Electronic money is never lost, not like those pounds, pennies, dollars, quarters. Losing money, takes out of circulation. While not much is taken out, it might be enough to create a base load of inflation - money becomes more scarce and therefore more expensive.

Low inflation leads to asset price bubbles - stock market and housing in particular. It also suppresses wage inflation. So housing becomes more expensive and wages do not keep up, making housing less affordable. A double punch.

Low inflation leads to more financial speculation as people with access to capital look to diversify away from a limited pool of assets (Bonds and cash become less desirable in low inflation regimes). Buying housing and leasing it out is a good use of capital. However, this leads real-estate investors to drive increases in rent as they chase yield and airbnb-empires also drive rental prices - as this is one way of driving yield.

High rents combined with low wage growth means that people's lives become priced for perfection and one small deviation can knock them out of equilibrium - losing their home / rental property when they lose their job.

All because governments and technology are conspiring to keep inflation low. Using cash is the person-on-the-street's only weapon to fight it.

For perhaps the same reasons as you, I decline/turn-off auto-pay of any services I subscribe to. I actually cut checks every couple of weeks to pay bills.

I need a regular reminder of how I am being nickeled and dimed. My big fear is a constant drain on my account from a service that I had forgotten about or just the accumulative damage a lot of services add up to.

To be sure, our corporate overlords love the auto-pay, cashless society they have created for our convenience.