NEWS UPDATE - August 2019

"India's Aadhaar enabled payment system (AEPS) surpassed 200 million transactions with biometric authentication in the month of July, 2019 ... The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) announced the milestone, which is instrumental to India's financial inclusion efforts, according to the report. A total of 220.18 million transactions with a combined value of 96.85 billion rupees (US$1.36 billion). The system was used by 66.5 million Indian citizens during July." (source)

It is amazing to think how far a country like India has progressed with this in a matter of a few years. And the number of people using this biometric payment system is growing all the time. But it is not just India where this is taking place. The drive for a cashless society is gaining momentum all over the world. A couple of weeks ago, we reported that the 'clock is ticking down on mass deployment of biometric payment cards' and the CEO of the Bank of America saying 'we want a cashless society', spending over $30 billion during the past 8 years to get the technological infrustructure in place. Just look at the following news articles regarding this cashless push around the world:

AFRICA - "Creating a cashless Africa - Global and local organisations are investing in innovative digital payment systems and new disruptive payments tools to displace cash, while delivering new levels of inclusion to the benefit of consumers, businesses and governments. One of the leading technology companies in this realm is Mastercard." (source)

SOMALIA - "Cashless society improves community resilience in Somaliland - Somaliland is a place of contrasts: most people don't have a toilet or a water tap; they have to boil water (which they have to buy) before consuming it; yet most have a mobile phone, even in the most remote locations ... Shopkeeper Roble Barkad demonstrates how easy and quick going cashless is. A purchaser indicates what he wants to buy, texts an identifier and the agreed amount (US dollars or Somali shillings) followed by a hashtag. He accepts the payment, which is confirmed by text. Almost half of 350 households located nearby benefit from cash support via electronic transfer." (source)

The above is an interesting one. I visited our mission in Kenya in 2018 and found that even the very poor people had mobile phones. So just as the above article states - 'it is very easy and quick to go cashless.' And look at this for a statistic - "While there are still 1.7 billion people worldwide without bank accounts, two-thirds of those people have mobile phones that can access online financial services (source)

CHINA - "Cashless payment booms in China and India spell end of the ATM - The number of ATMs worldwide has started falling as big economies increasingly go cashless. With cash payments declining, banks are having to quickly rethink their business models to survive ... In China, the world's largest market, the number of ATMs fell 6.8% from a year earlier ... In China, the swift adoption of noncash payments has contributed to a similarly rapid fall in ATM installations." (source)

JAPAN - "Visa to Push Biometric, Mobile Tech at 2020 Tokyo Olympics - The 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics are just a year away, and as the Olympic Games' Worldwide Payment Technology Partner, Visa is once again gearing up to promote cutting-edge payments technologies among attendees and even participants ... the company has announced that it's going to push the envelope even further in Tokyo, with a strong focus on mobile and biometrics payment options ... It's a plan in support of a 'Cashless Japan' initiative on the part of the Japanese government, which appears to be tied to government authorities' efforts to support the development of biometric payment systems that would link visitors' fingerprint biometrics to the travel documents and payment accounts." (source)

RUSSIA - "Half of payments made by Russians in the first quarter of 2019 were cashless - The number of cashless payments in Russia was 49.4 percent of the total amount of expenses for the first quarter of 2019. This is 5.2 pp higher than last year's result. In the first quarter of 2019, the residents of 29 regions made more cashless payments than cash ones." (source)

Above is just a small example of what is going on around the world regarding the cashless society push. The drive to make our society a cashless one is gaining more and more momentum all over the world. Governments and businesses are steering us right into this, turning this world into a 'world of convenience.' I hardly ever use cash myself now, due to the ease of buying products with a simple swipe of a card. So why is this happening? It is because of a prophecy that was given thousands of years ago by God. Look at what we read in Revelation 13:

"Revelation 13:16-17 ...'And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.'

The Lord warned us that the mark of the beast would be enforced around the world and that those who rejected the mark would not be able to buy and sell. So think about it, what system needs to be put in place to accomplish this? A cashless society, because if we could still use cash to buy and sell when the mark is enforced, then those in control would not be able to stop us buying and selling. Whereas, if cash is done away with and replaced with electronic/biometric systems, then they can easily stop us.

The cashless society is growing fast. What does that tell us? That we are approaching the enforcement of the mark and the time of trouble. Which means we need to be growing closer to Jesus Christ every day, so that we will be ready for the trouble ahead and have the faith to stand true, even when we cannot buy or sell and lose everything in this world.

Now many Christians say that the mark of the beast is a literal mark, like the RFID chip. But do you see anything regarding an RFID chip in these plans for biometric payment systems? No, not at all. And that is because the RFID chip is OLD technology and not even needed anymore. Yes there are some people in places like Sweden getting these chips, and certain Christians are jumping all over this, saying ... "that's the mark of the beast!" ... No, that is NOT the mark of the beast. RFID chips are not even needed and are not being focused on by the big tech and payment companies. It is all biometrics now, using fingerprints/eye scans etc, - EU moves closer to requiring biometrics on national ID cards. So what is the mark of the beast? It is all to do with worship and who we give our allegiance to. Please see our pages below for more information:

IS THE RFID CHIP THE MARK?

WHAT IS THE MARK OF THE BEAST?