Saturday, 15 April 2017

Top 10 Cashless Countries In the World

By Kar 
Cashless transactions have become very popular in recent time. Such transactions entail the use of an account that contains money you have added previously. It helps you to take care of payments immediately. Today there are many online wallets out there as well as an assortment of card-based payment options that can be used. 

In fact, cashless transactions have become especially desired in many countries. This is especially the case in India where some monetary notes were suddenly taken off the market due to laundering and corruption issues. 



Cashless transactions are great for many reasons: 

  • They make it easier for people to move money between countries. Cashless transactions can be transferred with automatic currency exchange functions if needed. 
  • This also helps to get money moved immediately. There’s no need to worry about funds being certified or confirmed, a process that often takes a while. 
  • It is also a secure option. There’s no need to send bank account information or credit card data to anyone. All that is required is a proper account with a cashless money service to get money sent out. 
  • The risk of fraud is also eliminated thanks to cashless transactions. This comes as such transactions are easy to prepare without the risk of fake money being transferred. 
Many countries have greatly adapted cashless transactions over the years. India is not on this list of the top 10 cashless countries in the world but considering how that country is making a massive push for it, don’t be surprised if it gets there soon. 

Top 10 Cashless Countries In the World 

1. Singapore – 61 percent 

The culture of Singapore has focused heavily on technology over the years. This is different from other countries where ATMs are prevalent. The government has especially helped to encourage cashless transactions around the city-state. National ID numbers are also being used to send money to bank accounts rather than traditional bank account numbers, thus improving upon how secure such payments are. 

2. Netherlands – 60 percent 

The Netherlands has long been known for being a country where people often act differently. The efforts by the government to promote cashless transactions have been strong. The Schiphol airport in Amsterdam is especially a popular place for cashless functions. Most high-value items like rent payments are also made with cashless systems. 

3. France – 59 percent 

Contact-less payments are becoming more popular in France. This allows people to use a card or phone to take care of small payments without having to enter a PIN. Digital wallets are also popular around the country. In fact, cash payments of €1,000 or higher are outlawed in France as the country is aiming to get high-value transactions handled in a cashless manner. 

4. Sweden – 59 percent 

Many of the largest banks in Sweden no longer deal with physical cash. Many street stalls take online wallet or credit card transactions only. It is big part of why 59 percent of transactions are online or cashless. Mobile transactions are especially easy to work with in many parts of Sweden. 

5. Canada – 57 percent 

The Canadian government does not take cash payments for many charges anymore. Nearly three-quarters of transactions are handled by credit card with a vast number handled through online wallets. The Interac system has also become popular around the country. It allows people to make payments through debit cards throughout the entire country. 

6. Belgium – 56 percent 

The Belgian government has established limits on how big cash-based payments can be around the country. This is to establish a cashless and online payment society. Cash payments of €3,000 are prohibited and all cash payments are not allowed when taking care of real estate investments.  

7. United Kingdom – 52 percent 

It is estimated that a typical person in the UK has less than twenty pounds in physical money on hand. In fact, buses in London no longer take physical cash. Whether the UK will eliminate money altogether in the future is uncertain. The Paym mobile payment system is the most popular solution available in the country. 

8. United States – 45 percent 

In addition to online wallets, NFC payments are becoming commonplace in the United States. This is where people can use their phones linked to proper accounts to pay off different transactions at many points of sale all around the country. The development of chip-based debit cards has especially helped to bring about a cashless society. 

9. Australia – 35 percent 

Credit card companies have been testing many quick-pay services around Australia over the years. These include contact-free payment systems that improve upon how well transactions may be used. In fact, contact-free payments have become popular in the debit card world around Australia, thus keeping personal data from having to be shared. 

