Yeah I want to avoid getting political on here, but there is clearly an agenda behind it. While it seems more convenient paying with a credit card or app, it's not because of convenience. More about control and the banks/tech companies making money off of us IMO.
A lot of it is to gather info on your spending habits and what you like. For example, Google or Apple Pay know where you shop and what you spend your money on, therefore they know which ads to send you. When you purchase something on the McDonalds or Tim Horton's app, it's easier to keep track to know which menu items are popular and personally what you like.
As for credit cards/banks, they offer rewards or points for money you spend, which is a good thing, though obviously it's to avoid having you paying cash and instead benefits them every time you swipe or tap your card at a store. The credit card companies and banks are the ones making more money if people are using cards instead of cash on everyday purchases. They collect a % from the stores and they also will collect money when people have an outstanding balance on their cards. The banks are definitely behind it and want a cashless society. The banks also benefit off your debt. I get offers every month to increase my credit limit. Imagine people who accept those increases to lets say 25-30K and then spend that money they don't have?
Lastly, what I'm more worried about is the control and accessibility part. Only relying on debit/credit cards limits your purchasing power and access to your money. What happens if your account gets locked and you can't buy groceries, medicines, pay heating bills, etc. We saw that happen in Canada for a couple of days in February 2022 which was scary. What happens if there is a system-wide outage where payment machines and debit machines are down? Heck we saw that last summer with the Rogers outage where you couldn't even use an ATM or pay using a card. Also, pretty easy to track someone's carbon footprint with what purchases are made on a credit card - for example gas, meats, products, air travel, hydro, heating etc. What happens if we get to that point where limits are set on how much carbon we generate? Have to ask these questions.
Regardless, society should continue to allow both cash and credit cards to be used and not completely eliminate cash. I mean it's been working for the last 50-60 years or more geez, so I don't see what the issue is.