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Cashless Payments and the Persistence of Cash: Open Questions About Mexico

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  • Gustavo A. Del Angel

Abstract

This essay analyzes the trends in payments in Mexico since 2002 and argues that there has been an important growth in the use of cashless digital payment instruments, namely the use of credit and debit cards, electronic funds transfers (EFTs) and mobile banking. However, the use of cash widely persists in the Mexican economy. The essay discusses the factors behind the persistence of the use of cash, and argues that low financial inclusion and informal economic activity are considered the main causes. Equally relevant is the fact that digital instruments are not a perfect substitute for cash as money yet, as it is the need to adequate payments services to the convenience and trust of segments of users, mainly population that still has little use or no access to financial services.

Suggested Citation

  • Gustavo A. Del Angel, 2016. "Cashless Payments and the Persistence of Cash: Open Questions About Mexico," Economics Working Papers 16108, Hoover Institution, Stanford University.
    • Handle: RePEc:hoo:wpaper:16108
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Paula Cruz‐García & María del Carmen Dircio Palacios Macedo & Emili Tortosa‐Ausina, 2021. "Financial inclusion and exclusion across Mexican municipalities," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(5), pages 1496-1526, October.
    2. Philip Gunby & Stephen Hickson, 2020. "Cashless Economies, Data Analysis, and Research-Based Teaching: The Versatility of the Velocity of Money for Teaching Macroeconomics," Working Papers in Economics 20/07, University of Canterbury, Department of Economics and Finance.
    3. Briano-Turrent, Guadalupe del Carmen, 2025. "The effect of financial inclusion on economic and social indicators in Mexico," Latin American Journal of Central Banking (previously Monetaria), Elsevier, vol. 6(1).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E42 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Monetary Sytsems; Standards; Regimes; Government and the Monetary System
    • G20 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - General
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • E49 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Other

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