Spring/Summer 2015 | BWD 21
By Jessica Dore, CISA
THE FUTURE
OF MONEY
Where we’ve been, where we
are and where we’re headed
Announced in September of 2014, Apple’s contactless
Money in the 21st century
payment platform Apple Pay has seen remarkable growth.
What does this all mean for you? A few things:
In January of this year — just about four months after going
live — Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that Apple Pay already
accounted for more than two out of every three dollars
spent via contactless payments.
Add the rapidly expanding number of stores accepting
Apple Pay and it’s clear that how we use and handle
money is changing, and changing rapidly.
From cattle to Bitcoin
We’ve come a long way from using cattle and grains as monetary
units. In fact, we’ve moved from such laborious means of
transacting business to a time when one of our most-discussed
currencies doesn’t even exist in a physical sense. That’s Bitcoin, the
digital currency celebrated by some and eyed warily by others.
Even if Bitcoin isn’t your thing, it’s possible to conduct many
transactions without touching actual money thanks to direct
deposit, debit cards, mobile apps and the Internet. Even banks are
feeling the change. One recent major newspaper reported that the
number of people entering banks has dropped 25 percent in just
two years.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jessica Dore is a Senior Manager
at Rehmann. She has experience in
information technology consulting
and security, primarily for financial
institutions.
Contact her today at
[email protected].
• Interactions involving money will be faster than ever. With Apple
Pay and other virtual wallet services, paying is simply a matter of
waving your phone at a special terminal.
• Your control over your money has been strengthened, as you’re
now able to view accounts and track funds more easily than ever
before. Every major bank offers the ability to conduct a great deal
of your banking online 24/7. And the proliferation of mobile apps
for banks means you can bank from anywhere you happen to find
yourself. You don’t even have to go to the bank to deposit checks
— taking a picture of the check and sending that along suffices.
• Such control isn’t limited to individuals and households.
Rehmann’s SkyBooks service, for example, provides business
owners with real-time access to information all through clear and
customizable dashboards. As technology continues its inexorable
march, more and more businesses will realize the benefit of
maintaining an overview of their finances in such a fashion.
Challenges lurk, however
There are, of course, risks involved:
• Even if the security for an online service is rock solid, typing out
login or other sensitive information in a public place, with the
possibility of someone surreptitiously looking over your shoulder,
will always be a bad idea.
• Hackers will continue to pose security threats to corporate entities
and private households alike by seeking vulnerabilities wherever
they might exist.
• It’s likely prudent to avoid jumping on cutting-edge virtual
currency trends too quickly. Being an early adopter when
something as important as your financial security is involved is
not a good idea.
Regardless of the risks, the future of money is unfolding before our
eyes, and the acceleration is only going to increase as better and more
technology is developed.
Yet even with some possible pitfalls, it’s still better than lugging around
cattle and grains.