FNTN

Introduction.

It looks like the much vaulted cashless society is now ringing true. For some years now cash has been becoming increasingly redundant due to the bulk, and risks, involved in carrying it and checks are clearly on their way out due to their lack of immediacy in the age of instant transactions. For several decades now we’ve become more and more reliant on our credit cards for payments both in-stores and online; and, in more recent times, many of us have opted for electronic banking especially when it comes to paying for things over the internet.

We often use credit cards to pay for things online.

Near Field Communications.

Although relatively still in its infancy there is also Near Field Communications (NFC), giving us yet another option in our preferred method of payment. NFC is similar to the proximity readers for credit cards that are used for paying small bills – but you don’t need your credit card for it. What’s the point of that? Well what’s the one thing none of us leave home without these days – even over and above our wallet or purse? Simple, it’s our cell phones. Suppose you’re off out for a walk in the park, no need for a jacket or bag or taking your money you’ll think to yourself – but I bet you take your phone with you to keep in touch with everyone. So, you’re out in the park and decide to grab a coffee or a shake etc. Whoops, if you’ve no money you can’t – unless the vendor and your phone are equipped for NFC. NFC is simply a new short range WiFi system that lets you pass your phone over a receiver pad to pay for the goods you want. As the payment is then processed against your phone bill this system is only currently available for small items, up to the value of around $10, but it is yet another sign of the times in terms of becoming a truly cashless society.

Quick small denomination payments by cell phone with NFC.

The problem with the current cashless society.

With the exception of online banking there is one big problem with using your credit card or phone to pay for things when not shopping online – you can only pay for things; you can’t be paid for things. So, imagine you’re the local domestic plumber, you visit a property to fix a leaking faucet, it’s not a big job perhaps you only want to charge $50 – how do you get paid?

Guess that’s one idea of a cashless society!

 Cash is fine of course, but what if it was an emergency job at the week-end and the customer’s short of cash? OK, so they could pay you by check – then you’ve got the hassle of banking it. You could feasibly carry a portable credit card reader, but you’d have to go through a lot of red-tape with the credit card companies to get one and then remember to down load the information as soon as you were back on your business computer or at a WiFi hotspot. Well in that case, what about electronic banking – that means giving them your bank details, so do you trust them? Even $50 might be pushing it for an NFC transaction, unless they’ve got one heck of monthly cell phone contract – so is there an answer to being paid?

Bumping smart phones can immediately transfer money.

Being paid through your cell phone.

There are actually potentially two possibilities to getting around how to be paid for something in a cashless society. The first is bound to be pushed as a major feature on the new iPhone released this week and that is the act of by simply ‘bumping’ phones together allowing a bump app to transfer money from one person to another. This is fine for folk who know one another, but the apparent lack of visible controls in the transaction might not be wholly satisfactory for strangers. However, the truly innovative development is the idea of having a credit card reader that can be attached to your cell phone for an immediate and cashless transaction to pay you.

These days you can receive payments off a credit card via your cell phone.

Phone based credit card scanners.

Several companies have now produced small credit card scanners that typically plug into a cell phone through the ear plug jack and can instantly read and accept credit card payments. Chances are it won’t be to long before the check book is completely phased out and having a system such as these phone based credit card readers becomes the norm for small businesses without permanent premises to be paid for their goods in the absence of cash. Whether it be the local plumber doing a job for you, buying produce at the local market or even a painting from a street artist.

Credit card debt in the cashless society.

Of course the growth of the cashless society inevitably brings with it a greater risk of credit card debt. However, credit card debt is easily avoided by following these simple rules: Keep track of what you spend on your credit card and never spend more than you can afford to repay at the end of the month. Never use your credit card as a loan for major piece of expenditure; you’ll always get a much better deal by searching online for online personal loans. Finally, keep checking your credit score, to make sure you don’t become a victim of credit card fraud or identity theft.