s money, you can instead hold physical cash, with very little downside. No one is standing between you and your savings.
Nobel Prize Winner Tells Davos’ Elite, US Should “Get Rid Of Currency”
Stiglitz, Summers, Rogoff and their numerous cronies among the elites don’t want that. They want a massive, centralized bureaucracy to have control over your savings. But it’s more than merely getting control over your savings. It’s deeper than surveillance and tracking. It’s something of which even these economic high priests are not aware. It’s something very prophetic. They cannot scare you into compliance with global worship laws if they don’t get control of every transaction on the planet. They would even like to control the barter if they could. Perhaps the barter will be the only way “underground transactions” can occur in the coming digital economy, if the elites have their way.
Apparently, the time has come to push for a cashless world. And its happening in many places. Keep the Faith Ministry has been keeping track of this process since 2003. We continually report on this whenever something prophetically newsworthy comes to our attention. Starting with a drive for less cash, it will eventually become no cash.
Shortly after the Davos meeting in 2016, the European Commission (the most well-known sanctuary of statism) published a letter to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament about their action plan to further step up the fight against the “financing of terrorism,” which is elite-speak for eliminating cash, among other things.
The action plan builds on existing EU rules to adapt to new threats and aims at updating EU policies in line with international standards. The plan says, “Payments in cash are widely used in the financing of terrorist activities… In this context, the relevance of potential upper limits to cash payments could also be explored. Several Member States have in place prohibitions for cash payments above a specific threshold.” They want to extend the scope of regulation to control cash that enters or leaves the EU and establish upper limits on cash payments. The EU has already stopped producing the €500 note. And now it is charging towards the utopian dream of a cashless society.
The War on Cash is happening at a faster rate than we could have imagined 20 years ago. Every time we turn around there is another major assault on cash, it seems.
Europe Proposes “Restrictions On Payments In Cash”
India is the most notable recent example in which the Narendra Modi government stunned the nation by “demonetizing” its two largest denominations of cash, the 500 and 1,000 rupee notes overnight, leaving the entire nation in chaos. Modi is shoving millions of street vendors into cashless transactions and economic crisis. People cannot buy their products right now because they don’t have cash.
Modi’s surprise unilateral announcement, hatched secretly in a back room of his own home with a small group of high-level insiders, wiped out 86% of the nation’s currency overnight, leaving the vendors at markets to suffer losses. It also pushed millions of new users onto the country’s digital economic grid by virtual fiat, forcing them to set up digital payment systems with which they were unfamiliar, even though most of their customers do not have the capability to make digital payments because they lack their own bank accounts. Modi intends to help India “leapfrog into a less cash-use economy at par with more developed nations.”
Long queues at banks and ATMs in every city frustrated people as they scrambled to exchange their high-value banknotes for lower denominations. Banks didn’t even have enough cash in lower denominations to meet the demand, so restrictions on the amount that could be exchanged were implemented, leaving people in economic limbo. The transition, originally planned to take 50 days to redeem the high denomination notes, could now take up to a year.
The state of Goa’s government has announced that the city will go “cashless,” meaning every street vendor, rickshaw driver and shopkeeper must offer their customers an e-commerce option.
Modi’s rhetoric has changed since the original late night announcement on November 8, 2016, from fighting “black money,” crime and terrorism to creating a cashless society all together.
Most of the Western world has become comfortable with digital transactions, and even some places in the developing world like Kenya and Zimbabwe. But in India most of the poor are uneducated and don’t know how to use credit/debit card machines.
To make matters worse, power outages are routine and phone signals are very weak in many places. Whether India’s cashless drive will work remains to be seen. But Modi’s globalist plan to get rid of cash is taking the cashless agenda to a new level. Traders and trade organizations however, are rising to Modi’s call for a less cash society, which will lead to a cashless economy. They are mobilizing a massive training operation in conjunction with banks and digital payment companies to educate traders how to use cashless payment systems.
India’s Surprise Cashless Law
A Cashless Future Is The Real Goal Of India’s Demonetization Move
Demonetisation: Traders push for Narendra Modi’s cashless economy, chart roadmap
Demonetisation: How Narendra Modi changed narrative from black money to cashless economy
India Hopes Currency Shortages Will Drive Transition to Cashless Economy
Many western countries are already largely ready for a less cash move. Larry Summers thinks that the nations of the world should eliminate high denomination notes. He recently wrote that “nothing in the Indian experience gives us pause in recommending that no more large notes be created in the United States, Europe, and around the world.” In other words, despite the chaos in India, Summers thinks the U.S. should still curtail the $100 bill.
