When we live in this world of evolving modern technology, it comes as little surprise to know that in the coming years, smart phones will outnumber humans on this planet. It’s not just the era of convenience and speed but it’s one of social awkwardness and poor communication. When society stops conversing and opts to hide behind a screen, bells should start ringing. But that’s where we’ve landed.
Mobile phones are not even used for telephoning people anymore. From social massages to mobile internet, more and more of the younger generation use their phone for everything else. Even pay by phone bill casino Canada has become very popular, like these. But as the mobile becomes the new wallet, where is it heading and what are the ramifications?
Real Money vs E-money
We’ve all seen the slow decline of physical money. First, it was our parent’s cheque books that slowly became obsolete but now, actual cash is becoming less and less common. It makes sense, we don’t need the physical attributes anymore, just the numbers it represents. Even credit cards are being replaced by their digital counterparts. And it’s all merging into one wallet that will be conveniently stored on your smart phone.
E-Wallets are apps where you can load your credit and debit card information which is then stored safely on your mobile device. When you want to pay for something, rather than using contactless payments from your card, you scan your phone which has the same technology. Let’s face it, you’re going to be carrying your phone anyway so why not bundle everything in together.
Safety and Security
These e-wallet apps use the latest SSL encryption technology to scramble all the data so it can’t be hacked. If your phone is stolen, most have been set up with 2-factor authorisation which means the thief will not only need your password, but your fingerprint too. Software can have you locating your phone if its stolen or just misplaced and you can even remotely wipe the financial information off it as a worse case scenario.
Comparing this to cards which is the current method people use to pay. Contactless payments are perfect, but anyone can technically take your card and spend away, to the maximum without a PIN number. So, you’d have to say e-wallets are safer and more convenient.
Shopping in the Present Day
Online shopping is becoming huge as the next generation only leaves the house for social appointments and avoids speaking to actual humans at all costs. The pandemic certainly pushed it all in this direction, but it was already going there anyway. Online stores save huge amounts of money for companies by decreasing their overheads, is super-convenient for the purchaser and with free returns on items, who really worries about trying clothes on before hand anymore.
It’s the evolution of not just how we spend but how we see our finances. No longer is money cash, it’s just the digital number we actually care about. Sure, some people still like the anonymity of cash, but options like Paysafecard and even pay by mobile schemes still offer that. But the future does look set to continue to follow the trend of wallets being based around mobile devices.
The Future of the Coin
Already we are seeing smaller supermarkets like Amazon Go Grocery, that have you check in via your app on entry and just walk out the front door when your finished. Technology is in place to know exactly what you put in your bags and charges you accordingly. Producers love it; the overheads drop dramatically with less staff to pay as well as a 100% deduction in theft.
Large supermarkets have been heading this way for a long time with their self-checkouts, which the younger generation flock to. Again, they are being slowly configured to only socially interact with their peers and random conversations are looked at as some form of punishment.
So, the future is certainly set towards becoming increasingly automated, which is good. Efficient, streamlined and fast. But the knock-on effect is that we are slowly losing that little bit of ourselves that makes us human, conversation and engagement. And that will be extremely difficult to regain once it is lost.
