My country will be more or less cashless within a few years. We are handing over complete power over the economy to unaccountable private institutions, and the debate always comes down to convenience and eliminating robberies. It's a travesty.
(BTW not downvoting you, but your comment does inexplicably ignore coin op machines which are an existent, good solution.)
"The transaction is authorized either online and offline. For an online authorization, transactions proceed as they do today in the U.S. with magnetic stripe cards. The transaction information is sent to the issuer, along with a transaction-specific cryptogram, and the issuer either authorizes or declines the transaction. In an offline EMV transaction, the card and terminal communicate and use issuer-defined risk parameters that are set in the card to determine whether the transaction can be authorized. Offline transactions are used when terminals do not have online connectivity (e.g., at a ticket kiosk) or in countries where telecommunications costs are high."
http://www.emv-connection.com/emv-faq/
It's in wide use in Europe, for instance a ticket machine on a train or tram, or for low-value transactions (bus tickets, fast food), or where there's no connection (purchase on a plane -- where they will probably only accept credit cards beyond a certain amount).
The example in the article, about the Coke vending machine. Imagine in the past, before vending machines - the only way you would be able to buy a Coke in that particular area would be if there was enough foot traffic to justify a full time real human being to sit there all day, with inventory of soft drinks, and exchange your cash for them.
The opportunity cost alone of having a human being sit there and accept payments, and risk being robbed, is immense compared to the cost of putting a vending machine there with an electronic payment system.
I would argue that without new technologies like this, your ability as a consumer to buy a Coke would be severely limited.
We might as well go back to a feudal society where everyone met in the village market during the morning to buy food and goods. The convenience factor alone of being able to buy anything you want in almost any area of the world, at any time of day or night, without having to have a live human being there to perform the transaction, is huge.