It is one of the things you never leave the house without. But the days of worrying about whether you have remembered your wallet could soon be over as digital payments become more popular, new research suggests.
One in five Britons do not expect to carry a physical wallet or purse in the next five years, a survey by Mastercard found.
It's been long mooted that cash is on the way out...and in truth, there's only a handful of things I still use cash for. Mostly the window cleaner, my hairdresser, my mother's chiropody, and the like. Everything else is tap and pay.
But I still keep a purse. Where else am I going to keep safety pins, emergency sewing kit, those 'stamp at the counter' coffee reward cards, little sachets of salt and pepper, and stamps?
Ok, maybe not stamps for much longer...
Instead, shoppers are increasingly turning to contactless cards that can be stored on mobile phones or even smartwatches to pay for goods.
I see a lot of people at the Tube barriers tapping their watch or their phone. I wouldn't say the number's increased much though, over the last year.
Around half of the 2,000 people surveyed said they only carried a wallet to store non-payment cards such as driving licences and loyalty cards. The demise of physical wallets has been accelerated by the declining use of cash.
Most of the loyalty cards are now in app version too. So they will soon no longer be needed. Maybe then, wallets and purses will finally disappear. But not just yet.
And if they do....well, James has some suggestions.
We are beyond the conspiracy theory stage. The last few years have shown that that phrase is used to make the commenter seem crazy and they are generally work out to be accurate.
ReplyDeleteThe government love this because they can control everyone. They can cut off you buying things and they can tax you to the hilt for everything.
Companies like it because they don't have to have the infrastructure to handle cash and they make significant savings that way.
So it is up to us. When we go into a shop that doesn't take cash. Leave the goods by the till and walk out. Actions speak louder than words and Use it or lose it is true here.
Instead we can't be bothered and like the herd animals we are we get pushed into a cul-de-sac because it is too much hassle.
" The last few years have shown that that phrase is used to make the commenter seem crazy and they are generally work out to be accurate."
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! It'd be crazy to say the latest crusade against gas cookers was a plot to move us on to electric that can be throttled at the touch of a button, wouldn't it?