Beech Tree News Network

It is one of those days, my day off.  I get things done.  I tick things off the list I made two weeks ago.  I even get a few things on this week’s list done.  I’m feeling good about myself.

I check my email for an invoice for wash chemicals that were delivered to our business a few weeks ago.  I scroll through my mail, find it then print it.  I see ARI has deposited payment for the TVA customer that was in last week.  There’s an email from Scott and Murphy.  “I wonder what this is,” I say out loud.  Scott and Murphy is my easy charge customer.  The drivers roll in, get their oil changed, leave with an invoice, and there is a check in the mail before I can send out a bill.  I read the email.  I should have known things have been too easy with them for too long.  We can’t be having “easy” in the business world.  

“No more checks in the mail,” the email informs me.  I have to fill out an online form, attach it to my email and send it back to them.  Payment will be transferred from their account into our account.  No money will physically change hands.  This will probably mean I will have to send invoices via email also.  “Oh joy!” I think.  My brain hurts just thinking about it.  I will turn 65 on September 5th of this year.  “I’m too old for this,” I think.  Email and electronic transfer of funds doesn’t care how old you are, however, they keep humming along with or without you.

In my mind’s eye, I see dollar bills moving along internet wires from one business to another, like those plastic vacuum bottles at the bank.  Put in your check, push the button and the bottle is sucked up and over to the teller.  I wonder about a future with no paper money, just figures being transferred from one bank account to another, a representation of wealth, like Monopoly money.  I don’t want to see that day, but I probably will.  I want to hold money in my hand and say, “Look what I’ve got.  I worked hard, and this is my reward.”

Maybe that’s the way people felt when paper money took the place of silver and gold.  According to the online site, numismatics.org, paper money started standing in for coins made from precious metals in the US during the Civil War.  “Demand notes,” as they were called, were immediately exchangeable for gold or silver on demand; still many citizens didn’t trust them, choosing to make transactions with metal coins instead.  Eventually, paper money proved to be reliable in commerce transactions, and became the exchange of choice in the day to day business world, as well.

In the US, electronic banking originated in 1981 in New York City.  In 1994, Stanford Federal Credit Union became the first big financial institution to offer internet banking to all its customers.  In 1995, Presidential Bank offered their customers access to their personal accounts online.  By 2000, 80% of banks offered online banking services (themotleyfool.com).

Years ago, I remember Garey’s dad, J.D., ranting about how people (especially those employed by the federal government) were robbing people blind with new laws and taxes and fines.  He would say, “I’d rather be robbed by someone with a gun than someone with a pencil.”  I wonder what he would think about being robbed by someone with a computer.  It happens every day, and with the widespread practice of transferring funds electronically, it’s only going to get worse.  Listen to me, I sound like old people who have trouble accepting change.  Maybe, that’s because I am, or at least I will be in 13 days.