Fiji will never go fully cashless, says RBF governor

Fiji will never go fully cashless — and it should not try to, Reserve Bank of Fiji Governor Ariff Ali says.

Despite billions of dollars now flowing through digital wallets and online payment systems, Mr Ali said cash remained an essential backup that no country could afford to abandon entirely.

"I don't think we can totally eliminate cash," Mr Ali said at Wednesday's FCEF State of the Economy breakfast at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva.

He pointed to Sweden and other European countries that had pushed hard towards cashless economies, only to reverse course after their digital payment systems failed and left people with no way to buy basic goods.

"You can build the most modern building, but as an escape route or the second option, you still have to have the steps," Mr Ali said.

His comments came in response to a question about whether Fiji's banking system would soon enable options like Apple Pay and Google Pay.

Mr Ali said the Reserve Bank had already invested heavily in a national payment system, with tens of millions of transactions and several billion dollars now moving through mobile wallets each year — significantly reducing the everyday reliance on physical notes and coins.

He said the goal was to keep reducing cash use because handling it was costly for banks and the broader economy — but not to eliminate it.

"If you can minimise the use of cash, that is good because it's a cost," he said.

"But cash will be there."