Are there money problems that technology could solve?

With everything tending toward going digital these days, is the time ripe for money to go that way, too? There is a cadre of individuals that thinks it may be.

At the very least this group thinks there are enough problems in how the current currency-based world works that digitizing money would be a big step forward. They put forward their arguments during a conference called Money2020 earlier this month.

The conference attracted a lot of major players in the commerce world. Google, Visa and PayPal were all represented, as were a lot of smaller companies. The presumption behind the get-together was that cash is just too difficult to handle. It takes up space. It flows through the financial exchange system too slowly. Digitizing the flow and creating “mobile wallets,” proponents claim, would solve these problems.

Not everyone at the conference agreed the problems even exist. An official from Cabela’s, which sells all things for the outdoors person, told the conference that the current system of cash, credit and online shopping works just fine, thank you.     

Indeed, we suspect there are some in Texas who might make the argument that if the money transfer system were more streamlined than it already is, it might result in more consumers getting into untenable debt dilemmas, and make it harder for them to protect themselves against harassing creditors.

Fortunately, that kind of protection is available to those who might need it today through forms of personal bankruptcy, both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13. When individuals need debt relief, all the potential benefits of filing for bankruptcy deserve full exploration with the help of an experienced attorney.

Source: NewYorker.com, “Should Money Go Digital?,” Kyle Chayka, Oct. 9, 2013