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Business Daily: Cash v Plastic

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Cash vs Plastic

13/09/2016 GMT

Cash v Plastic

BBC World Service - Business Daily, Cash v Plastic

Why is the UK getting a new five pound note in an increasingly cashless economy?

The Bank of England has printed a new five pound note made of plastic but does paper money have a future given how many financial transactions are electronic?

The BBC's John Humphrys test-drives the new British five-pound note by dunking it into a cup of coffee while Tim Halford, managing director for Cardtronics UK & Ireland, the country's largest cash machine operator, tells us why cash still has an important role to play despite the rise in cashless financial transactions. 

Meanwhile, Harvard University economist Kenneth Rogoff explains why central banks and the gun lobby in the US are loathe to give up on paper money and Nick Williamson, CEO and founder of Credits, tells us how block-chain software might eventually be used to underpin national currencies. Manuela Saragosa presents.

(Photo: The new polymer £5 note; Credit: Joe Giddens/WPA Pool/Getty Images)

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