FROM OUR INBOX
(as you said). I’m saying cashless is coming – for sure. I don’t have the answer. But maybe Europe has already solved it... Most European cards are “chip + pin” instead of the “chip + signature” that we use in the U.S. Instead of signing, you input a four-digit pin to authorize the transaction. In addition, they use an offline pin. It authenticates without an internet connection. I don’t know the answer. I can just tell you that cashless is coming. As a person who has been innovative- tech-oriented since the 1960s, familiar with cryptocurrencies and pay-by-wire, who also has some background in economics, I can tell you something without qualification: The moment cash disappears, so does your freedom. – Lonny Eachus Steve Sjuggerud comment: I agree with you 100%. I prefer to pay in cash myself. Each time you swipe your card, you are at risk of being hacked or tracked. My point is, cashless is coming. Young people think it’s way easier (and they don’t care about their privacy). And the government loves it. It will know what the bad guys ( and the good guys) do with their money. When the citizens and the government both want something, it’s going to happen. The smartest thing for investors to do is find a way to profit, since we know it’s happening. If you’d like to learn how invest in this trend by owning what I call the “One-Tap App,” click here.
The coming cashless society in the U.S. and elsewhere rings true to me. However, there are a couple of issues to consider when going this route. 1. Going cashless may be easy in an egalitarian society like Sweden but perhaps not so easy in countries where a segment of the population may be hard-pressed to afford the technology to allow them entrance to a cashless world. 2. Visa and MasterCard may well be the big winners in this situation, at least early on, but there are developments in the blockchain world which, in time, may ‘threaten’ the dominance of the existing payments systems... One thing is certain: technological change often has large, unpredictable consequences which makes life tough but interesting for investors! – Brian Kelly Steve Sjuggerud comment: I agree with your second point. We’re early in this process. The card networks have been the big winners of credit and debit card adoption. And they’re in the pole position right now. The technology will change that at some point. That’s part of the reason I recommend investing in the entire area, not just the big players of the moment. To your first point, I disagree. Just look at what’s happened in Kenya in recent years... The country is one of the poorest in the world. Yet, it’s led the world in mobile payment adoption in recent years. The reason
22 | October 2017
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