We have less and less cash in our wallets. Cash is disappearing, and that's a problem. Because that puts all financial power in the hands of companies. The reach of companies in our lives via maps and apps is so great: who benefits from a cashless society and who is left behind? Is the end of cash the end of true privacy? And is a cashless future closer than we think?


Cloudmoney tells a revealing story about the merger of big finance and tech, where physical money should be replaced by digital money or “cloud money”. Brett Scott dives beneath the surface of the global financial system and discovers a long-standing lobbying infrastructure waging a secret war on cash, while banking and tech companies promote a cashless society under the banner of progress. From anti-cash marketing strategies to weaponizing Covid-19 to advance fintech platforms, and the cryptocurrency rebels and fringe groups pushing back, Cloudmoney takes us to the front lines of a war for our wallets that is also about our freedom.

The banks are doing everything they can to make cash disappear. More and more ATMs are disappearing in the Netherlands. Many of these vending machines also have tighter opening hours. This is because many bank branches close, the remaining branches often get rid of their ATMs. For example, hundreds of vending machines have already closed. Compared to 25 years ago, the number of ATMs fell by a third. At the moment (28-02-2022), according to De Nederlandsche Bank's figures, there are still 4916 ATMs in the Netherlands. That is 879 less than a year earlier.

Compared to 25 years ago, the number of ATMs fell by a third. cashier at that time it already showed that one machine is shut down every day. The amount of card payments is increasing Cash disappears. Between 2011 and 2021, the number of cash payments in the Netherlands fell by 72 percent. During the same period, the number of card payments doubled, from 229 billion to 449 billion. After Finland, the Netherlands is the European leader in digital payment at the counter: in 2022, only 21 percent of payments were in cash.

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