“Cashless payments are on the rise. They are fast, easy and convenient. Worldwide, cashless transactions have become the norm. This documentary shows who is behind the worldwide anti-cash lobby. The ordinary citizen’s view of cash as a store of value, independent of third party interests, is being increasingly ignored. But for them, cash is and will remain a symbol of freedom.”
DW Documentary
Published on Nov 21, 2018
How cash is becoming a thing of the past | DW Documentary
Cashless payments are on the rise. They are fast, easy and convenient. Worldwide, cashless transactions have become the norm.
But Germany’s central bank and government are still clinging on to cash. Can they stop the move towards a cashless society? Our documentary shows who is behind the worldwide anti-cash lobby. Banks want to get rid of coins and bills for cost reasons, and politicians think less cash will cut the rug out from under criminals and terrorists. Central bankers want to abolish cash because it would make it easier for them to enforce negative interest rates. And digital payment companies like Paypal or Visa simply want to profit from money transactions and collect as much financial data about consumers as they can. Their aim is to gain complete control over our buying behavior. For example, the “Better than Cash Alliance” in New York is supported by financial corporations such as Visa or Mastercard. They say the more people that are integrated into the international financial system, the more growth and jobs it will promote. But as our financial behavior becomes more and more transparent, states are also using payment data to find out more about us. The ordinary citizen’s view of cash as a store of value, independent of third party interests, is being increasingly ignored. But for them, cash is and will remain a symbol of freedom.
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Drones, robots, mobile payments – Africa s growing digital business | DW Documentary
Mobile payments, drones monitoring harvests, robots directing traffic – Africa’s image is changing.
Transactions made by text message, fields monitored by drones, and traffic regulated by robots. The film “Digital Africa – A Continent Reinventing Itself” challenges what we think we know about Africa. From Nairobi to Kumasi, from Kenya to Ghana, start-ups in Africa’s high-tech hubs have been coming up with inspiring technological novelties. This documentary explores the innovative power of the African continent, and meets the entrepreneurs, developers and high-tech professionals in Kenya, Rwanda and Ghana behind it all. We visit innovation centers and start-ups that give slum dwellers access to green gas, build robust tablets for schools, or put together lab kits for future engineers and programmers. African inventors present apps that provide access to doctors or prepare educational content for children, regardless of where the user lives. Start-ups is Africa are also experimenting with the blockchain technology currently hyped in Europe. Mobile charging stations with internet access are helping reduce supply problems in rural villages, and 3D printers built locally from e-waste are printing out medical equipment that then no longer needs to be purchased at sky-high prices in the Global North. This film shows an innovative and creative Africa that – until now – Europe has hardly taken notice of.
DW Documentary
Published on Dec 11, 2018
Bitcoin – Blockchain and the dream of new money – Founders Valley | DW Documentary
The 2008 financial crisis spread distrust in banks and sped up the acceptance of new kinds of money. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin now promise to provide transparent, democratic alternatives. Startups in the Philippines are disrupting old structures.
More than 50 million Filipinos are unbanked. FinTech startups are now giving them access to money. With little access to formal banking services, millions in the Philippines can’t save money, take out loans or perform other simple financial transactions. Now FinTech startups are raising levels of financial inclusion. Founders here believe the country is ripe for change, and that cryptocurrencies will provide the momentum. Blockchain ambassador Lina Seiche, the founder of Blockchats, is working for change through bitcoin and decentralized networks. SCI founder Miguel Cuneta is helping that change along by offering services like bill payment, e-commerce, cashless transactions, and of course, cryptocurrency wallets. He’s enabling people in the unbanked market – like waste-pickers – by helping them participate in the world of digital commerce. Founder David Kath is aiding them as well by eliminating middlemen in the plastic industry with technology that allows waste-pickers to triple incomes. Turned into digital tokens in an e-wallet, plastic has become their money.
DW Documentary
Published on Dec 14, 2018
