The future is cashless. About 3 in 10 Americans already make only cashless purchases in a typical week, and in 2020, digital payments were expected to reach $726 billion.

Here are 6 common ways we use money without cash:

Credit cards

Over 191 million Americans carry at least one credit card, and most have four cards to their name. Credit cards offer a convenient way to make purchases online or in person. They’re safer than carrying cash, and swiping a card is easier and faster than handling change. 

Mobile payments

Mobile payments are transactions made through mobile phones. The term includes in-person and online purchase, but also bill payments and person-to-person money transfers.  

Some popular mobile payment providers are Visa Checkout, Google Wallet, PayPal Mobile and Apple Pay.

Bank transfers

Bank transfers use the highest level of security. Many consumers still only trust their bank to make transactions, and for larger transactions, banks remain the only way to transfer funds.

E-wallets

E-wallets, also known as virtual wallets, store your payment card details on your mobile phone,  allowing you to make mobile payments. 

In the US, mobile wallet use surpassed the use of both credit and debit cards in 2020.

Prepaid cards

Prepaid cards are preloaded with funds to use for transactions. A prepaid card is not linked to a loan, credit line or checking account. These cards are usually aligned with a branded card network like MasterCard or Visa, and they can be used in-store, online, and in-app.

There are two types of prepaid cards

• Open loop. These are general purpose prepaid cards that can be used almost identically to credit cards and debit cards.

• Closed loop. These cards can only be used at one place of business. An example would be a Starbucks card. It’s accepted for payments only at Starbucks.

‍

                                                                      Go cashless with a personal Bright plan.

Bright thrives on cashless

Bright functions as a cashless service, moving funds to and from your bank accounts, making payments on your cards, and allocating funds to savings all in cashless, digital transfers. 

Cashless transactions enable Bright’s data science. With digital transfers, Bright can access information that improves and speeds up transactions and decision making.

Recommended Readings:

5 Common Financial Planning Mistakes

How to Deal With Unexpected Expenses