The United States is essentially “digitally ready” for cashless. Very few Americans carry much cash with them any more. They have been incentivized to use credit cards through points programs, airline miles, and yes, even cash back on purchases, and its beginning to appear that people don’t care if they can’t spend cash. More and more shops have turned to a no-cash model. It is more common than you think. The internet is all no cash. The airlines are often no cash and also some shops. Your Benjamins, Hamiltons, Jacksons or Grants aren’t welcome. Even some parking lots don’t take cash any more. And though the no-cash model is still an oddity that is going to change.
“I think we are sort of on the edge of seeing more and more businesses that don’t take cash,” said Jay Zagorsky, economist and research scientist at Ohio State University. Zagorsky thinks that in a few years more and more stores will not accept cash. There is even a trend away from paper checks to digital transactions.
Will America become a Cashless Society?
Is the USA Headed to a Cashless Society?
The United States has already discontinued producing the $500 U.S. note. Canada has stopped producing its $1000 note, and Singapore ceased issuing its $10,000 ringgit banknotes. In a world where legal commerce is increasingly conducted via electronic payment systems, eliminating high denomination notes makes sense to these elites because it is a natural step toward cashless economies.
Elimination of High Denomination Bank Notes
Australia is also mostly cashless now. Electronic non-cash transactions have soared and cheque payments in Australia have declined dramatically and are now a dying payment form. And since Australia is to implement a new payments system by 2018, the use of cheques will decline even further. Studies by the Reserve Bank of Australia show that more people than ever are using electronic options for payments. Forty-seven percent of transactions in 2013 were paid by cash, which is down from 62 percent in 2010 and 67 percent in 2007. Card use is up to 43 percent from 26 percent in 2007.
Meanwhile, just days after India demonetized its 1000 and 500 rupee notes, UBS, the huge international banking conglomerate, said Australia should follow India’s lead. UBS said that removing the supposedly “rarely seen” Australian $100 notes from circulation would be good for the economy and good for the banks. UBS’s self-serving reason is that it would swell bank deposits, as people bring in their alleged “hoarded” $100 bank notes for deposit. Getting rid of cash would reduce reliance on so many bank branches.
According to UBS, benefits may include reduced crime (because it would make crime difficult to monetize), increased tax revenue (by uncovering hidden taxable income) and reduced welfare fraud (such as those claiming welfare while earning or hoarding cash). And all this comes after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he was open to scrapping the 5c piece, Australia’s smallest coin, due to its dwindling use, the rise in electronic payments, and its cost to produce, which is now 6c each. New Zealand has already gotten rid of its 5c piece.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull open to scrapping the 5c coin
The drive to reduce the use of cash in Australia is going on full steam. Banks are starting to use Apple pay, Samsung pay, and the banks own internal payment systems built into their apps. Citibank has decided to stop dealing in cash at some of its local branches in Australia.
However, in a digital world where almost everything we do is being tracked, and where cash payments are about the only privacy they still have, Australians are nevertheless obliging quite readily. With 53 percent of transactions now digital, Aussies are increasingly digital.
Australia as a cashless society is on the cards
Banks, regulators and payment companies want to see cash go away. As its use declines, the cost of making, distributing and handling cash also rises. Plus, governments want better control over taxation and more effective means of fighting fraud and other crimes. Of course, fighting crime is good so long as it is actual crime. But what about when an activity that has never been a crime suddenly becomes one, such as some forms of worship, or Sabbath-keeping?
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) says that Australian Dollars may come only in digital form in the future. The RBA has flagged the end of the cheque, more or less in the near future. The central bank believes that there is a place for central-bank-issued digital currency in Australia. But, with cybersecurity and cryptography issues still not entirely resolved, a country like Australia that uses fully digital currency “is still some time away.” And though the RBA is not “actively” considering introducing a digital currency in Australia just yet, it is possible that the bank will produce and distribute such a currency in the future that would circulate parallel and on par to bank notes and coins as a prelude to demonetizing cash.
Central banks in other countries, like the Bank of England, the Bank of Canada, and even the Bank of China are researching the possibility of demonetizing cash.
Australia may become a Cashless Society
Is Australia Going Cashless Too?
Should we scrap the $100 note?
