Crises and tribulations, while terrible, are often opportunities to revisit ways of doing things and long-held opinions, and we should expect exactly this kind of self-reflection in the aftermath of the recent coronavirus outbreak. One unlikely area that Hong Kong might choose to reflect upon is its long-held preference for cash over other forms of payment.
Cash has long been identified as a breeding ground for disease. A 2017 study in New York City found several hundred micro-organisms, from both humans and animals, living on the vast majority of bank notes sampled, with the most common pathogens including E. coli and salmonella. Most “paper money” is in fact made out of a mixture of cotton and linen — a warm, soft, and moist environment capable of capturing anything already on your hands and providing these micro-organisms with a habitat in which to live and multiply. A separate study, also in 2017, suggested that bank notes are a perfect environment for over 3,000 types of bacteria to live and settle in, and while most bacteria and viruses can survive on a typical surface for only 48 hours, certain strains of the flu virus have been observed living on bank notes for a whopping 17 days!
This shouldn’t be surprising, considering how we as humans deal with and handle paper money. Think about where we tend to find money outside of the wallet — pockets, vending machines, under a mattress — all also warm and moist environments perfect for bacteria and other germs. Notes tend to be placed on dirty surfaces in public places such as counters and tables before being placed back in one’s wallet or pocket. It’s also a common habit among many people to lick their thumb before counting out notes, transferring germs from saliva onto the notes themselves and back again. Another habit, one that we’re all familiar with, is to reach for and use the older, dirtier and ripped bank notes, while keeping the newer, crisp notes for later use. This all but guarantees that a small subsection of the total notes in circulation get used over and over again, while the cleaner ones remain in people’s wallets or inside gift envelopes. No surprise then that scientists have estimated handling a bank note to be about as sanitary as placing your hands on the seat of a public toilet.
Speaking of toilets, research in the United States in 2002 found that 94 percent of dollar bills showed pathogens that are typically found only in fecal matter (“poop”, to you and me). If that’s not enough, a study of US$1 bills in America found traces of cocaine on 80 percent of studied notes.
The infrastructure that makes mobile payments possible has spread across Hong Kong like wildfire, with most places now having some form of capacity to accept those solutions provided by handset-makers and mobile apps
In fact, there have been a number of high-profile cases in which people have had money confiscated from them while passing customs after sniffer dogs detected illegal narcotics on money in their wallets. These people have then had to sue in order to get this money returned to them.
All of this is compounded over a long period of time, of course, as the average bank note is in circulation for five to 15 years. Even if you personally strive to use only clean bank notes, the rollers inside ATMs are also capable of spreading germs and bacteria from one note to the next. This issue is also why even bank cards do not escape the danger either — studies estimate that 10 percent of bank cards have traces of fecal matter too.
It is not the intention of this author to add to the mass hysteria and misinformation, which has become one of the mainstays of these tragic weeks. It is rather a reminder that in addition to washing and de-sanitizing hands after touching surfaces, door handles, and other things in public places, one should also be taking the same precautions when handling paper money. This is a habit that one should take up and keep, even in the times after the current outbreak. And perhaps it is therefore time for Hong Kong as a whole to reconsider its approach to other forms of payment; specifically, those available on your mobile phone.
The infrastructure that makes mobile payments possible has spread across Hong Kong like wildfire, with most places now having some form of capacity to accept those solutions provided by handset-makers and mobile apps. Unlike either cash or cards, these methods do not require other people to touch things that could then be handed back to you, as they operate on near-field communication technology, which means that holding the phone or smart watch near the payment device is enough to settle the bill. And even if you do not wish to experiment with new forms of payments (a recent survey said 60 percent of Hong Kong people had never used mobile payments), there is still our trusted transportation card, the Octopus, which has become ubiquitous across the city. Recent updates to its functionality mean that it can now be topped-up from an app on your phone, removing the need to handle physical cash. Updates coming later this year will allow your phone or smart watch to substitute for the card itself, allowing you to leave it at home.
So, during this period, where people are paying attention to sanitary conditions more than ever before, perhaps more people in the city would be advised to give “contactless” payments a go, and maybe we just might end up liking the convenience too.
The author is a technologist and educator, and was most recently running the Hong Kong branch of a major blockchain firm.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
