No Cash, No Problem: Mobile Payments Are on the Horizon

Author: Janet Wise, Primary Research Director

Published: 06 May 2010

Recently, I drove to the Outer Banks of North Carolina for a week’s vacation. Before leaving town – force of habit – I stopped at the bank and withdrew a large amount of cash, but midway through the week, I realized that I could have saved myself the extra stop. Cash is rapidly becoming obsolete. I didn’t use cash once on my drive to NC: I used my Speedpass for gas, my Fastpass for tolls, and my debit card to pay for food and coffee at rest areas. Cash was also superfluous in NC; every store and restaurant and attraction was equipped to handle credit cards, and most also accepted debit card transactions. Given how quickly technology evolves, before the end of the decade I don’t expect I’ll need credit or debit cards either. What, then, will I use to pay for my late night, on-the-road lattes?

The full text of this Insight is available to subscribers of the Mobile Money & NFC Research Service.

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