“Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” a song made famous by Bing Crosby, echoed the sufferings of the Great Depression. It was a hit in 1932, but its singer’s appeal for loose change wouldn’t register the same way today. Not because people aren’t inclined to share a dime, but because, increasingly, they simply don’t have one.

Digital payments have largely replaced currency, and even credit cards are giving way to phone taps and apps. The shift has been rapid, as can attest any parent handing paper money to a teenager, only to be met with: “Thanks. But what do I do with this?”

This transition has brought numerous efficiencies and benefits. Churches accepting electronic gifts, for instance, enjoy more consistent cash flows and savings from not having to purchase and mail donation envelopes. At the same time, this shift has increased costs for small businesses, generated privacy concerns and increased hardships for the vulnerable populations Jesus prioritized in his ministry. 

The most obvious casualties of the cashless economy are those seeking help on sidewalks and street corners, who now often receive apologies from passers-by with good intentions but empty pockets. Charities can provide clients with access to Venmo and other cashless apps, but some who are not tech-savvy struggle to use them, and some potential donors may assume, even in 2026, that someone with a cellphone doesn’t really need help. 

Those who rely on cash transactions, such as street performers and food cart vendors, are also at a disadvantage when people don’t carry paper money. Many vendors cannot adopt bank-dependent tech because of their immigration status, and pedestrians are more likely to toss change into a performer’s open guitar case than to pull out their phones and start typing into an app. 

The growing digital economy also hurts the estimated six million “unbanked” households in the United States. Some cannot open an account because they are unhoused and lack a permanent residential address. Others may simply distrust banks or find their fees, overdraft charges and minimum balance requirements to be prohibitive.

Jesus himself was familiar with cash. His parables featured a lost coin, a widow’s mite and a good Samaritan who gave an innkeeper two denarii for care of a wounded traveler. He overturned moneychangers’ tables in the Jerusalem Temple, was betrayed for a sack of silver pieces and spoke of God’s concern for all living things including “two sparrows sold for a penny”—a coin the U.S. Treasury stopped minting last year. 

When speaking of taxes, Jesus displayed a coin with the Roman emperor’s image and said: “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.” Yet in our day, as the economist Jay Zagorsky discovered, paying the I.R.S. with cash is nigh impossible, despite “legal tender for all debts, public and private,” being printed on U.S. currency. 

Mr. Zagorsky’s experience is a sign of society’s increased reliance on digital currency. But that reliance raises problems when those systems go down, as can happen during an internet outage or after a natural disaster. Having cash in hand is essential in such circumstances, stresses my colleague Kim Burgo, vice president of disaster operations at Catholic Charities USA.

A supply of cash can also be key to an escape plan for victims of domestic violence, as abusive partners often withhold assets to trap their victim in the relationship. In India until recently, many women resorted to keeping secret stashes of cash hidden from their husbands to feed, clothe and educate their children. But when the government “demonetized” certain paper notes in 2016—partly to accelerate digital finance—the desperate efforts of these women came to light, triggering a surge of domestic violence when enraged husbands learned that their wives’ actions had eluded their surveillance. 

Indeed, the expanding digital economy brings new forms of surveillance. Parents used to warn toddlers: “Don’t put that coin in your mouth! You don’t know where it’s been!” But digital transactions leave data footprints, creating a trail of information that, in the wrong hands, can engender injustice and abuse. 

In “Magnifica Humanitas,” Pope Leo XIV writes of the “social control made possible by the massive collection of data” from transactions large and small. To avoid such surveillance, some have embraced cryptocurrency, but choosing crypto can also weaken local banks that are better situated to serve low- and moderate-income communities. In addition, critics accuse crypto purveyors of predatory targeting of minority communities. They point to ATMs in Latino, Black and low-income neighborhoods charging high fees to exchange cash for crypto, exposing users to significant risks of fraud and financial loss. 

According to the F.D.I.C., “most unbanked households in the United States are ‘cash only.’” Consequently, when retail stores, public transit systems, fast food restaurants and ride share companies refuse to accept cash—sometimes saying they are doing so to minimize the risk of theft—those who have only cash to spend find themselves unable to purchase needed goods and services, in addition to being excluded from the wider, formal economy. 

While the digital economy is here to stay, the preferential option for the poor underscores a continued importance of cash. State and local governments might require businesses to accept cash, as do the cities of Philadelphia and San Francisco, and the states of Massachusetts and New Jersey. And those who wish to help persons seeking help on the streets can make an effort to carry cash or an alternative like Breadcoin—tokens that can be spent at participating local stores.

In speaking of “the environment shaped by digital technologies,” Pope Leo insists in “Magnifica Humanitas” that “justice demands that we prevent the emergence of new forms of exclusion.” That “environment” includes our increasingly cashless world. Given the vulnerable people it threatens to exclude, we would do well to ensure that, to answer Bing Crosby’s plea, we always have a dime to spare. 

Scott Hurd is vice president for leadership development and Catholic identity at Catholic Charities USA.