The Future Of A Cashless Society

As cash machines dwindle and users increasingly turn towards new and innovative forms of payment, Staff Writer Hannah Stevenson explores the direction is the market is moving in.

In today’s payment market, plastic is key, with cash machines and the use of cash in general reducing as consumers increasingly turn towards more convenient, safer options.

Jared Jesner, CEO of WeSwap recently commented on the holiday destinations where paying by card is easier, showcasing the increasing importance of paying by card for consumers.

“Using a prepaid travel card is, put simply, safer and cheaper. In most instances, the exchange rates and commission fees will be much lower when using prepaid travel cards than when exchanging on the high street or at the airport. However, it is important to recognise that not every country is as quick to adopt payment by card and, in some, cash is still the primary method of payment. By identifying the countries where paying by card is easy, holidaymakers can be sure that they won’t get caught out by any surprises when abroad.”

This focus on cards and digital payment options is only increasing. In response to the news of free-to-use cash machines disappearing and nearly 1,700 machines in the first three months of the year now charging, temtum Founder and Senior Cryptography Advisor, Richard Dennis MSc gave his thoughts.

“This is a worrying sign and seemingly a trend that isn’t going to go away. For many of us, and particularly the millennial generation, cash use is reducing as we crave faster ways of paying and ease of use, which almost every major retailer is supporting now with PoS systems. More worrying though is the obvious barriers that can be put in place to prevent free access to our own money.

Communities around the cryptocurrency industry have seen the benefit of decentralisation and payments directly between individuals without a corporation sat in between, where access to and control of funds is directly down to the user. Next generation technologies that have evolved from the likes of Bitcoin, like temtum, are not only free to use but transactions will always be free as well. This is still at a time where cryptocurrencies are struggling for regulatory clarity and adoption, but this ATM news just continues to promote the benefits of crypto that will eventually shine through.”

temtum is the latest in a long line of new solutions designed to support users in an increasingly cash free society: a new, lightweight, peer-to-peer cryptocurrency where anyone can support the Temporal Blockchain network, creating a new world of financial freedom away from centralised institutions. Developed from the ground up with other leading cryptocurrencies pitfalls in mind, temtum solves many of the inherent problems that have stalled the adoption of crypto and blockchain solutions to create a coin that has the ability to enable financial freedom away from centralised institutions.

Another solution making waves in America is a new solution designed to support college students. Vagabond (vgbnd.co), a leading vending and convenience services technology platform provider, and Apriva (apriva.com), a leading payment platform provider in the self-service industry, recently announced a technology partnership that will bring exciting new payment options in the unattended retail space.

More specifically, college students will be able to utilize their virtual campus cards on Vagabond’s vīv mobile payments app via Apriva’s network, reducing equipment costs for campuses and operators. The firms both believe that this partnership is on the leading edge of turning virtual student IDs into a form of payment as the campus card industry moves away from physical cards.

This move into fully digital forms of payment shows how cash is becoming even more obsolete, as even physical credit and debit cards become victims of the market’s need for efficiency and ease of use. Consumers are increasingly wary of carrying cards and forms of payment that can be stolen, and as such digital forms of payment will only grow over the coming years and both financial institutions and retailers will need to enhance their offerings to ensure relevance over the coming years.