Blog
The long and 'cash-is-required' road …
The question remains, with Apple Pay fully implemented and consumers and merchants all engaged, will our need for cash be affected?
October 7, 2014 by Richard Buckle — Founder and CEO, Pyalla Technologies, LLC
The time I spend driving America’s roadways is time when I can observe and think of what next to write. For readers who routinely check out my blog postings, my story lines are as varied as they are off the beaten path. As to why I drive, look no further than what happened last month with the FAA systems outside Chicago that grounded almost everyone heading east.
However, what struck me on this road trip — a three-week 5,000-mile odyssey to the East Coast — is how rapidly I went through cash. It’s all those road tolls; being an infrequent traveler to these parts of America I don’t have the necessary e-pay device — I had to wait in line to pay toll a number of times. By the time I reached the City of Brotherly Love I was flat broke.
Before departing Boulder, I emptied a cupful of quarters into a Ziploc bag, believing that would do the trick but no, not a chance. Odd amounts like $18.75, $29.25 and even $7.90 routinely made me skip the bag and reach for my wallet.
If you truly believe you can traverse America solely on plastic, then think again. It’s not just the need for cash for tips and the odd cup of coffee; those pesky tolls eventually make you revert back to tried and true practices of the past.
The number of times during the trip that gas stations played variations on the same theme — "We trust you, but not that much" — were too numerous to count.
Pressure is mounting for us to ditch the wallet and rely on mobile apps, but we still have a way to go before this comes anywhere close to reality. And should you be concerned about the number of folks who swipe your cards then cash has become the most secure way to execute a purchase.
Payments processing systems certainly have been in the public eye in recent weeks — not only the incident with The Home Depot that reminds us how fragile our many layers of defense continue to be, but also the emergence of Apple as a real player when it comes to mobile payments.
A New York Times live blog of the Apple product announcement on Sept. 9 quoted company CEO, Tim Cook, who talked about an "‘entirely new category of service. And it’s all about the wallet. Our vision is to replace this, [he said], showing a picture of a stuffed wallet. ‘We’re going to start by focusing on payments.'"
A little later, the blogger reported that Cook told the audience, "[W]e love this kind of problem ... We’ve created an entirely new payment process and we’ve called it Apple Pay.”
Furthermore, Cook said, "[W]e are not in the business of collecting your data. Apple doesn’t know what you bought, where you bought it or how much you paid for it."
Apple confirmed that American Express, MasterCard and Visa have signed up as partners, as well as some of the world’s largest retailers and restaurants, including Macy's and McDonald's.
In an email exchange with Australia’s Infrasoft Pty Ltd., developers of connectivity and modernization software, CTO Neil Coleman observed that, “The interesting thing announced by Apple Pay, is that existing payments providers — First Data, TSYS, Citibank, etc. — are signed up as well. So the merchant doesn't bypass their existing acquirer.”
In other words, already Apple has scored big with the behind-the-scenes players few consumers know about.
Of course, the press posed additional questions: "What about PayPal, Square? And what of Bitcoin?”
In order to enjoy a better payments experience, consumers have elected to change their behavior in the past — as I did, too, a short time ago when I signed on to Square — so it’s not too big a jump to think that they will embrace Apple Pay.
An article posted to the Wall Street Cheat Sheet said:
The growing interest in Bitcoin demonstrates that users are willing to change their behavior when it comes to payment systems. With Apple Pay, Apple promises to deliver a user-friendly way of making digital payments, and that could open the way for consumers to be more open to using digital currencies like Bitcoin.
But the question remains, with Apple Pay fully implemented and consumers and merchants all engaged, will our need for cash be affected?
Some counties and states might, at their own expense, implement toll booths capable of supporting Apple Pay NFC. But the continued presence of those that will not have this capability means we need to carry cash.
Equally important, I’m sorry to have to say, nothing is foolproof security-wise. I don’t really hold out too much hope that our security concerns will lessen with Apple Pay, and to be safe, we will still carry cash — just in case.
It would indeed be a naïve traveler who ventured too far into the countryside without real cash in his wallet or, at the very least, a Ziploc baggie full of coins. I see Apple Pay helping the payments industry with innovative solutions to numerous problems, but will it, for many of us, lessen our dependence on cash? I don’t think so.
It’s a long and winding road back to Boulder and for sure, I will first drop by an ATM to replenish my real wallet’s depleted funds. And, as old-fashioned as it might sound, I just want to be prepared for those times when the network is down.
But that is another story for another time.
cover photo courtesy nomadic lass | flickr
About Richard Buckle
Richard Buckle is the founder and CEO of Pyalla Technologies, LLC. He has enjoyed a long association with the Information Technology (IT) industry as a user, vendor, and more recently, as an industry commentator, thought leader, columnist and blogger. Richard participates in the HPE VIP Community where he is part of their influencer team.