“Supermarket customers in Britain are being offered the chance to pay for their shopping by using a fingerprint,” said the BBC. This started all the way back in 2006. “Three Co-op stores in the Oxford area are offering the service,” and by now there are certainly more. “It is said to be the first of its kind in Europe. It means that shoppers do not need to carry cash or cards to the supermarket and need not remember chip-and-pin numbers.” The new system “allows customers to have a finger scan linked to their bank details so payment for goods can be taken directly from [their] accounts,” said the BBC. It is free to use for customers who can register at home on the Internet or at the participating stores,” according to the BBC. Could we soon have the ability to bypass the ID card or coordinated driver’s license altogether? How easy would it be to link the fingerprint to government databases and record all sorts of information about customers, way beyond their buying patterns?
The leaders in going cashless are the Scandinavian countries, Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
“I don’t use cash any more, for anything,” said Louise Henriksson, 26, a teaching assistant in Sweden. “You just don’t need it. Shops don’t want it; lots of banks don’t even have it. Even for a candy bar or a paper, you use a card or phone.”
Cash transactions now make up only 2% of the value of all payments in Sweden in 2015, and only 6% of transactions in Norway. In retail shops, cash is now used for barely 20% of all payments, half the number five years ago. Retailers and services are increasingly eliminating cash so much that Swedes and other Scandinavians are used to cashless payments. For instance, Swedish buses have not taken cash for years. To buy a bus ticket on Stockholm metro with cash is impossible and retailers are legally entitled to refuse coins and notes.
Of Sweden’s 1600 banks, 900 no longer accept cash deposits, or keep cash on hand, and many rural branches no longer have ATMs. Over the last year, circulation of Swedish Krona fell to 80bn from 106bn.
“I think, in practice, Sweden will pretty much be a cashless society within about five years,” said Niklas Arvidsson, associate professor of Stockholm’s Royal Institute of Technology (KTH). Cards, the main form of payment, are now used three times more than Europeans.
But mobile apps have also taken off as technology has become more ubiquitous. Swish, a hugely popular app with over 9 million payments a month, allows customers to transfer money between banks in real time. “Swish has pretty much killed cash for most people, as far as person-to-person payments are concerned,” said Arvidsson. “It has the same features as a cash payment – real-time clearing…” Mobile apps with mini card readers attached to their phones are now common. Churches have also adopted cashless payments with one church reporting that 85% of their donations were made by phone. Sweden’s Nordic neighbors Norway, Denmark and Finland are also fast becoming almost entirely cashless societies.
Sweden Leads the Race to become Cashless
Australia as a cashless society is on the cards
Israel has established a special committee to study methods to bring Israel into a cashless society. They have recommended a three-phase plan to essentially do away with cash transactions in Israel. The reason for examining a cashless economy, says the government (as usual) is to combat money-laundering, tax-evasion, maximize potential tax collection, as well as expand the tax base.
The committee recommends greater restriction on the use of cash, limiting the use of checks and promotion of electronic payments. Their plan involves gradual limiting of cash transactions for business immediately to NIS 7,500 ($2,150 USD) and private cash transactions to NIS 15,000 ($4,300 USD) immediately, with lower limits later on. Stiff fines would apply to violators.
If governments are successful in enforcing a cashless society, they will not only have control of taxation, but they will also be in a position to enforce anything else they desire on their citizens. Just the threat of freezing their assets will be a powerful persuader.
Israel is the only seventh-day Sabbath keeping nation on the planet? Will it be one of the first to enforce a worship law? The enemy loves to use the very ones who were once God’s people to fulfill his will.
Top 10 Cashless Countries In The World
Israel may be the First Cashless Society
In just the last few years, Italy made cash transactions over €1,000 illegal; Switzerland proposed banning cash payments in excess of 100,000 francs; Russia banned cash transactions over $10,000; Spain banned cash transactions over €2,500; Mexico made cash payments of more than 200,000 pesos illegal; Uruguay banned cash transactions over $5,000; and France made cash transactions over €1,000 illegal, down from the previous limit of €3,000. These are just some of the less cash moves going on around the world.
The World’s First Cashless Society Is Here – A Totalitarian’s Dream Come True
National governments are not the only governments moving against cash. So are some local governments. For instance, the city of New Orleans has stopped accepting cash for payments at its motor vehicles department. Its Octoberfest beer festival is now a cashless event as well. London busses and many shops now refuse to take notes or coins, preferring touch-and-go mobile technology using smartphones.
The city of Bergamo, Italy collaborated with credit card companies, local merchants, the media, and other partners to incentivize its citizens to go cashless. They set goals and gave prizes when the city achieved cashless transaction goals. Individuals got prizes too.
