Independent Banker - December 2017 - 53

competition in the smartphone market.
" Even though iPhone had dominance
in the beginning, more people around
the world [today] use Android phones
than iPhones, " he says.
Many large banks' cautious
approach to digital currencies is a
potential opportunity for community
banks. " It's one area where smaller
banks could leapfrog and get ahead by
starting to help their customers to have
access to this market, " Viglione says.
Banks need to understand that
more and more customers are going
to want to use cryptocurrencies as
payment and get on board with that
" Smaller banks could
leapfrog and get
ahead by starting to
help their customers
to have access to
this market. "
-ROB VIGLIONE, ZENCASH
trend, Garçon says. Instead of making
it harder for customers, banks need
to find ways to make it easier for
them to trade digital currencies.
" You just don't want to be that
dinosaur, " he says.
Banks can also help educate
customers about how to use cryptocurrencies
securely, says Areiel
Wolanow, managing director of
Finserv Experts, an independent
consultancy in London that offers
advisory and delivery services in
blockchain and cryptocurrency.
" If community banks can give their
customers low transaction costs and
answers on how to do this securely,
they're going to make the path to
adoption that much easier, " he says.
Cheryl Winokur Munk is a writer in
New Jersey.
Are we moving toward a cashless society?
While cryptocurrencies are an
up-and-coming trend, industry
observers predict cash will be king
for many years to come.
Paper money has been around
since the 12th century, and it won't
be phased out overnight, says Areiel
Wolanow of Finserv Experts.
Certainly, trends outside the US
are propelling the move toward virtual
currency adoption. Other countries
around the world are making more
effort to get rid of cash as a form
of payment-which paves the way
for cryptocurrencies to gain ground
around the world and in the US, says
Loch Loyal's Marouane Garçon. In
China, for instance, everyone pays
using WeChat, a Chinese social
media app that allows instant messaging
and payments. Garçon says
he recently spent a week in China
and never used cash. " There was
no need, " he says. " If you don't have
WeChat in China, it is incredibly difficult
to pay for things without it. "
The US is well behind those
trends. Wolanow predicts it will take
at least 30 to 40 years before cash
disappears as a payment method
here. " I do think we're headed in that
direction, but the complete elimination...of
paper money will take a lot
longer, " he says.
To get to that point,
regulations must change
and market realities
need to shift. At some
point, when it becomes
prohibitively expensive for
consumers to use paper
money, they will no longer
want to incur the extra
costs. When that happens,
that's when " you will see
paper currency phased
out, " Wolanow explains.
Until that day comes,
cash will continue to be
a no-frills way to pay for
many transactions, says
Joshua S. Rosenblatt of
law firm Frost Brown Todd.
" There are certain activities like
tipping a valet where cash is the
most convenient, " he says. " I think
that's a cash transaction for the
foreseeable future. "
-Cheryl Winokur Munk
independentbanker.org
ICBA Independent Banker 49
http://www.independentbanker.org
Independent Banker - December 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Independent Banker - December 2017