10. Germany – 33 percent 

Online wallets are a key part of what is causing Germany to go cashless. PayPal has especially become an essential system in Germany. The online wallet allows for fast transactions and has spawned various competitors all around Germany. 
Source: www.top10songs.org

Quote for the day

"Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness." - James Thurber

Friday, 14 April 2017

The SriLankan Share Market Wishes its readers a Happy Sinhala and Tamil New Year



Quote for the day

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.” - Steve Jobs

Thursday, 13 April 2017

6 Toxic Beliefs That Hinder Your Success

By Oskar Nowik

Oftentimes, the only barrier that prevents you from becoming successful is your own mind. If you don’t control your brain, it will control you. When the latter is your case, you likely gathered tons of toxic beliefs and negative affirmations which taint your life and limit your perspective. It’s a mental cage that enslaves many people, sometimes for good. The fact is, you can and should eradicate the harmful thoughts and finally break the bars of your mind cage.

The purpose of this article is to point the damaging beliefs so you could find out whether they took up residence in your brain and separate yourself from the negative energy.

1. “It’s not the right time.”

Procrastination is a dangerous disease and if you don’t take action, it will eventually eat all your dreams for breakfast. Achieving something extraordinary scares our minds since it requires leaving your comfort zone and facing the unknown.

The truth is, however, every single remarkable achievement involves discomfort. Fortunately, the final result is worth the effort. But to start getting closer to your goal, you need to stop believing that today isn’t the right time to start.

Based on my experience, putting any of my goals off was a bad decision. It’s when I finally began working toward something that I realized there’s no reasonable excuse for postponing. Every time you do it, you harm yourself only because a fictional belief your mind serves you.

From now on, accept the fact that it’s always better to start, fail and then get up stronger and wiser, instead of waiting for the perfect moment (which never arrives).

2. “I’m not good enough.
”

If you base your opinion completely on your mind and you didn’t train it yet to work for you, you are probably stuck. Lack of self-belief can be extremely damaging, but in reality, there’s no fair reason not to believe in yourself. You are the first person that need to truly believe in your abilities.

Once you make a switch, the rest will adapt your assumption. It never happens the other way around. What I’m getting at is that being good enough or being inadequate is only a state of mind and not an absolute fact. That’s why you should always believe in your competences even when you face the worst moment in your life. Self-belief leads to more confidence in your strengths which is required to survive the tests life throws at you.

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t — you’re right.” - Henry Ford

3. “I’m not an expert.
”

There’s a weird assumption in some people’s brains that you need to be really good at something to be allowed to do it. Although they believe experts are born, in real life you need to start from scratch and go through moments of uncertainty so that one day you become savvy and experienced.

If you are completely inept at something, that’s the perfect point to begin at. Sometimes we fool ourselves believing in the overnight success the Television tries to inspire us with. In fact, behind every true expert there is a story of a beginner who went through countless failures, tons of hard work and constant practice.

4. “I will surely fail.”


It’s impossible to foretell the future, yet many people spare no effort to envision the worst scenario. It’s very likely that you’ll fail at something completely new, but it doesn’t mean you can’t succeed as well. In fact, every successful person admits that failure is an inseparate part of their success. One cannot exist without the other.

What you need to believe is that failing is momentary. Even if it feels like forever, achieving your goal is closer than you think, so don’t give up and try once again.

Do you know what’s bitter than failure? It’s asking yourself a regretful question, namely “what if”. What if I tried one more time, maybe I would succeed? You don’t know until you do it.

5. “I will start once I have more…”


More time, more money and more willpower? The fact is, none of these things happens by accident. It’s always a result of preparation, work, and perseverance. You need to abandon the toxic belief that a better environment for success will originate by itself.

To have more time, you must eliminate the unnecessary commitments and learn to say no. To have more money, you must take care of your financial stability or maybe create your own business.

The very same thing applies to willpower — it’s earned, not given. Once you realise that you are the master of your universe, you are on the right path to success.
6. “I’m not lucky.”

Whereas successful people take a full responsibility for their achievements, the crowd tends to believe the luck made them outstanding. The truth is, luck plays a role, but it’s a drop in the ocean of hard work, right attitude and persistence.

My advice would be to exclude luck from your visions. Assume that it doesn’t matter at all and everything can be influenced by your actions. Actually, that’s truth and you realize it at the moment you see the results of your efforts.
www.lifehack.org

Quote for the day

“I think the things you regret most in life are the things you didn’t do.” - Steve Jobs