Now VISA is dipping its toes in the water by partnering with the University of Technology Sydney.
Why Australia? Well according to George Lawson of Visa Australia he claims they’re “among the world’s earliest adopters of new technology.”
40 students from the UTS: Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation accepted the challenge from Visa to seek out new payment systems. One student is excited at the prospect of move away from cash based transactions:
And he’s not alone. In Microsoft founder Bill Gates “Annual Letter” he mused, “The key to this will be mobile phones… Already, in the developing countries with the right regulatory framework, people are storing money digitally on their phones and using their phones to make purchases, as if they were debit cards.”
Denmark has already taken the leap to a cashless society with a proposal to permit stores from rejecting cash for transactions as early as January of 2016.
Michael Busk-Jepsen, executive director of the Danish Bankers Association feels that a cashless society is, “no longer an illusion but a vision that can be fulfilled within a reasonable time frame”.
Back in Australia Visa released a polled the population and discovered:
• 32% would be interested in paying with a smart watch;
• 29% with a smart ring;
• 26% with smart glasses;
• 26% would be interested in paying with a connected car;
• And a bold 25% of Australians say they are at least slightly interested at the prospect of having a chip implanted in their skin that could be used for payments.
That “bold 25%” has some privacy advocates and conservative Christians concerned. According to the book of Revelation in the “End Times” all mankind will be forced to accept a “mark” in their right hand or forehead that permits them to “buy and sell”
End of quote.
A nice way to keep everyone in line – “mark of the beast”, anyone?
Recent Comments