I love cash. Not in a hoarding oodles of illicit bank notes under the bed sort of way, but I like the look of it, the feel of it and the sense of national identity and even security hard cash brings. So I hope that predictions of an approaching cashless society are wide of the mark.

The stampede towards digitalising every aspect of our life is a legitimate source of worry for many people, not just the more elderly in society who feel increasingly left behind by the march - and the pace of progress - of technology.

We are increasingly encouraged to ditch our coins and notes in favour of online transactions, with Amazon leading the charge in this endeavour, while Sweden is set to become the first cashless society in 2023. It is now widely accepted that governments and large financial service operations are also keen to drive a move towards cashless societies - but does it really add up for us everyday citizens?

While there are perceived benefits associated with moving towards digital payment, including reduced crime and increased convenience, there is still a lot to be said about keeping currency - the most obvious upside surely being that cash helps us preserve our privacy.

And I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling that the crime reduction benefits of digitised transactions are somewhat overplayed when one considers the growing online crime sector dedicated to parting people from their hard-earned money. I would hazard a guess that we all know someone - if not ourselves - who has been the victim of some sort of identity fraud resulting in money disappearing from bank accounts.

And the online scams continue apace. Barely a week goes by without some Nigerian “lawyer” informing me of a multimillion dollar bequest from some long lost uncle, which is ready in a bank account and would I kindly send them my details. That or information about things I’m alleged to have ordered online - and if that’s not right, please click here (and then let us raid your bank account, being the scammers’ obvious next step). So the security argument doesn’t always stand up to scrutiny.

Losers in a cashless society will range from everyone to the very elderly to the very young - and the Tooth Fairy’s days will sadly be numbered. For that reason alone, we should fight tooth (ahem) and nail to keep our cash.