Apple CEO Tim Cook hopes to switch from cash to digital payments, once and for all.

Apple Pay, the company's mobile payment service released in 2014, is working to promote a cashless society, Cook said. "We would like to be a catalyst for taking cash out of the system. We don't think the consumer particularly likes cash," he told Japanese news service Nikkei in an interview published on Monday.

Apple Pay allows iPhone users to store their credit cards, debit cards and gift cards with the service, paying for goods by simply waving the device near a terminal. While handy for Apple users, the idea remains challenging, as Apple Pay works with Apple products only, meaning that the billions of people who use Android or other devices don't share the same opportunity.

Another point that hurts Apple Pay's global relevance is that payment terminals, ubiquitous in the US, are much less common overseas. Moreover, customers' banks must sign on to the service. Cook's wish to eliminate cash apparently creates more questions than answers.

Apple is not the only company offering digital payment services, however. Earlier this year, Google launched its Android Pay mobile payment platform in the UK, and a Samsung Pay launch is expected as well.

Electronic commerce technology is still treated skeptically by many older users, but consumer habits and behavior change slowly, and, as the younger generation wholly embraces their digital wallets, so the previous generations will catch on.