Break Time #29

I’m having trouble trying to come up with a new concept for money. It is so ingrained in my mind that thinking of an alternative to that green rectangle in my wallet is next to impossible. The problem does not lie in the shape or design of the bill, but the perception of it’s value.

People stuffed money in their mattress during the great depression. I’ve heard that those people did that long after the depression was over for the simple fact that they valued their money so much, that they couldn’t trust another with it. Today’s credit card society is so dependent on other people to vouch for them, that we are to trusting of the system. I think that responsibility needs to be woven back into the fabric of the bill.

This can be achieved with a smarter plastic card. Here is how that will work. With every swipe of the card, your bank account is accessed and money is transferred. There is always communication between the two. The credit card should have a display on it that allows the user to see the money in their account before and after the transaction. This display would be directly on the card, and have only a head on display so that others could not see the numbers at an angle. Because of that display, it will cause the person to physically see their money be transferred, and their account a little smaller. The same effect can be felt when physical money is leaving the wallet. It hurts to give another money that you worked for. It would make you reconsider that candy bar, or other movie that you saw once and kind of liked.

The display would be on for a small time after the transaction, and to turn it on before a purchase the person would just touch the card. For security they could put a sequence of touches or numbers in to access the display. A new set of interactive devices would be spawned from this new card. People at home could get a small reader for their home computer. When the card is touched to the reader their account balance is updated for their next purchase. This would be vital because of online bill pay. If that was not updated, the person would not have access to an updated balance, and could overdraft. That irresponsible action is what we are trying to avoid.