How To Be Money Smart
How to be ‘money smart’ in a digital world
(BPT) – Modern digital technology has replaced landlines, television antennas, VCRs, CDs and many other things that were once part of our daily lives – and the next thing to go may well be cash, so be money smart.
A few years ago, the idea that we would no longer use cash would have seemed outlandish, but it’s happening right before our eyes. A 2016 Gallup poll found only 24 percent of Americans made all or most of their purchases with cash, compared to 36 percent five years ago. Plus, according to a recent U.S. Bank Cash Behavior Survey, more consumers say they prefer the use of digital apps to make payments versus cash.
Digital payments, specifically person-to-person (P2P) payment technologies, have made it fast, safe and convenient to send and receive money from a mobile device. Where once people exchanged cash, they are increasingly sending money to one another via P2P technology services like Zelle(R), which connects the nation’s leading financial institutions to enable consumers to send fast payments to friends, family, and people they trust.
If you haven’t already joined the 100K consumers, on average a day, who are signing up to use P2P payments, the experts at Early Warning Services, the network operator of Zelle(R) – offer three ways to be “Money Smart” in a Digital World:
* Speed – When rent is due, or someone’s birthday is coming up, time and money are critical! Don’t send money that will take days to get to someone or could get lost/stolen at the post office. With Zelle, you can safely send money, typically within minutes when both parties are already registered.
* Simplicity – Using Zelle makes it easy to send money to friends and family with a bank account in the U.S. – whether you’re using your banking app on your phone or the online banking portal on your laptop, you can pay friends back or request money from family wherever you are and without ever looking for an ATM.
* Safety – Make sure you only send money to people you know and trust and make sure you type in their phone number or email address accurately when you send funds. By only sending money to people you’re already familiar with, you help to mitigate your chances of falling victim to scams.
Are the days of wrinkly dollar bills and trips to the ATM over? Maybe, maybe not – but as more money smart people switch to mobile payments, the convenience, security, and ease will revolutionize the way people exchange money.
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12 responses to “How To Be Money Smart”
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Gust Lenglet – Platinum Author
Wow, we are really moving to a cashless lifestyle. I haven’t had the opportunity yet to use my phone to transfer money, but am sure that I eventually will. Better download the app now, just in case.
Thanks for your comment Lauren. Yes, a lot of the younger generation are using apps to transfer money. Right now, I also am a little hesitant in doing this.
I do a lot of shopping on the Internet and sometimes use Pay Pal, but more often, my credit card. I still use cash for various small things that I buy locally, but I’m sure one day it will become a cashless society.
Thanks for your comment Sarah. I too think that one day it will be a cashless society. When is anybody’s guess.
Thanks for your very informative article explaining an easy way to transfer funds to different people. I am a little leery in doing this myself for security reasons. If I were making a transfer and made a tiny mistake in typing the person’s e-mail address, as an example, I’m afraid the money could go to a total stranger & I’d be stuck.
I agree Malcolm. As it stands now, I’m not sure who would be liable if a wrong email account, or some other glitch, occurred. A bit scary for me.
A very interesting article. It kind of refers to the millennial generation as being in favor of personal money transfers. I am a millennial in that digital generation and don’t feel at all comfortable exposing my banking information and also transferring money by an app on my cell phone. Maybe one day when I am convinced it’s super safe, I’ll give it a try. Until then, I’ll charge it or will write a check.
Thanks Barbara. I’m a little past the millennial group age and feel exactly as you. Maybe in the future, it will be deemed as perfectly safe and used by a lot more people.
All of the posts that I read here are negative, that is, the commenters’ haven’t really tried to make any type of digital money transfer. I too was a bit reluctant at first, but after downloading an app for my phone, I did a transfer to my brother for his birthday, and it was fast and easy. Since then, I’ve used it to pay my rent and transferred money to friends. I haven’t had a problem yet and am very comfortable with it.
Thanks for your comment Charles. Most of us are a bit reluctant to use this technology and am glad to hear that it works great for you. Maybe once we use it we will be more comfortable.
I, for one, love using this digital technology. I don’t use it for transferring money to friends or family very much, but use it mainly to pay bills and incidental expenses that I have in my last year at college. I don’t have to mess around writing checks and sending them by snail mail and hope they arrive on time.
Thanks for sharing Tony. I can relate to your comment about writing a lot of checks and then having to depend on the postal service to get them where they have to go on time.