The Future Of Digital Currency Payments

Tap and pay method known to be convenient as we just literally “tap and pay” using the credit card or octopus card without keying in a PIN, especially for the octopus card does not require us to sign a receipt, which cost and time are not wasted. The cards are protected against any fraudulent transactions, while reduces the threat of hackers who may scan cards and steal valuable information as ‘Near-field Communication’ (NFC) uses data encryption when sending sensitive information. On the other hand, QR codes simplify the payments in both physical stores and e-commerce. All they need is smartphone application for them to scan in the physical store while sharing their code scans for purchases. The use of QR Codes in e-commerce allows the consumer to send a payment while avoiding the reliance on the merchant, which consumer may need to give up their private information for the payment to merchant. For instance, an e-commerce software company such as Shopify has adopted a tool to generate QR codes that customers can place on products. Therefore, we believe that both of the payment methods will survive in the future by serving different purposes for users as well as various firms.

Although we both believe that digital currency, specifically cryptocurrency, in the long-term will be the future of money, but like any major shift that will disrupt our way of life requires mass consumer adoption as well as allowing people to open their eyes to a world of new disruptive technology that has been created and is educated about it. As the traditional fiat currencies are deeply grounded with principles and agreements in contemporary society, it will take time for digital currency to fully settle with us. One of the risks of digital currency is that it is treated as an existing commodity or security. Due to people fear things they are not particularly knowledgeable about, it is possible to resist the revolutionary changes. However, this revolutionary technology invention should be treated just as smartphones have become a part of our everyday lives.

In the Jordan refugee camp, the ‘United Nations World Food Programme’ (UNWFP) runs supermarket for those who needs recipes for food. They do so without reaching for a wallet or cash. Instead, they must go to the checkout to have their iris scanned for checking individuals’ identities against a ‘United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ database of registered refugees. Fortunately, this method is found to be the fastest way to process, while being the most reliable form of biometric identification than the traditional fingerprinting method. Meanwhile, the newly launched technology,’blockchain’ successfully tracks transactions securely and is invisible to the naked eyes. With the help with blockchain, it keeps a record of the amount of food that refugees have collected. We both believe that introducing blockchain’ transparency system to other parts of the refugee camps in the world is necessary because this whole phenomenon enables refugees to restart their lives.