I still remember the first time I tried to pay with cash in Scotland and was told, in that unmistakable local phrasing, almost apologetically, “Sorry, we’re card-only just now.”
This was early in the Covid-19 period. At first, it felt like a temporary public-health precaution. But it quickly became clear that something more permanent was under way. Restaurants, grocery stores, taxis and even small neighbourhood shops had moved to card-only payments. Bills were paid through apps. Rent, utilities, transport and food were all digital, all traceable and all frictionless. It was not uncomfortable. In fact, it was efficient. And that, I think, is the point.
Across parts of Europe, cash had already begun to fade long before the pandemic. The crisis simply accelerated a shift that was already under way. In Scandinavia, retailers and transit systems have pointed to practical benefits such as lower theft risk and simpler end-of day reconciliation. In parts of Africa and Asia, digital systems have reduced physical risks while improving record-keeping and access to financial services. Accounting became cleaner. Banking became faster.
Closer to home, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank has piloted a digital version of its currency through the DCash initiative, showing that even small states are exploring how payment systems might modernise. And as someone who has lived in cashless societies, none of this feels dramatic from the inside. It simply feels like evolution.
Cash still matters in VI
Back in the Virgin Islands, cash still plays a very visible role in daily economic life. Many businesses — and even some taxi drivers — can accept cards, yet cash remains widely preferred. Cheques still circulate, and cash still signals immediacy, trust and simplicity.
There are good reasons for this. Cash works when connectivity is unreliable. It works when systems go down. It works for informal transactions, for small operators and for people who do not want to deal with fees, delays or disputes. It carries a sense of autonomy. With cash, money is exchanged and no intermediaries are required. In small economies, cash also circulates locally in a direct way. Money handed from a visitor to a taxi driver can move straight into a grocery, a mechanic or a school fee without passing through external platforms or payment processors. That circulation has a social dimension as well as an economic one.
If that same taxi fare is paid digitally, the money still reaches the driver, but it travels differently. A small fee may go to a payment processor. The transaction settles through a banking network that may sit outside the VI. The payment depends on electricity, internet access and software working properly. None of this makes digital payments better or worse. It changes the structure of how value moves. This is what I mean by the economics of cash. It’s about how the form of money shapes where value goes, how quickly it moves and who benefits.
What tourism is showing us
Tourism already shows how both systems can coexist. Visitors increasingly expect to tap, scan or transfer. Younger travellers often carry little cash at all. Ride-hailing apps, digital wallets and card-based payments are standard to them. When friction appears, it influences behaviour. Sometimes spending shifts. Sometimes it pauses. Sometimes it moves elsewhere.
I have witnessed moments at the Cyril B. Romney Tortola Pier Park when visitors finished a tour only to realise they could not pay because digital options were unavailable and they were carrying little cash. Taxi operators then adapt in real time, finding a nearby ATM or a way to process a card. These moments are small, but they remind us that payment systems are part of the visitor experience.
I have also heard from workers at cafés and shops at the pier park who occasionally encounter visitors expecting to pay in euros. When told that euros are not accepted, they must switch to United States dollars, either in cash or by card. Nothing dramatic happens. The sale usually goes through. But moments like that quietly signal how global travel habits are shifting. They also hint at opportunity. In a world where currencies circulate more fluidly across borders, the ability to process different forms of payment smoothly can become a competitive advantage rather than a complication.
Governments and regulation
Globally, expectations will continue to evolve, and travellers will arrive in the VI with fewer physical notes and greater reliance on digital payments. Cash may no longer be the global default, but it remains a valid part of the mix. For the VI, this is not a threat. It’s a question of capacity.
It’s also worth recognising that governments do not modernise payment systems in isolation. They respond to global trends, financial-stability considerations and changing consumer behaviour. Around the world, regulators regularly assess how liquidity moves through financial systems, how digital infrastructure can improve resilience and how risks are managed in interconnected markets. As payment habits shift, financial institutions adjust infrastructure. They invest more heavily in digital systems while physical cash networks evolve more slowly. These are not sudden transformations. They are gradual responses to how money actually moves.
Another layer in VI
The VI’s position adds another layer. Unlike sovereign states that issue their own currency, the territory uses the US dollar without controlling its monetary policy. Interest rate decisions and liquidity conditions are shaped abroad. That reality does not prevent adaptation. But it means resilience is not about controlling the currency itself. It is about whether our banks stay connected, our payment systems stay online and our institutions work together when conditions become difficult.
When payments move digitally, more of the journey can be seen. For a small shop owner, that can mean clearer sales tracking and easier bookkeeping. For a taxi driver or tour operator, it can create an income history that may help when applying for a loan or expanding a business.
Digital systems can also reduce certain risks. Carrying less physical cash lowers the chance of theft or loss, and faster settlement can improve cash flow. When properly set up, digital payments can also keep money moving even when physical cash distribution slows.
But digital payments depend on systems. They rely on electricity, internet access and secure financial networks that often extend beyond our shores. If those systems fail, transactions pause. So while digital payments can improve efficiency for businesses, they also tie us more closely to infrastructure that must remain strong and secure.
In hurricane-prone territories such as ours, resilience must be considered. Cash has advantages during prolonged outages. Digital systems, however, can provide continuity when physical distribution networks are disrupted, provided there is backup power and secure connectivity. True resilience lies not in choosing one over the other, but in ensuring that both systems can function under stress.
Diversification
For small, open, tourism-dependent economies like the VI, global shifts matter, but they do not determine our destiny. Our economy is connected to the world. Visitors bring payment habits shaped elsewhere. Financial rules set in major economies influence the systems we use. That is the reality of integration.
Change does not arrive with an announcement. It arrives through spending patterns. And as regulators examine how liquidity moves and how digital systems can improve resilience, those shifts eventually filter down to everyday commerce. Business operators in the VI may already notice it quietly through various signs: funds settling into their accounts more quickly; different currency expectations; fewer physical notes in visitors’ wallets.
As currencies such as the euro and the yuan play a larger role in global trade, the VI does not need to abandon its anchor. The US dollar remains central to our system. Diversification, in practical terms, is about flexibility. It means a café owner being able to process a visitor’s foreign card without confusion. It means a hotel settling an overseas booking without long delays or high conversion costs. It means a local business receiving payment from abroad without unnecessary friction. And it means our financial services sector having the tools and safeguards to operate confidently in a world where multiple currencies and digital platforms coexist.
These are not signs of weakness. They are signs of maturity. Participation in a changing global system does not come from switching currencies. It comes from interoperability — being able to connect smoothly with the systems others are using. The VI has demonstrated adaptability before. We have modernised sectors, strengthened regulation and navigated external pressures. The transformation of payment systems is another chapter in that story.
The road ahead
Cash still plays a social role, an inclusion role and a resilience role. But relying on cash by default, without parallel preparation for a more digital and flexible financial world, carries its own risks. Digital systems also have a place. They serve efficiency, connectivity and global integration.
So the economics of cash is not about choosing between physical or digital currencies. It’s about knowing what happens after a taxi fare is paid or a coffee is bought, whether in cash or by phone. It’s about making sure that wherever that money travels, it still supports local businesses and keeps our economy moving forward.
In the VI, where cash still matters beyond simple payment, that transition deserves thoughtful attention. Not fear. Not resistance for its own sake. But understanding. Because economies do not change only through policy announcements. They change through everyday choices, how people pay, how businesses adapt and what becomes normal before anyone notices.
Cash still matters in the VI for now. And so does readiness. The questions are not whether change will come or how long “for now” lasts. The questions are how confidently we engage with it and whether we are shaping that future deliberately, or simply reacting to it when it arrives.