{"id":400048,"date":"2019-03-18T02:00:09","date_gmt":"2019-03-18T01:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/the-gentrification-of-payments\/"},"modified":"2019-03-18T02:00:09","modified_gmt":"2019-03-18T01:00:09","slug":"the-gentrification-of-payments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/the-gentrification-of-payments\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gentrification of Payments"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A slow-moving phenomenon is unfolding all over the world. It will have serious consequences, but very few people are consciously aware of it, perhaps because it involves something seemingly banal and benign: the spread of digital payments. This phenomenon is not only occurring in the major cities of economically advanced nations, but also in poorer countries, often promoted via the \u201cfinancial inclusion\u201d programs of international development organizations in partnership with major financial institutions.<\/p>\n

The rise of digital payment (sometimes going under names like \u201ce-money\u201d, \u201cplastic money\u201d or \u201cmobile money\u201d), and the associated phasing out of physical cash, gives financial institutions and governments a new means of financial monitoring and control on an unprecedented scale. As I will argue, this can be seen as the <\/span>gentrification<\/em> <\/span>of payments.<\/p>\n

The term \u201cgentrification\u201d usually refers to the neighborhood process in which a marginalized community \u2014 often characterized by informal economic networks, street markets and a rough edgy vibe \u2014 finds their environment gradually diluted by the influx of wealthier newcomers who price them out and use their community as the setting for new formal markets.<\/p>\n

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