Death to Paper Money: Virtual Currency is the Future

Paper money is on its way out. The future of commerce lies in usage of debit cards, smartcards, mobile money, iBanking and e-cash. Online banking and the concept of the swipe-n-go payment system has become so common place that writing a paper check or carrying paper money is quickly deteriorating into a thing of the past.

As technology has advanced, money has become something abstract; something we see less and less of everyday. Our paychecks are automatically deposited without us ever seeing the paper it should have been printed on. We pay our bills with eBanking technology and consumer rebates are offered in the form of debit cards. Who needs cash?

The convenience of paying for consumer goods and services with money is not so convenient anymore. Not when you consider the development of the e-wallet - an identity management system card- is continuing to evolve in the hopes of becoming a universally used payment system.

According to the 2007 Federal Reserve Payment Study, credit card and debit card usage accounted for up to 93.3 billion dollars in the United States in 2006. The amount of debit and credit card usages has increased at a rate of 4.6% a year since 2003, while the percentage of check payments has decreased at a rate of 6.4% a year.

The idea of carrying one card, rather than a wallet full or money or a check book, is an enticing one. Individuals are looking forward to doing away with paper receipts in lieu of digital confirmations as well as a way to ensure there's less risk of identity theft.

The new era of virtual currency goes part and parcel with our need to clean up the environment and the push towards greener global consciousness. The world is slowly recognizing the importance of trees which means the reduction of paper media. Paper money is just one more thing using up the world's natural resources.

Future debit cards and smartcards are going to be almost theft proof since the only way to get the information locked inside the card's chip is to have the owner's PIN number. This is a problem that security developers are working hard to overcome.

Some will claim this is the road to the end of the world as we know it, that Armageddon is in the near future and the mark of the beast is at our door. Whether or not we usher in the end, one source of currency - acceptable on all the continents - is in the future. As more and more people abandon their check books, leave the cash in the bank and take to using new forms of credit and debit cards a new digital world of cashless exchanges is on the way. It could happen next year, it could happen in 5 years, either way it will happen.