Classic Board Games Goes “Cashless”
In living rooms across the world, white, pink, blue, orange, and yellow money will be disappearing. The beloved board game, based around paper money since its inception nearly a century ago, will be going cashless. Hasbro announced a new version of Monopoly that will not contain any cash, only a card reader and debit cards. Embracing the 21st century’s onset of the cashless society, the latest version is more in tune with how payments are made today.
Sold in over 100 countries and translated in 47 languages, Monopoly was the game that taught millions of people about money and managing finances. As technology evolves, money and banking are going digital, and board games are following. Making family game night a way to teach your children about using physical money is being left behind in the 20th century.
“We looked closely at the ways that people pay today. One way is tapping your credit card at checkout. So we incorporated that idea into this new game,” said Hasbro’s Senior Vice President, Jonathan Berkowitz.
The top selling game contains a high-tech score-keeping system. The digitalized banking unit tallies the cost of properties, utilities, houses, hotels, and even chance cards by scanning barcodes on the cards. Players only need to wave their debit cards to complete transactions, rather then counting their cash and giving it to the banker.
Game designers have made Monopoly analogous to our industry, or what most banks are striving to accomplish. By tracking the value of properties, as well as piles of cash, it creates a single personal financial management tool.
This high-tech version eliminates the black market element of hidden cash and other means of manipulating the numbers. Without cash there can’t be any deals behind closed doors, meaning that players can’t transfer money to other players unless the reader allows it. So you won’t be able to negotiate with the banker to sell your property at a discount to keep you afloat, every transaction must be within the game rules. Cheating will also be a lot harder, how do you sneak 100’s from the bank while no one is looking if there is no cash?
While Monopoly may be cutting cash out completely, it may be too precipitous for society. We have definitely experienced a decline of cash payments with more companies accepting debit cards, Apple Pay, and Google Wallet as forms of payment.
A cashless society may be in our near future. CMCS is a premium recovery service that can help you receive debt owed to you while staying up to date on technology. Meeting your debtor’s preferences will allow you to collect your money sooner and more efficiently. If you would like to speak to one of our experienced collectors at CMCS, we can provide individualized information regarding your specific case to provide you with the best options in your collection. Call us today at 800-223-6259 to get started.
