There's interesting news out of Ecuador. The government is planning to release a new digital currency, possibly as soon as late this year. Unlike Bitcoin and other existing digital currencies, this new version will be the first digital currency released by a national central bank as an official state currency.
Does this step indicate a "giant leap forward" for an all-digital monetary system, moving us even closer to a completely cashless society? While a total lack of cash may be somewhere in the future, we're not there yet. Not even close.
From walking into your bank, to sitting down at your desktop computer. From opening your laptop on the go, to pulling out your smartphone. And now to glancing at your watch. What’s next for mobile banking, a “smart ring”?
In many emerging markets, daily financial transactions—buying groceries, paying a utility bill, cashing a paycheck or billing a customer—are notoriously difficult. Banking institutions are few and far between, and large swaths of the population have little or no access to them.