And like in Scandinavia, Amsterdam is nearly cashless now. In Kenya, there is a payment system that allows millions of “unbanked” citizens to store digital cash on their phones and transfer it to anyone by text. Zimbabwe is similar with its own economic ecosystem. And there are many others. Cash is being relegated to second-class status.
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Cashless payments: How one city has made electronic transactions pay off
The World’s First Cashless Society Is Here – A Totalitarian’s Dream Come True
But does the data support the idea that fighting terrorism and crime requires the removal of high denomination notes? Not at all! Criminals will still be criminals. Terrorists will still be terrorists. They will find ways to ply their trade outside the cashless environment.
It turns out that the data shows that countries with higher denominations of cash actually have much lower crime rates, including organized crime. If you look at the World Economic Forum’s competitive rankings that assesses countries’ levels of organized crime, as well as the direct business costs of dealing with crime and violence, you will find that countries with high denomination notes tend to have much less crime than countries that don’t.
Switzerland, with its 1,000 Swiss franc note (roughly $1,000 USD) has among the lowest levels of organized crime in the world according to the WEF. Ditto for Singapore, which has a 1,000 Singapore dollar note (about $700 USD). Japan’s highest denomination of currency is 10,000 yen, worth about $88. Yet Japan also has extremely low crime rates. Same for the United Arab Emirates, whose highest denomination is the 1,000 dirham ($272).
If you examine countries with very low denominations of cash, the opposite holds true: crime rates, and in particular organized crime rates, are extremely high. Consider Venezuela, Nigeria, Brazil, South Africa, etc. Organized crime is prevalent. Yet each of these has a currency whose maximum denomination is less than $30. The same trend holds true when looking at corruption and tax evasion.
Georgia, a small country on the Black Sea whose flat tax prompted tax compliance (and tax revenue) to soar, is considered one of the most efficient places to do business with very low levels of corruption. And yet the highest denomination note in Georgia is the 500 lari bill, worth about $200. That’s a lot of money in a country where the average wage is a few hundred dollars per month. Compare that to Malaysia or Uzbekistan, two countries where corruption abounds. Malaysia’s top cash note is 50 ringgit, worth about $11. And Uzbekistan’s 5,000 som is worth a paltry $1.57.
The bottom line is that the political and financial establishments want you to willingly agree with the idea of abolishing, or at least reducing cash. And they are pumping out all sorts of propaganda to get you to support it by trying to get you to equate crime and corruption with high denominations of cash. Simply put, it’s another scheme that will give them more power at the expense of your privacy and freedom.
Europe Proposes “Restrictions On Payments In Cash”
Friends, this is the stuff of end-time prophecy. The Bible tells us that there will come a day in which laws will be enacted criminalizing the true worship of God according to His commandments, on the seventh day of the week. And to enforce that law, the penalty will be exclusion from society, through corresponding no-buy, no-sell penalties, and eventually the death penalty for violating these worship laws.
Let us read it from Revelation 13 again. Verses 15-17 and onward tell us, “And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”
And in contrast the third angel of Revelation 14 says, “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God.”
So the choice is yours. Who are you going to worship? Whatever that is, keep in mind that it will affect how you live in society. Either you will be fully integrated, and lose your eternal salvation, or you will be excluded from society and have eternal life. That’s what it boils down to my friends. When you synthesize all that the Bible says about end-time worship issues, it becomes very clear that the economy will be tied to your worship. Right now, it doesn’t seem like it is possible, perhaps. But the Bible is clear that the connection is there. After all, the merchants of the earth are actively engaged with the Vatican to make themselves rich. It will seem the most natural thing to enforce a no-buy, no-sell law on everyone.
Remember the Bible says that “all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him,” except those whose names are written in Jesus’ book of life, who worship Him and Him only.
Jesus gave us the example of the central issue at the end time. He overcame the enemy on the same ground we must overcome. Listen to his words to Satan in the wilderness of temptation in Luke 4:6-8. “And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” This is the contest for which the nations are now preparing. And it is powerfully connected to the economy.
Listen to this statement from the Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 4, pages 423-425. “Fearful is the issue to which the world is to be brought. The powers of earth, uniting to war against the commandments of God, will decree that no man may buy or sell, save he that has the mark of the beast, and, finally, that whoever refuses to receive the mark shall be put to death. [Revelation 13:15, 17.]…
“The decree is not to be urged upon the people blindly. Every one is to have sufficient light to make his decision intelligently. The Sabbath will be the great test of loyalty; for it is the point of truth especially controverted…
“As the controversy extends into new fields, and the minds of the people are called to God’s down-trodden law, Satan is astir. The power attending the message only maddens those who oppose it. The clergy put forth almost superhuman efforts to shut away the light, lest it should shine upon their flocks. By every means at their command they endeavor to suppress the discussion of these vital questions.”
