Pay-Up!

I was at the store and I took my purchase to the checkout register, I swiped my card, signed the little electronic pad and I was on my way.  The transaction was cleared in milliseconds and my credit card was charged with the appropriate amount.

I thought back to the last week -- when was the last time I used cash to pay for something?
If not this past week, how about the week before?
You see where I am going with this, right?
Cash is fast becoming a form of payment I use less and less.

At the end of the month the credit card statement will arrive and if I want to avoid the finance charges, I will pay for it in full -- pay for it how?
In the past, I would write a check and mail it in to the bank.
You noticed I indicated this was how things used to work.
Now I am equally likely to make an electronic payment - the funds instantaneously transferring from my bank account to the account of the bank that issued the credit card to me.

The above payment method bypasses the Post Office (and all the delays associated with using it).
It also means I will write fewer checks, and thus I will need to order new checks less often ... or never.

Lest you think I am a strange futurist who rapidly embraces all the latest technologies, I freely admit I am typically a "late-adopter", at least for technology that involves money.
This means there are many more like me who are now warming-up to this technology and even more "early adopters" who already use it.  What might this mean then?

I have already mentioned the rapidly declining volume of mail in the US Post Office in a previous blog entry.
The other day I read that check printing orders are also rapidly declining -- people are simply writing fewer checks.

Now check this out -- the latest app for your smartphone even comes with a peripheral credit card scanner that attaches to the headphone jack (read the story about the app for the iPad here).  Credit card transactions will now be easier than ever and you can even send money electronically to people and establishments (and receive receipts through e-mail or SMS) -- who needs cash?

Do you remember the days when you had to physically take your bills to the bank to get them paid?