is worth around US$21, so you had to stack 1000 notes to buy an ordinary Toyota Vios car, which costs 500 million (US$21,000). And back then, that’s what people did. Cash in every part of society, regardless of economic level, was prolific a decade ago. Which makes the nation’s transformation into one of the world’s least cash-dependent societies remarkable. Aided by a vibrant tech industry, and a proliferation of smartphones, cash has lost its appeal as a means of payment by pretty much anyone aged under 50. Government regulations prohibiting businesses from paying any expenses valued at over $1000 in cash, along with consumer concerns that Covid-19 could be transmitted by passing on paper money (there are no coins in Vietnam) have also given the trend ahealthy kick-along. Over lunch at the office one recent day, four of my team and I talked about our use of cash and the results stunned me. Of the five of us, the one with the most cash on them had only 100,000VND($4.26). Two of us had none at all, the other two less than $2. The two most-preferred methods of payment were debit card and QR codes, with a simple bank transfer – using mainstream banking apps – a close third. I joked during a presentation earlier this year that more Vietnamese can recite theirbank account number off the top of their head than their phone number. In our survey, I was proven wrong, but only because most of our banks use incredibly long, complicated numbers (In contrast, I buy pet food over the phone from a store with a six-digit account number, an abbreviation I have neverquite understood). But all of us have our account numbers saved in our phones and easily accessible should we need to pay someone by transfer which in Vietnam is now instant. Just two years ago – clearly a late adopter – I felt embarrassed using a Visa debit card for a $2 purchase at a convenience store. Not any more. Tap & Go features, or even the old-fashioned swipe or insert method, take no more time than counting out crinkled notes. Nowadays, like most of my colleagues, I’madjusting to opening my banking app, scanning a QR code on the counter and entering the amount I am paying before confirming by fingerprint on the screen. The simplicity and ease seem just a trifle undermined when the cashier has to photograph the confirmation message on my screen on a store smartphone – but I guess in time a way will be found to circumvent that. Digital payments are secure, cleaner than cash, fast and simple (until a bank’s connectivity fails and then they are not, but that is rare these days). They are safer for retailers – especially roadside vendors selling food on kerbsides, many of whom now display a QR code or their bank account number on a sign for those who don’t have cash. You can’t rob digital cash on the roadside! Meanwhile, most of us had not used an ATM for several months; in one case for two years! Even three years ago, you would often queue at an ATM to withdraw cash. Shopping centres had rows ofthem bearing competing banks’ logos. Nowadays there are few queues and fewer ATMs. Those that remain are lined up against the wall like dateless geeks at a Prom, screens winking and blinking in a vain attempt to draw attention. Digital payments and banking apps are not new. What is new – in Vietnam at least, and in other Southeast Asian markets – is the adoption rate. The tide has turned. On a quick recent business trip to Singapore, I encountered two cafes that did not accept cash at all. To my relief in both cases, my coffee was settled instantly from my Vietnamese bank account after a quick tap of the card. In past trips, I’d have prepared cash or withdrawn from an ATM for out-of-pocket expenses. The tide has turned. Cash is fast becoming an endangered species.