Huffington Post: Cognizant Vice President and Head of Banking and Financial Services in the UK & Ireland Says the Death of Cash is Imminent

Tony Virdi, Vice President and Head of Banking and Financial Services in the UK & Ireland, Cognizant

“Emerging and innovative technologies are shaking up the payments industry,” writes Tony Virdi. “By the end of this decade we can expect the check to have disappeared and for cash and plastic cards to have reduced in volume. Instead, electronic or mobile payments will have taken the lead, meaning coins and notes will become less important for several types of transactions.”

Virdi adds, “The payments industry is a highly regulated market and demands strict adherence to rules and regulations. With the death of cash, banks, card merchants and traditional payments players will face major challenges to their existing models and infrastructures. So as not to be left behind, most of the existing organizations are already preparing themselves for the wind of change and disruption by investing in innovative technologies, and creating knowledge processes to serve the next generation of customers.”

Allowing users to make payments from their smartphones ensures that the entire process is sped up in several ways, notes Virdi. According to him, while the mobile wallet concept has been a hot topic for the past decade, it is now truly starting to manifest itself as a reality. “There is no doubt that cash is on its way out - but this will be a long process. The payments industry is set to experience a great deal of disruptive changes,” he writes.

Click here to read more.