It seems that the steps entities such as the EU have taken towards consolidating their member countries’ currencies, are steps on the path to cashless society. There’s been “crazy talk” (because it’s not so crazy after all) about consolidating the NAFTA countries’ currencies.
Bloomberg is reporting that this years banking ‘stress test’ will be for the emerging negative interest rates in Europe. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-02/rates-less-than-zero-is-bank-stress-fed-wants-to-test-in-201
We’re not as far behind as many would like to think.