This important, detailed analysis entitled, ‘Releasing The Flow Of Digital Money: Hitting The Tipping Point Of Adoption’ gives the game away in its sub-title: “The benefits of digital money are clear, yet global adoption rises by only a small amount every year. Can prioritizing high frequency and high reach money  flows push consumer behavior toward the crucial tipping point of adoption?” 

This report, by Citi, in partnership with Imperial College London, explores the current state of digital money adoption - the migration from cash and cheques to credit/ debit cards, stored value instruments and other non-paper based mechanisms – across the world and lists the results of Citi’s 2016 Digital Money Index.

Five money flows and country assessments

The report identifies five “flows” that represent the global movement of money between governments, businesses and consumers: consumer retail payments ($23trn), ecommerce ($1.3trn), SME collections ($10.8trn), cross-border remmitances ($580bn), and government disbursements($9bn). It then assessed the progress in each country. They found that over the last two years the ‘Materially Ready’ countries had made more progress than less developed countries:

For the full Citi 2016 Digital Money Index, see full table at the end of this post for your country’s ranking.

Shifting consumer behaviour

Much of the report examines how to move consumers away from the dependence on cash and cheques. The researchers have developed a complex multi-faceted and impressive model of consumers behavour which includes concepts such as:

• culture effect
• propensity to adopt
• muscle memory in users.

The report’s final conclusion is that, “People are still reluctant to dispense with cash – even if they use digital money shows at some point in their  financial processes. Instead of making it easy for people to immediately withdraw cash, what’s required is an ecosystem that allows for digital transactions on an ongoing basis, across more than one connected flow.”

Sandeep Dave, Director for Global Digital Strategy at Citi followed commented:  “The themes from previous findings have been clear: the widespread use of digital money has real benefits, but adoption will receive a boost from solutions that are tailored to specific markets, often developed in partnership with other important players.” 

Citi’s 2016 Digital Money Index

Digital Money Index - 1

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CTMfile take: Citi really is forcing the pace in encouraging the world to adopt Digital Money. This report is recommended for an intersting understanding of how Digitial Money is developing world-wide, and for the country rankings.