The Bible warns about a mandatory mark, which will be implemented as part of a global payment system before the return of the Lord Jesus. The world is already drawing closer to that system through a series of transitional steps.
In western nations like the United States, we have gradually adapted to paying without cash by using credit cards, debit cards, PayPal, swiping our cell phones, and a few U.S. retailers are even accepting payments using fingerprint scanners. So things are moving along here, but what about in other parts of the world?
On November 8, India, the world’s second largest nation with over 1.26 billion people, took actions to move closer to a cashless society by announcing a ban on 500-rupee and 1,000-rupee notes. The Indian government is justifying the actions the same way our government does, by claiming it is for our own protection as part of a crackdown on corruption and needed to put a stop to counterfeit notes.
On Sunday, November 27, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation, as reported by Reuters:
“I want to tell my small merchant brothers and sisters, this is the chance for you to enter the digital world,” Modi said speaking in Hindi, urging them to use mobile banking applications and credit-card swipe machines.
“It’s correct that a 100 percent cashless society is not possible. But why don’t we make a beginning for a less-cash society in India?,” Modi said. “We can gradually move from a less-cash society to a cashless society.” [See the full report]
Although India’s Prime Minister is pushing for greater use of use digital payment platforms, the transition process there still has a long way to go because India is one of the world’s heaviest users of cash, accounting for over 90% of total transactions. By contrast, as of 2011, consumers in western nations like Canada, France, and Belgium used cash in less than 10% of transactions while consumers in the United States used cash in less than 20% of transactions.
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