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There’s no doubt that as Australians we love our plastic and the numbers don’t lie. As of October 2017, there were 16,719,143 credit cards in Australia. However, with the rise of cryptocurrencies will this spell the end of our obsessive use of credit cards?
Physical money is dead
When was the last time you whipped out cash to pay for something? It’s most likely that we will make payments using our cards and rarely whip out the cash unless if we want to pay for some obscure bill or offer as pocket money to your children.
You might not be surprised to know that only 8% of the world’s money is physical, the rest is digital. Then maybe it won’t come as a shocker to realise that credit cards could become obsolete.
The rise of Peer-to-peer payment and Bitcoin
We love looking for ways that can make our lives more convenient, especially when it comes to spending our money. You might as well call us the shortcut species while you at it. Peer-to-Peer spending is becoming an accepted form of payment through applications like PayPal that boast 218 million active users.
In our own backyard banks such as Westpac are now currently offering their customers the option of making payments through iMessage.
Bitcoin is also another digital currency that appears to be on every corner that you turn. They are similar to credit cards but have lower transaction fees. You can also use it to make and receive payments. Soon it will just be a matter of making payments even if you accidentally left your wallet with your credit card in it at home.
Be safe while going digital
Just because it is going digital does not mean that it won’t have a few glitches in the system. A recent report by Finder found that US$534 million worth of cryptocurrency was stolen from a major Japanese exchange Coincheck. This is why it is important that you protect your private information when online, and be careful in terms of where you store your digital currencies.
While we still have our credit cards…
The stage is set for changes to occur with how we use and spend money, but for now, we still have our credit cards to rely on. To make the most of it while it last is t know how to use it effectively.
If you realised that your credit card is not living up to the standard that you like you can always compare online for one that has a low interest rate that will see you through life’s payments. You can always check its features, along with the terms and conditions to see if it is a card that will work for you in the long run.
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