IELTS Advantages and Disadvantages Essay

Nowadays, many people pay by card or mobile phone and they don't use cash so much like before. In my opinion, the advantages of this development are more than the disadvantages.

First, paying without cash is very convenient. People do not need to carry a wallet with many coins and notes, they only need their phone. Also it is more faster in shops, because customer just touch the card on the machine. Another advantage is safety. If somebody lose their wallet, the money is gone, but if they lose a phone, the bank can stop the payment. So it is more safe for people.

However, there are some disadvantages too. Some old people don't know how to use mobile payment and they can feel difficult when shops don't accept cash anymore. In addition, when people pay by card they cannot see the money leave their hand, so they spend more money than they plan. For example my cousin always use his phone to buy coffee and snacks and at the end of month he has no money left. Also, if the internet or the bank system stop working, people cannot buy anything.

In conclusion, although cashless payment has some problems for old people and for controlling spending, I believe the advantages is bigger because it is convenient and safe. Government should help old people to learn how to use it.

In many countries, cards and mobile phones are rapidly replacing notes and coins as the normal way to pay. While this shift creates real difficulties for some groups, I believe its benefits clearly outweigh its drawbacks.

The most obvious advantage is convenience. A purchase that once involved counting out change now takes a second, which shortens queues in shops and at ticket barriers. Digital payment is also safer than cash in an important sense: a stolen wallet usually means lost money, whereas a stolen phone or card can be blocked within minutes and most fraudulent charges are refunded. Furthermore, because every electronic payment leaves a record, it becomes harder to hide income from the tax authorities, which helps governments collect the revenue that pays for schools and hospitals.

Nevertheless, the move away from cash has disadvantages that should not be ignored. Elderly people and those without a bank account may be unable to buy basic goods if shops stop accepting notes and coins. In addition, tapping a card feels less real than handing over money, so some people lose track of how much they are spending until their balance runs low. Complete dependence on electronic systems also creates a new weakness: when a bank's network fails, even people with money in their accounts cannot pay for food or fuel.

These problems, however, can largely be managed. Governments can require essential businesses such as pharmacies and supermarkets to keep accepting cash, banks can offer basic accounts and simple training for older customers, and individuals can switch on the spending alerts that most banking apps already provide. Since the drawbacks can be reduced in these ways, while the gains in speed, security and fairer taxation would be hard to achieve otherwise, I consider the shift to cashless payment a largely positive development.