Understanding The Elders’ Fear Of Digital Payment Method

Digital payment in the modern world has surely become a very convenient system to most of us. However, some it not most of the older people are avoiding the cashless mode and prefer the traditional cash payment. A few of them are concerned about the hidden charges and the fact that the money and transaction itself is processed on a computer, something without discernment should anything go wrong.

Here are their reasons:

True enough, the digital payment method requires one to create an account, input personal information, then upload all the necessary identification, before getting verified. It is indeed a time-consuming process at the beginning. The elderly would even complain that any attempt for payment that they would do would require entering a password, waiting for a security code through phone, and email before the payment would proceed. This is in contrast with the traditional cash method where they would just hand the money and everything's all done.

This system uses technology and gadgets - something that the elderly are not well-versed about. The menu of a bank app's dashboard can be too overwhelming, for someone who is not familiar with the technicalities of software. It's not as simple as plug and play, because most digital wallets would need more than one click to make payments, transfer money, and do transactions. For the seniors, this is not just "one click away". If you happen to miss typing a number, either the payment won't proceed or the money would go to somebody else's account.

Our senior family members are usually afraid of the digital payment system because it means that they would physically part from their money by putting it in a bank account to 'store' the cash in the app. For them, this means that it's possible that the money would fall in the wrong hands. This is true for people who become victims of financial frauds and scams. 

Security has been the biggest concern of people who are not into the cashless mode, not just for the elders. Passwords can be misplaced. Personal information may be shared and be used by the scammers to sweep your bank account. A mistyped number in the account information could transfer your money to the wrong person and never get it back. Some deposits might not even get reflected into the account. Refund process may be available but it's too burdensome for most.

The digital payment method does not really appeal to the elderly for these reasons. It is suggested that banks and merchants offer better safety measures and features so people would not reject this modern method. At the household level, it will help our senior family members a lot if they know a little more about the basic technical features of their phone and the mobile banking app.