Ten years after the COVID-19 pandemic, physical money is a thing of history. Gone are the days that you can pay for your coffee with loose change or deposit a wad of cash at the bank. Everything is digital, payment methods are virtual, and third party payment processors run the show. Financial institutions rely on them to process payment services between merchants, clients, and other business entities. Transactions can be made by card, phone, watch, mobile wallet and even fingerprint! It’s all easy and convenient, but what does this mean for the future of banking.
More and more young people started distrusting powerful institutions like banks and started relying more on online banking services and third party payment providers. Bitcoin and cryptocurrency is on the rise due to larger corporations excepting digital forms of payments and phasing out cash entirely, with robotics making it easy for transactions to occur. By 2030, cash was made obsolete. To the benefit of governments, a cashless society is easier to control with every transaction carrying a digital papertrail. Even though digital currency was lacking oversight before, now there are laws, rules, and regulations in place to monitor activity – meaning that black market activities have greatly declined.
The financial landscape has changed leaving room for further innovation, particularly regarding data privacy. This is the hot topic issue of our time. Each new security system is another opportunity for breach. Over time, there has been vast improvements, but with no physical reserve of our money, we are more vulnerable than ever.