You'd be hard-pressed to find a person who doesn't carry their smartphone with them everywhere. Smartphones have become an extension of ourselves, allowing us to connect with friends, shop for almost anything we could imagine, and manage our finances. Where it was once commonplace for people to go into a bank or use an automatic teller machine to conduct financial transactions, today, almost everything can be done from our phones.
These changes have made banking much more user-friendly and accessible, empowering people to keep tabs on their money 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In this article, we take a look at how smartphones have changed how we handle our personal finances.
Mobile Banking on the Rise
From ordering food to paying for gas, everything is mobile these days. We use our smartphones for just about everything, including entertainment. As gaming has moved online, so have casinos. Instead of traveling to land-based establishments, online casinos have become places where people can play their favorite games, including slots, blackjack, roulette, and other games. While people still go to physical casinos, they may save those trips for special occasions.
We've seen the same shift with banking. When a client has a question about their account, instead of traveling to a brick-and-mortar bank, they can get a lot of information on a banking app.
Whether you have an account with a traditional bank or a 100% digital establishment, you can do things like check your balance, transfer funds, and pay bills, all with a smartphone app. That means there's a lot less traffic at physical branches because people can manage their money anytime and anywhere. Customers can even take advantage of features like mobile check deposits, making a trip to the bank increasingly rare these days.
The Emergence of Digital Wallets
Not long ago, we had to carry our cash and credit cards in physical wallets that were always at risk of being lost or stolen. Things have changed a great deal in the past few years, and we have digital wallets to thank for that. These wallets store your payment information securely, eliminating the need to carry credit cards around with you and can be used to pay for transactions in online and physical stores.
Digital wallets use Near-Field Communication (NFC) and QR codes for contactless payments, making paying for everything from groceries to coffee a speedy process. We are also using cash and physical credit cards less often because it's much easier to pay for things using our phones and smartwatches. This tap-and-go convenience is pushing us closer to becoming a cashless society. While there have sometimes been questions about the security of these payment methods, they come with robust security controls, including encryption and biometric authentication, to keep our data and money safe.
Budgeting and Personal Finance Apps
Smartphones have become an indispensable tool in personal finance, helping people keep track of their money and make better financial decisions. There are tons of budgeting and personal finance apps available to users that help them track expenses, set financial goals, and even send real-time alerts about how they're spending their money.
These apps organize expenses into neat categories to give users a visual picture of their spending and often come with financial literacy tools to help them learn how to manage their money. Other features of these apps include bill reminders, saving targets, and the ability to track investments. Having access to these tools on their smartphone makes it easier for people to monitor their financial health and better manage their money. They can often be used together with a person's bank accounts and credit cards to help them keep track of all aspects of their financial life in one place.
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