The world has become less physical since the turn of the millennium.
Remote working, home delivery, video calls, and many other things mean we sometimes only meet with co-workers, friends, and family if essential.
Distancing from a more material society has prompted all sorts of conversations.
State-by-State
Finance has undergone more changes than other parts of society.
The first credit card – the Diner’s Club – arrived in 1950, but since then, plastic and coins have begun to lose their grip on our wallets.
Digital payment processor PayPal, launched in the US in 2000, ushered in digital payment methods like Apple Pay via iPhone or Apple Watch.
Cryptocurrency popped up in 2009, as well.
All these developments were bound to happen due to the overwhelming influence of internet commerce.
The web’s lack of borders means that payment systems now cater to every niche, currency, and interest.
Many retailers have a separate business arm for each country and appeal to various demographics within that nation.
For example, Jeff Bezos’ cash cow, Amazon, owns a 37.8% share of global retail and has around twenty marketplaces worldwide. Companies have to get even more granular with their business in the entertainment sector.
Casino operators tailor their products state-by-state, so the best paying online casino websites support everything from bank transfers to digital wallets.
Lower-Income Areas
The critical point is that almost none of the payment methods mentioned so far use anything physical.
Paypal and Apple Pay might as well be the herald of a cashless society, a concept greeted with both joy and suspicion.
The reality is that the tangible aspects of our economy are not as vital anymore. In 2021, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, and Truist closed 758 branches.
There’s a correlation between physical banks and low-income communities. If real-world finance was lost, including coins and notes, poorer people would be hindered from managing their money efficiently.
Quoting the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, CNBC claims that a third of all closed branches were in lower-income areas.
Oddly enough, people who don’t use banks still want them around. A study from Boston-based research company Aité-Novarica discovered that just 30% of people regularly attend a brick-and-mortar bank, but almost all (90%) would like to live near one.
The reasons for this include not trusting online forms for mortgages or wanting to resolve problems in person.
The obvious question is whether the offline and online parts of finance can co-exist and continue to provide the same service in two different ways. With so many bank closures happening, the answer appears to be no.
Still, the seemingly ongoing need for real branches may yet persuade decision-makers to take a different approach to the offline economy.