Electronic money is replacing papers and coins.

Unseen money, gone money, managing money, woman's and man's budget, wallet, electronic money, changing cycle of money through history, stacking and saving money

Photo from mangpages’ flickr

We get more incentives when we use our debit/credit card to pay for our purchases. Points accumulate to discounts and even cash. It is more convenient as you only have to scan your card, no counting of paper money and no burden of the clinking coins. I don’t see why we won’t use this.

Apple is rumored to be developing “Near Field Communication” feature in their devices. When brought to fruition, people can use their iPhone and iPad to do the paying for them. The latest software of Apple though has Passbook. It has the all the coupons you need. Another coupon managing application that is more accessible to most smartphones is Groupon.

75% of the world’s population has mobile phones (Fitzpatrick, 2012). As smartphones increase in popularity, its functionality of being a wallet is emerging. You can now use PayPal for store transactions, a leap from their famous online paying platform. Google Wallet keeps the record of your debit and credit accounts for in-store and online use. All you need to do is tap your phone to pay.

Money has changed many times, and maybe we’re seeing another cycle right now. It is argued that the oldest form of money is cattle, around 9000 to 6000 B.C.. Then money, well, became easier to tame as people used the “most widely and longest used currency in history”, Cowrie shells. And through the course, it became bronze, copper, leather, paper and gold (NOVA, 1996).

It’s rather queer that the modern money is transitioning from tangible to abstract. The future of money is imaginary but still agreed money. People would have to believe that they’re working for money that will go directly to their bank and accessible via their phone. They won’t have to see them. Oh, I guess neither will we see our wallets.

Do you like the future’s electronic money?

Sources
The History of Money; Nova
Apple Plans Service That Lets IPhone Users Pay With Handsets; Bloomberg
75% of World Has Access to Mobile Phones; Mashable
Inspired by BennyBuzz’s Future of Money