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Everybody relies on money for their daily lives. Currency is the system that we use for trading our time, knowledge, expertise, goods, services and more, and most people don’t question it. It can be easy to forget just how much money used in society has actually evolved over time. Online banking, for example, which is used by the majority of people who have a bank account today, only started getting popular in the late 1990s. And there are sure to be lots of ways that money and the money transfer market will evolve in the future. Here are some predictions:

More Digital Banking

Digital banking, where banking services are mainly carried out online to improve efficiency, provide better customer service, and reduce risk, is already the norm for lots of people. The last few years have seen a rise in online-only banks that customers sign up to and operate completely online, without any branches to go into. In-person banking is gradually fading away, and more and more payments, applications, and money transfers are being made through the internet including more options to remit money online to other countries — something that would have been expensive, time-consuming, and would have almost always required an in-person visit in the past.

Cashless Society

More and more countries around the world are moving in the direction of digital payments and transfers rather than cash. While living in a world that does not have any physical, paper money might seem quite futuristic, it’s actually not as far off as it might seem. These days, the convenience of payment systems like Apple Pay and Google Pay, contactless cards and instant transfers using apps like Venmo have made it easier than ever for people to get by with no real need to withdraw and pay with cash.

Mainstream Cryptocurrencies

The future of money transfers is likely to move further and further towards cryptocurrency, with many people using crypto to send payments to people in their lives, buy goods and services and more. While crypto might not be something that everybody understands quite as well as they do cash, cryptocurrencies are becoming more and more popular, and have been a hot topic around the world for around two decades now.  

Easier International Transfers

Already, sending money abroad has become much easier compared to how it was in the past thanks to third-party apps that people can use to instantly send money to anybody else with an account, regardless of where they are located. Since these transfers are typically made online, they don’t take as long as often don’t cost as much compared to more traditional options such as international bank transfers and wire transfers. This has and will continue to make it easier for people to pay freelancers abroad, help out family and friends, and more.

Over time, money and the way that we use it to make payments is constantly evolving. These are just some of the ways that the money transfer is likely to evolve further in the future.