“Swish [a free Swedish phone app used to transfer money] has pretty much killed cash for most people, as far as person- to-person payments are concerned,” says Niklas Arvidsson, an associate professor at Stockholm’s Royal Institute of Technology. “It has the same features as a cash payment... the same as handing over a banknote.” Swish is instant, it’s free of charge, and you only need someone’s phone number to transfer money to them. And it’s used by ninety percent of adults under 30 . (FYI, Sweden had its first Swish mugging a few summers ago... Two thugs beat up a man and forced him to “swish” them some money. Police easily identified the assailants by their phone numbers.) We wish we could invest in Swish... but Swish is not publicly traded. It’s owned by the Swedish banks. It’s for Scandinavian use only (hey, Sjuggerud is Scandinavian!). Importantly, Swish is not much different from services we have in the U.S. – like Venmo, PayPal, or Google Wallet. They do the same things. They allow you to pay just about anyone... without cash. You can do all of this with your phone. The revolution in mobile payments is absolutely incredible. What most folks don’t realize is how easy and safe these services are to use. But that’s exactly why they’re the places we want to put money to work right now...
MOBILE PAYMENTS AREN’T AS CRAZY AS YOU THINK “ Steve, paying on your mobile phone sounds ridiculous, ” you might think... “ It couldn’t possibly be safe or secure. ” This is the one most people get wrong... Paying with your phone is actually safer because you avoid the current problem of revealing your name or credit-card number to whomever you are paying. (The secret is called “tokenization.” When you pay with your phone, a one-time-use number – a “token” – is all that’s created. Your name and credit card number are never seen, and therefore, they can’t be stolen.) Every time you swipe your credit card, or type it in online, you risk getting hacked... You give up your name and your credit-card number. But not when you pay with your phone. Paying with your phone is more convenient, too... It’s faster than fumbling for cash or waiting on that stupid credit-card chip approval. Sweden had its first Swish mugging a few summers ago... Two thugs beat up a man and forced him to "swish" them some money. Police easily identified the assailants by their phone numbers.
60 | September 2017
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