Singapore – Fashion is an ever-changing industry, directly affected by technological advancements, trends, and consumer behaviour. What is in today may be outdated by tomorrow.
Let’s take a look at the future of cash. The rise of contactless credit cards, smartphone wallets like Android, Samsung and Apple Pay, E-Z Link cards, Nets CAshCard or FlashPay, QR codes, GrapPay, and PayNow, provides users so many options to pay for a transaction without rummaging through a wallet or coin purse.
These alternatives are a better option compared to opening a wallet, finding out the cash on hand is not enough and having to go to the nearest ATM to withdraw some cash. Transportation fees, groceries, dining out, online purchases, shopping and so much more can be done with just a tap or a click of a button.
Fashion is taking note of these changes and are meeting demands by micro-sizing things like coin purses and wallets or completely eliminating them by adding pockets to jackets or mobile phone cases.
Women especially are in for a big transformation. Gone are the days when someone can find or lose anything in the black hole that is a woman’s purse. This was confirmed by big brands such as Fendi, Topshop, and Zara when they revealed 2018’s biggest trend: the micro-bag. It is a bag that is large enough to carry a phone, some keys, a card case plus a bit more like a go-to lip gloss. With the world shifting into a cashless society, a micro-bag is enough to hold a woman’s everyday necessities.
With all of this “cashlessness” and convenience, cash is going out of fashion.
It might take a while for a greater majority of the population to adopt these innovations, mainly because of the preconceived notions that cash might disappear online or that “the cloud” is not safe and secure, although there are specific companies that were created to reassure the consumer otherwise.