Imagine never having to fumble for change for your newspaper or to remember to get a tenner from the cashpoint to pay back a mate.
Or in fact, having to have any cash on you at all. The makers of a new smartphone application say the days of carrying notes and coins could be numbered.
Pingit lets you transfer money from your bank account straight to someone else using only their phone number.
It’s like texting money to someone – a relative, friend, or potentially a shop, bar or restaurant.
There is no faffing about with sort codes or account numbers and no delays. The cash transfers across the moment you hit the button.
Barclays, which launched Pingit yesterday, says the app has huge potential and while the technology is currently only available to pay individuals, there are plans to widen the scheme to allow people to pay bills, use it for business and make charity donations.
It certainly sounds handy. But is this about more than convenience? Does it mark the beginning of a cashless society?
“Absolutely, yes it does,” says Professor Michael Hulme, an expert in mobile technologies based at Lancaster University.
“I’m sure this technology will render cash obsolete because with it, cash is unnecessary.
“The only reason cash has seen off other technology up to now is because it’s relatively easy to carry and it’s with you all the time.
“In effect mobile phones are exactly the same. It’s carried with the individual all the time, so fulfils that role. Not only do I think this will remove the need for cash, I think we will see that happen within the next 10 years.”
So no more opening birthday cards hoping Gran’s stuck a fiver inside, no more worrying about whether you have cash in the house to pay the paperboy and potentially paying the electricity and gas bill without leaving the house, going online or posting a letter.
Pingit allows transfers of payments of between £1 and £300 to another person’s account.
Barclays boss Antony Jenkins said: “For friends splitting the cost of dinner, repaying a borrowed £10 or people sending money to a son or daughter, it is free, quick, convenient, secure, and easy to use.”
Although currently restricted to Barclays, the technology will be rolled out for users of other banks next month or sooner.
All users need to do is download the app to a smartphone such as an iPhone or Blackberry or any model of phone that uses Android technology.
Once the app is installed, the payee keys the recipient’s phone number into it, adds the transfer amount and presses send. If the other person is registered with Pingit, the money will go straight into their account.
If not, they receive a text with instructions on where to go online to complete the payment.
Barclays has re-assured their 12 million current account customers the app is safe. Without entering the five-digit password set up during the registration process, no one can use it. And if the phone is lost or stolen, the details can be wiped from the phone.
But even with those assurances, are people ready to let go of the familiarity that comes with notes and coins?
Professor Hulme points out that there is already “near field communication” technology available that enables people to make store purchases by waving their phone at a pay-point near the till.
It utilises a chip within the phone that stores the customer’s bank details and allows payment to be made quickly, and is becoming more common in shops around Britain.
And that is not the only payment method that removes the need for real cash.
The rise in popularity of credit and debit cards since their introduction in the 50s shows that our reliance on physical money is not what it once was.
Money spent using plastic has increased by 12% over the last five years and in 2008, Europeans put £1.4trillion on cards.
Meanwhile, commuters in Tokyo can already travel using their phones by swiping over payment points on public transport.
Barry Clarke, of a think tank called Future Foundation which researches future trends, says: “Britain being in a cashless society in the next 10 years isn’t going to happen. But I do think contact-less technology will become a significant part of our lives.
“When you boil technology down it’s all about the benefits it offers people. If people see value in that benefit, they go for it.
“Technology like Pingit offers people convenience and speed. There’s nothing more annoying that going out for a sandwich at lunch, realising you don’t have money and having to run to the cashpoint.”
Whatever happens in the short term, the way we pay has already changed beyond recognition.
Cheques are already due to be phased out by 2018. Could cash really be next?
What else can smartphones do?
In some new homes you can draw the curtains, change the television channel, run the bath and even turn the kettle on through a mobile.
Mercedes-Benz’s mbrace technology allows for the locking and unlocking of doors with a smartphone, while the WalkSafe app alerts pedestrians to oncoming traffic by measuring road vibrations.
Smartphones in future could also keep our health in check – a team at Northeastern University in Boston, America, is developing an app that lets diabetics keep a close eye on their glucose levels.