It has to be minted and circulated, we see it as "free" but in practice the gov foots the bill. And, for cards it would be issuers footing the bill.
Then moving cash isn't free either. Merchants handling a lot of cash also pay to get their cash moved, processed, exchanged etc. It's an aspect where card could be lower, but zero is also an impossoble goal.
It has to be minted and circulated, we see it as "free" but in practice the gov foots the bill. And, for cards it would be issuers footing the bill.
Then moving cash isn't free either. Merchants handling a lot of cash also pay to get their cash moved, processed, exchanged etc. It's an aspect where card could be lower, but zero is also an impossoble goal.