While South Africans are going through the seven stages of grief coming to terms with the VAT increase – adding 0.5% this year and another 0.5% as a special treat next year – we should also be aware of the other stealth taxes about to be imposed upon our most vulnerable consumers. Welcome to the cashless economy, the latest wealth grab by businesses, banks, and our increasingly desperate tax authority.

You may be thinking that “cashless” is progress and that digitisation is the future. That’s all very nice in theory, but there is a catch to all this fancy future talk. The uncomfortable reality is that while cash transactions are free for buyers and sellers, digital payments are charged for in the form of bank and card charges that effectively increase prices for cost-sensitive customers who are ill-prepared to absorb those tiny charges that add up and enrich “benevolent” fintech entrepreneurs in the name of financial inclusion.