Management And Accounting Web

New and Old Ways to Spend and Pay or Delay

Summary by James R. Martin, Ph.D., CMA
Professor Emeritus, University of South Florida

Cash and Credit Related Main Page | How to Manage Yourself Main Page

Most of the methods listed below are ways to delay payment rather than ways to actually pay for something we purchase. For example, paying with cash, checks, debit cards and Bitcoin represent payments. Paying with credit cards, and various mobile pay methods represent ways to complete a transaction while delaying payment. The purpose of this brief summary is to provide an introduction to the various ways we currently have to make payments. I have included a number of links to sites that provide more depth.

Some of the Relatively New Ways to Spend and Pay or Delay Payment - Mobile

Bitcoin

Advantages: Virtual currency good for untraceable and international transactions. No government, no bank needed.

Disadvantages: The lack of intermediary means there is no one to call if something goes wrong with a transaction. You need some money to start and you need to learn how to mine bitcoin.

For federal income tax purposes, virtual currencies such as bitcoin are treated as property.

Maybe not: Coinbase enables you to register an account, fund it, and then it handles all aspects of transactions with Bitcoin including between your bank and your Coinbase account. coinbase.com

See bitcoinmining.com/ and en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining

The Ultimate Guild to Mining Crypto: kingpassive.com/mining-cryptocurrency/

Iscrupe, L. 2021. Bitcoin mining energy consumption. Choose Energy.

Ripple

Ripple (not the wine) is  a real-time settlement system and the third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization after Bitcoin and Ethereum. According to American Banker the Ripple system has a number of advantages over cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, including price and security.

Advantages and disadvantages: See Bitcoin above.

See Ripple_%28payment_protocol%29

Ethereum

Ethereum is a public blockchain platform that provides a virtual machine that can execute peer-to-peer contracts using a crypto asset called Ether.

Advantages and disadvantages: See Bitcoin above.

See Ethereum and ethereum.org/

Venmo

Advantages: User friendly digital wallet compatible with iOS and Android systems.

Disadvantages: Limited transactions.

See Venmo and venmo.com/

PayPal

Advantages: Web and app-based system that works with millions of international and individual users. Protects against fraud.

Disadvantages: User experience and interface lacking.

See PayPal

Apple Pay

Advantages: Easy to use and widely accepted with secure encryption and thumbprint technologies.

Disadvantages: Works only with Apple products.

See cid=wwa-us-kwm-features

Samsung Pay

Advantages: Easy to use and widely accepted with secure thumbprint technology.

Disadvantages: Works only with Samsung Galaxy products.

See samsung-pay/?cid=ppc-

Google Wallet

Advantages: Fairly easy to use tap and pay system.

Disadvantages: You have to open an app, then type in a pin.

Android Pay

Advantages: Easy to use and widely accepted. No pin required.

Disadvantages: Works only with Android phones and does not require a passcode or fingerprint scan to use.

See android-pay-112521513939.html

Netclearance

Advantages: It eliminates the credit card firms and allows banks and retailers to set up their own private direct mobile payments networks. This allows a person with a bank app or a brand app to bypass the credit card companies.

Disadvantages: Limited availability. Some U.S. retailers (e.g., Target, Walmart), are working on a merchant-owned mobile payment system.

See netclearance.com/

Stripe

Advantages: Complete payments infrastructure for the internet. stripe.com/

Dashboard for iPhone. Track and manage payments on the go. dashboard/iphone

60 Minutes 5/1/2016 segment on Fintech. shaking-up-the-financial-industry/

“The Rise of Fintech." personal-finance/fintech/

Wikipedia - Stripe_%28company%29

Disadvantages: I'm not sure if there is an app for Android.

Transferwise

Advantages: Save money when you send money abroad. Transferwise is an app for foreign currency settlement. You enter the amount and recipient, upload the money (debit card or bank transfer) and the app converts it at the midmarket rate, then sends all parties an email confirmation. Separate apps for Apple or Android.

Disadvantages: ?

See transferwise.com

Some of the Old Ways to Spend and Pay or Delay Payment

Cash

Advantages: Useful where credit cards and other payment methods are not available.

Disadvantages: Paper money is filthy.

Checks (Including cashiers checks and money market checks)

Advantages: Useful where credit cards and other payment methods are not available and of course to pay your credit card bill.

Disadvantages: Awkward. Bank reconciliations.

Credit Cards

Advantages: Rewards programs (e.g., cash, airline miles), protection against loss or fraud.

Disadvantages: Usurious interest rates on balances. Drives personal debt.

Debit Cards

Advantages: Very convenient.

Disadvantages:  No float.

See Credit_Card_vs_Debit_Card

Consumer Loans

Advantages: Allow us to purchase things like automobiles that we could not buy any other way.

Disadvantages: There is usually an interest charge.

Construction Loans

Short term that are used for home building and other construction. See home-construction-loans-work.aspx

Bridge Loans

Also short term loans. See Bridge_loan

Home Improvement and Home Equity Loans

See HUD?src=/topics/home_improvements

Mortgages

Long term loans for home buyers. See mortgage101.com/about

Insurance

We pay for many things with insurance. For example, we pay for health care with insurance including Medicare and Medicaid.

Letters of Credit

See letterofcredit.asp

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Related summaries:

Gregg, A. 2017. Start-ups embrace cryptocurrency to raise needed capital: 'Initial coin offerings' let companies raise money without ceding control. The Washington Post (December 4): A13. (Summary).

McKenzie, B. and J. Silverman. 2023. Easy Money. Abrams Press. A 2023 review from the Journal of Forensic & Investigative Accounting 15(3). (Note).

Pope, K. R. and L. Black, 2023. Understanding blockchain: Cryptocurrencies aside, knowing blockchain's potential uses and impacts on operations and the finance function is critical. Strategic Finance (March): 38-45. (Summary).

References not listed above:

Esquire. 2016. The new rules of personal finance: How to spend, save, invest, and not waste any of your hard-earned tender. Esquire: The Money Issue (April): 87-101, 132.

Freeman, M. 2016. Netclearance seeks foothold in mobile payments. The Atlanta Journal Constitution. (April 3): D3.

LaFollett, G. 2015. Expanding your app-titude. Journal of Accountancy (January-December). (Summary).

Peterson, R. and T. Quinn. 2015. Will you be paying by check, or bitcoin. Strategic Finance (February): 10, 12, 61.

Sullivan, T. 2015. Transparency, trust, and Bitcoin. Harvard Business Review (June): 118-119.