Currency or any sort of money system has been in place to form an economy. Through time the type of currency reflected the type of economy and world we lived in. There were times before the paper and the coins where grain and livestock were used as currency. Currently, there are traditional forms of currency such as the coin and paper bills as well as the plastic cards and mobile payment applications.

Today we’re already building tomorrow. There will always be banks and government mints, but when society changes due to emerging technology, the currency has to adapt. In two to three years, I see our governments adapting to the idea of digital currency. What companies like Square, PayPal and Dwolla are doing is making the transition to this digital currency much more of a reality than it was ever before.

Now, it’s up to the nation as a whole to build a currency system for society’s tomorrow. With those three companies being based in the United States, the hope is for our government to transition our society into having a currency system built for tomorrow. The time is now.

Already the Canadian government has retired the production of the penny and is challenging anyone and everyone in North America to help develop a digital currency system. The initiative is called MintChip and is being headed by the Royal Canadian Mint. They’ve even displayed the evolution of currency on the MintChip website where they show a livestock, grain, coins, gold bars, paper bills and then finally a digital chip. Clearly it’s an initiative that is seeking to evolve currency.

Think about the places where you use cash and where you use a plastic card or some sort of method digital in form. Chances are that you rarely use cash. Using plastic cards and apps like PayPal, Square or Dwolla bring a higher level of convenience. With a higher level of convenience and technology come the scares of security and the issue of having members in society not able to adapt due to limitations.

Security is constantly being improved upon and many of these current digital systems have a stronger security than many banks. When it comes to creating another digital divide in a few years almost every person who has the capability to obtain cash will be able to obtain digital money whether through a mobile device or with something similar to a USB drive.

Rather than focusing on the two issues of security and a digital divide possibility, I challenge our government to see the fact we, like Canada, need to evolve our currency. We’ve been know as the country on the forefront of new endeavors, but when we can’t agree on eliminating the penny, Canada will beat us to a nationwide digital currency system.

When a majority of society has transferred over to using some form of digital currency over physical cash, it only proves this is the next thing. Back when plastic was being introduced, people demanded it.

Today, the same three companies I’ve been mentioning are pushing merchants to accept their form of digital payment. By doing so merchants are able to benefit from a higher amount of purchases due to the convenience. Then comes an issue of consumer responsibility on controlling your personal purchases when it is so easy to spend.

Again, there will be problems with any added convenience, but I believe those problems aren’t as crucial as ensuring that our nation has a digital currency system ready for the day that our economy and society will demand it.