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There are arguments for both cash and cashless. People are giving good points, especially TJ, about cashless being an issue for the poorest in society, but that could be mitigated by mandating access to banking for all in society.
I hate to keep mentioning it, but cash here in Sweden is virtually gone outside the very few old people that want to use it and the people doing the very obvious money laundering on the kebab shop slot machines.
Here, if the card machines don't work, you can pay by Swish (micropayment service) to the shop's number. That system is linked to your secure tax ID (which identifies _you_ as an individual) and bank account, so when a payment is securely authorised (as long as no one else has your mobile and passcode) and goes into/from your bank account directly. Even the beggers here have Swish and a QR kod... Yes, the power grid or payment system can go down with a big power cut, but investing in grid resilience should minimise this risk _AND_ benefit society as a whole. Same with cybersecurity for the payment system.
Most big shops will take cash at one checkout, but it's a pain for them to have to deal with cash, it increases the risk to them of theft, so they prefer not to take it. Banks don't as a rule, carry cash either. You visit a bank to arrange money things and then authorise it with, again, your secure eID.
I genuinely cannot remember the last time I used cash. Or had cash on me that was not Euros for a holiday.
Just over the border in Germany, people give me funny looks when I try and pay by card. Many places will not accept it.
6 years ago, that was spot on. Not any more. The pandemic (and plague infested bank notes) was just what was needed to trigger the use of cashless in Germany. Weirdly, one of the first places in EU to accept cashless were the turnstiles for the bogs in Autobahn services, even before Apple/Android supported contactless and before anyone had a contactless card.
Still proper sluggish for rollout of self-checkout in Germany though compared to UK (and almost all are cashless, if you find them).
The street beggars will love the return of cash. but at least we do have bottle deposits in Germany, so they can make a living collecting and returning empties.