Are Contactless Payments Disassociating You from Your Money?

by Startacus Admin

Since 2007, contactless cards have slowly but surely made their way into the wallets of the general public. They might not have been trusted 12 years ago when they were first introduced but through the addition of safety features and some clever targeted advertising, contactless payments are now the most popular way to pay.

The introduction of the contactless payment, whether through a card or a smartphone, has improved the shopping experience of many. It makes transactions faster, which means no more waiting around in long queues, it makes transactions safer with the added security features for smartphone users, and it means that you no longer have to worry about carrying large sums of cash in your back pocket. Cashless payments have multiple benefits.

However, due to the lack of interaction that comes with the contactless system, there has become an increased lack of association with money and, therefore, an inability to keep track of it. Despite there being multiple online tools and apps to help manage monetary budgets, payday loan companies continue to be popular for some. For example, companies such as Cash Lady offer loans with poor credit for people who may need small, short term loans to help them with unexpected costs.

Unexpected costs have a tendency to occur when keeping track of your money is impeded by contactless technology. Here are three ways that contactless payments are obscuring your view of your finances.

1.   Speed

A significant tick in the positive column for most contactless users; however, the speed in which you can make transactions with a contactless card means that keeping track of them in your head can be tricky. It can be made even trickier if you are moving too quickly to even wait for a receipt for your purchase. No receipt means that you now have no physical evidence of that lunchtime feast you bought and there is a gap in your budget you now have no recollection of.

2.   Tangibility

Using cash when making a purchase is a two-step process. It requires a withdrawal from your account and then a physical passing of money to a retailer in exchange for goods. To exchange money for goods when you don’t have enough cash is impossible unless you are a particularly smooth talker. It is therefore plausible that using cash as a way to budget your costs is more effective than using contactless payments as the physical exchange of money within the two-step process makes you more aware of the state of your finances. To find out more about why you should consider paying with cash, be sure to check out the article by ghacks.net.

3.   Smartphones

The addition of Apple Pay and Android Pay for smartphones has been a huge step forward for technology, but for managing finances, it can further disassociate you from your money. Now, not only are you not handling cash but you are not even handling a credit or debit card that has become to be a symbol of money. Having your card on your phone completely negates the need for cash and cards, but also negates the idea that money is a physical property behind the screen.

The disassociation of money is becoming more and more prominent. Could it mean that society will soon be not only cashless but card-less also?

 

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Published on: 7th January 2020