Bartering was the first known method of humanity invented for exchanging goods or services. However, simple problems such as comparing perishable and nonperishable items, or how many cows should you exchange for how much clothes eventually paved way for the development of newer methods. Commodity money, i.e. money that has intrinsic value such as gold and silver coins then came into being. This eventually evolved into the system of representative money i.e. paper money. The first banknotes in Europe were issued by  Stockholms Banco, a Swedish bank in 1661; four centuries forward, Sweden is on its way to becoming the first cashless country in the world in 2023.

Findings from the World Payments Report 2018 show that global digital transaction volumes grew at 10.1% in 2016 to reach a staggering 482.6 billion. Emerging economies of Asia (25.2%) and Central Europe Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) (17.1%) were the main driving force behind the growth. Such huge growths were possible because of governments’ initiatives to increase financial inclusion and increasing adoption of mobile banking services.

With technological upgrades, credit cards, mobile money wallets and online payment systems such as PayPal assist in making our lives a lot easier. Findings from a PayPal report called ‘Digital Payments: Thinking beyond Transactions’, where 4000 consumers and 1400 merchants of seven countries- China, India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia were surveyed, 69% of the respondents cited convenience as the number one reason for using digital payments frequently. Carrying cash can be a headache at times- be it from risk of theft, not having change or even forgetting what you spent your money on, the list goes on. 38% said secure transactions was why they preferred using digital payments while 35% said discounts and promotional offers they received acted as a push factor in opting for digital payments.

General trends in nominal economic indicators suggest that Bangladesh is on a rampant path of socioeconomic progress – the emphasis of the Awami League Government has been in the vicinity of real GDP increases over the past 10 years of their rule. In all certainty, whether it be in the avenues of enhancing the quantity of education services across the country or investing in information technology, successive regimes headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina have led the country towards impressive strides with relation to increasing GDP figures. Yet in my opinion, there is a need to question the Government on 3 key areas of progress: 
 

• What entails the concept of development?
• Are constitutional rights being protected in the search to achieve economic emancipation?
• Are democratic institutions being acquiesced into the developmental journey?

For much of the last century, the story of the Rohingya has been one of a people fleeing forces beyond their control. The genocide that took our Facebook feeds by storm didn’t materialize out of ether in 2017, it has been decades in the making.