cash economy
Money changes hands
A cash economy is one where transactions happen primarily through physical currency rather than credit, checks, or digital payments.
The term often describes informal or underground economic activity that avoids banking systems and leaves no paper trail: Much of the work in the region operates as a cash economy, beyond the reach of tax authorities.
- barterDirect goods-for-goods exchange
- informalRelaxed, not official
- undergroundBelow ground or countercultural
- black marketIllicit trading system
- off-the-booksUnrecorded for tax purposes
untaxed · tax free · paper money · coins · transactions · street vendor · flea market · handshake · pocket · wallet · bills · small bills · change · tips · wages · payday · side hustle · hustle
- economiesprivate sector, public sector, developing nation, emerging market, pre-industrial
- informal financeunder the table, off the books, handshake deal, verbal agreement, IOU
- underground economyblack market, off the books, under the table, unreported income, black market sales
- currencydollar, euro, pound, yen, peso
- moneydollar, euro, coin, pound, bill
- cashbills, banknotes, greenbacks, paper money, legal tender
cash economybarter economy
Trade without money
barter system · digital economy · gift economy · subsistence economy · electronic payments
cash, economy, cashed, cashing, cashes, cashless, economic, economics, economical