Do you think that would include economic means? Of course it will. I’ll read on. “The church appeals to the strong arm of civil power, and in this work, papists are solicited to come to the help of Protestants. The movement for Sunday enforcement becomes more bold and decided. The law is invoked against commandment-keepers. They are threatened with fines [that’s economic] and imprisonment, and some are offered positions of influence, and other rewards and advantages [some of which could be economic], as inducements to renounce their faith. But their steadfast answer is, “Show us from the word of God our error,”—the same plea that was made by Luther under similar circumstances. Those who are arraigned before the courts make a strong vindication of the truth, and some who hear them are led to take their stand to keep all the commandments of God. Thus light is brought before thousands who otherwise would know nothing of these truths.”
“Conscientious obedience to the word of God will be treated as rebellion… Affection will be alienated; children will be disinherited, and driven from home. The words of Paul will be literally fulfilled, “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” [2 Timothy 3:12.] As the defenders of truth refuse to honor the Sunday-Sabbath, some of them will be thrust into prison, some will be exiled, some will be treated as slaves. To human wisdom, all this now seems impossible; but as the restraining Spirit of God shall be withdrawn from men, and they shall be under the control of Satan, who hates the divine precepts, there will be strange developments. The heart can be very cruel when God’s fear and love are removed.”
Friends, this is a description of the circumstances you and I will face if we are faithful to God when a cashless society is thrust upon us. A cashless economy prepares society for the Bible’s end-time prediction concerning worship laws that will control who can make and spend money based on religious activity. This is similar to the way it was in the Middle Ages when Rome controlled the world.
Did you notice in that statement where it says “in this work, papists are solicited to come to the help of Protestants?” Perhaps it goes without saying that today’s evangelical leaders want to control government by working with the Trump administration to secure their aims, and this is the destination to which they are working. They are not discussing this right now. After all, the Sunday movement makes its way in darkness.
Listen to this statement from Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, page 452 “While men are sleeping, Satan is actively arranging matters so that the Lord’s people may not have mercy or justice.”
Do you think the move toward a cashless society is part of that? Let me read on.
“The Sunday movement is now making its way in darkness. The leaders are concealing the true issue, and many who unite in the movement do not themselves see whither the undercurrent is tending. Its professions are mild and apparently Christian, but when it shall speak it will reveal the spirit of the dragon. It is our duty to do all in our power to avert the threatened danger. We should endeavor to disarm prejudice by placing ourselves in a proper light before the people. We should bring before them the real question at issue, thus interposing the most effectual protest against measures to restrict liberty of conscience.”
Friends, our work at Keep the Faith is to keep these things before you and before the world so that you can see them coming before they arrive. The relentless war on cash is one of the key prophetic markers of the end times. At the same time as globalization is maturing; as western constitutions have been gutted; as the gay rights movement has been foisted on society; as the Jesuits have taken over the western political order; and as the ecumenical movement has matured under Pope Francis, the war on cash is ramping up as a significant element that will prepare the world for the final steps in the great controversy between Christ and Satan. The Bible tells us that Rome manipulates the economy and will use her influence to exclude God’s people from using money if they don’t bow to her demands. It will end in a huge economic disaster in which the merchants of the earth will throw dust on their heads and weep and howl for their miseries.
Oh friends, we need to be closer to Jesus than ever. These issues are big, but they are not being discussed very much, even from the pulpits of churches that should know better. Friends, let us not forget that we have a heaven to gain and a hell to shun. Your eternal destiny rests on the choices you make now. If you live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, He will protect you when the overwhelming time of trouble comes upon the world. Oh friends, give your heart to Jesus and the three angels messages today. Give your heart to Jesus so you can become a partner with Him in the latter rain. Let Christ have complete control of your life and mission. Whatever is happening in the political world, as fascinating and entertaining as it may be, let it not take your focus away from prophecy and its fulfillment. Let Jesus have your complete attention, and let His law saturate your heart with His love.
Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, please give us the backbone to resist the temptations of Satan to ignore the plain word of God. Please help us understand the issue that is coming to each of us. May we have clear understanding of our times and of the prophecies as they unfold before us. We are very near the end. For the first time in our lives, perhaps, we can clearly see that the Sunday law is very near, and the end of probationary time is soon to come. We pray that we may be ready today, and every day to meet Jesus in peace. In His precious and holy name, I pray, amen.