Given the advantages of electronic money, you might think that we would move quickly to the cashless society in which all payments are made electronically._____（1）a true cashless society is probably not around the comer. Indeed, predictions have been_____（2）for two decades but have not yet come to fruition. For example, Business Week predicted in 1975 that electronic means of payment would soon “revolutionize the very_____（3）of money itself,” only to_____（4）itself several years later. Why has the movement to a cashless society been so_____（5）in coming?

Although electronic means of payment may be more efficient than a payments system based on paper, several factors work_____（6）the disappearance of the paper system. First, it is very_____（7）to set up the computer, card reader, and telecommunications networks necessary to make electronic money the_____（8）form of payment. Second, paper checks have the advantage that they_____（9）receipts, something that many consumers are unwilling to_____（10）. Third, the use of paper checks gives consumers several days of “float”-it takes several days_____（11）a check is cashed and funds are_____（12）from the issuer’s account, which means that the writer of the check can earn interest on the funds in the meantime._____（13）electronic payments are immediate, they eliminate the float for the consumer.

Fourth, electronic means of payment may_____（14）security and privacy concerns. We often hear media reports that an unauthorized hacker has been able to access a computer database and to alter information_____（15）there. The fact that this is not an_____（16）occurrence means that dishonest persons might be able to access bank accounts in electronic payments systems and_____（17）from someone else’s accounts. The_____（18）of this type of fraud is no easy task, and a whole new field of computer science is developing to_____（19）security issues. A further concern is that the use of electronic means of payment leaves an electronic_____（20）that contains a large amount of personal data. There are concerns that government, employers, and marketers might be able to access these data, thereby violating our privacy.