The legacy banking system is in the process of a technological refresh. This is rather like how cars are updated. A new car is redesigned every five years or so, and three years later they get some navigation system updates, a new grille, and maybe some increased horsepower. The banking industry is certainly not getting redesigned, and the last time they had an engineering overhaul was way back when in the dot-com era, when online banking was added a generation ago. Banks are never at the cutting edge, consistently being five to ten years behind the curve. Now, one international mega-bank, Santander, admits that one of banking’s biggest assets, the fifty-year-old debit/credit card concept is in danger from the superior online payment technology known as Bitcoin . Consumers win when banks compete Competition is one of nature’s greatest concepts. Whether it is sports, business, or a fight for life in the jungles of Africa, only the strongest survive. Due to regulatory capture, this is not how banking works as centralized banking around the world is pretty much the only game in town, until 2009, when Bitcoin was invented. Now you don’t have to pay as much as 29.99% interest to make a payment or purchase with a credit card. You do have a better way forward. Santander sees the clear advantages Bitcoin provides the consumer, especially through being of virtually no cost at all to use. The bank says in a new report published on Tuesday that if the mainstream picks up on Bitcoin in any form of mass adoption, debit and credit cards may go the way of the rotary phone. "Simply put, we believe a future with Bitcoin transactions with their low (or no) costs and fees puts the entire business model of credit and debit card […]
