The financial industry and way we make payments has undergone various innovations and changes over the years, most of which has happened within the last decade or so. The catalyst of payment innovation has been the development of Financial technology (fintech), which has been shaping the way payments are made since the 1950s with the birth of credit cards. This was just the beginning and more and more methods of payment were introduced decade after decade.
In the 1960s, ATMs were introduced to replace tellers and branches, the 1970s saw the first electronic stock trading on brokerage floors, in the 1980s, banks started using mainframe computers, and in the 1990s, the internet gave birth to e-commerce business models. Now, since the start of the 21st century, the rise of the internet, computers, and smart mobile devices has further digitized the way we facilitate payments.
Today people have access to a wide variety of e-wallets, mobile wallets, online banking, gift cards, prepaid cards and hundreds of credit cards utilizing EMV chip technology. We have seen an influx and exponential growth of new payment methods throughout the years. So, what does the future hold in the fintech and payments sector?
Future of Payments
Though the payments industry has seen a great deal of innovation in the 21st century, we have yet to see the most transformational shift in the payments and financial industry. However, we are on the cusp of great change in the way we make payments through the implementation of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. For the first time in history, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin allow users to participate in trustless peer-to-peer transactions without the need of government regulations or centralized third parties. Therefore, cryptocurrencies have the potential to disrupt the payments industry by tremendously reducing transaction costs, improving security, and providing faster payments.
While cryptocurrency and blockchain has this potential, there is still a ways to go. For instance, users need to be able to seamlessly send payments without much thought or knowledge of how the technology works or even how to do it. Take credit cards for example, the users money is held securely in their bank account, and payments can be easily made with the tap of a card or the typing of a PIN code. Everyone knows how to use them, and most everywhere accepts them. The future of payments with cryptocurrency needs to be this easy, and there are various developments in play to make this happen, one of which is Digits.
Digits is an innovative company which is developing a cryptocurrency payments solution that allows users to transact crypto just like fiat using any debit or credit card. The Digits technology integrates the users chosen cryptocurrency with their own debit or credit card so that they can make payments just as they normally would. Users of Digits will be able to pay with their own debit or credit card in person or online, and the settlement time, process, and fees are exactly the same.
Innovative fintech solutions like Digits are the future of cryptocurrency payments.
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