Smart Phones Get Smarter and Smarter

Smart phones are getting smarter while my dumb phone is getting dumber. According to The Plain Dealer it is now possible for one smart phone to bump another smart phone and money will flow from one into the other. I tried bumping my dumb phone against my son’s smart phone and all I got was a text message, “Are you kidding”. Yes, if you have the patience you can text with a dumb phone,

This bumping business has got something to with “the next big thing” in banking - social payments. I never considered making a payment on anything as being social just as I don’t find anything social about the rants and rage in the social media. It appears that in the near future credit and debit cards will go the way of election cards. If you know what election cards are, you probably own a dumb phone. Suffice to say that election cards are obsolete (they’ve been replaced by Super PACS). Per the article I read, social payments work like this:

“You want to pay $25 to Jim. If your bank offers social payments as an option, you can log onto your bank's web site from your cell phone or computer.

You then request a payment to Jim and provide his email address or cell phone number. He'll get an email or text message that he has money that was sent to him and he needs to claim it. Reminders may be sent for up to 10 days.

Jim can provide the bank or this third-party company used by the sender with his bank routing number and account number and the money will be transferred from your bank account to his within a day or two.

Consumers can also look for the ability soon to send payments instantly by bumping their cell phone with another phone or device, said McClanahan of Fifth Third.”

Social payments will of course raise more hell with the USPS operating statement. The postal service has already announced that it will cease delivery of mail on Saturdays. Social payments, on line bill paying and e-mail are also fueling class warfare and that’s not very social. Class warfare? Of course. There will be those of us who don’t want or don’t know how to use a smart phone, joined by those who don’t know a lap top from an Etch a Sketch. We will be known as the 1 per centers (sound familiar).

Now that’s a problem. I’m not comfortable being a 1 per center with all of its political implications. It’s also much too snooty. As you can see from this blog I have a computer. I have also admitted that I have a dumb phone that is dumber than Ebby Carnack’s pig (the latter is through the courtesy of The High Primal who assures me, that being dumber than Ebby Carnack's pig is as dumb as you can get). The only way to drop out of the 1 per centers is to get a smart phone. It’s worth considering as long as they have an APP which will guarantee that I will not bump myself into bankruptcy.