In the very near future and probably within your lifetime, you may be asked the question…
“What Payment Platform Will You Be Using Today?”
It is somewhat of a mind twister to think that paying with cash or even a credit card could be a thing of the past.
Payments technology is not only moving at cyber-speed, but the world is now riding the internet highway at warp-speed. Even many countries traditionally thought of as “third-world” now have access to high-speed internet access...in some cases, even before access to clean water.
Who would have thought you could sit in front of your computer and have a real time chat with a friend half way around the world, and actually see their face on your screen? Those kinds of imaginary technical gadgets only happened on TV and not real life. But the future world is here – today.
Conducting business and making purchases for an item from across the country or around the world is now only a click away. This is possible partially through the use of payment platforms.
Probably the best well-known example of a payment platform would be PayPal.
PayPal allows the payment of goods to be transferred through the internet as an electronic alternative to cash or checks, and customers can send or receive funds in 25 currencies worldwide – operating locally in 21 countries. Either an individual or a company can hold this type of account and transfer funds to any financial institution of their choosing.
The advantages to using payment platforms are:
- Quick and easy access to funds
- Real time transmission
- Personalized accounts
- At-a-glance record of all transactions
- Tracks payments
- Can access easily with any mobile or tablet device
- Organize purchases into categories
There are developments to start integrating social media outlets; such as Facebook or Twitter, with your own personal payment platforms.
Social media is already integrated into people’s daily lives and as a result it may offer an easier entrance into adapting to this type of technology.
Paying with a mobile device using various apps and a mobile payment service provider is widely used today, so perhaps a social media payment platform is not that far from reach.
Before you stop to think, “this is not possible”, remember, it wasn’t that long ago that the ‘credit card’ was never slotted to replace good old ‘cash’.
