Have a good Cashless. That’s the charming slogan of one of my Japanese banks in their efforts to increase cashless adoption among their customer base.

Even if somewhat lexically awkward, I would submit that it’s a better slogan than the “War on Cash” cliché we hear often from the U.S.

In fact, the push toward cashless in Japan represents a national effort, accompanied by substantial government encouragement leading up to the 2020 Olympics. However, the country has a long ways to go (see graphic).

As technologically advanced as Japan is, cash is still the predominant transaction medium. Many merchants do not accept anything else. I’ll never forget one particularly large transaction I witnessed that involved a huge volume of cash. We’re sitting in the lawyer’s conference room for a closing, and the assistants wheeled in a bill-counting machine. It felt like one of those illicit drug or weapons deals in the movies.

Below is a Rude VC infographic illustrating Japan’s position relative to other countries in terms of cashless adoption. Special thanks to Clarisse Lam for preparing this chart.

In a future post I will write about some of the cashless products that have caught my attention, both from the perspective of an investor and as a regular consumer.

Until then, have a good cashless.