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Here’s a quick journey from ancient history to the future from Hover-friend and guest-blogger Jason Kerluck.  Jason is a technology writer who has written how-to articles for websites like Cyberwalker.com and InformIT and provides assistance to Little Geeks.org and other local charities.

While I was out doing my grocery shopping recently, I passed a Bell Ringer for the Salvation Army. I went for my pockets in the hope I had more than lint to offer. But I rarely carry money anymore, and could only offer an apology while mustering a sheepish smile. I could help thinking, “Those guys should have some way of taking debit, they’d bring in so much more money that way.” But in this day and age…what is money?

The modern concept of money has been around for well over 5000 years, and in that time it’s been represented using anything from Bales of Barley to Bars of Gold. The funny thing is that even though we’re not trading in goats anymore, the value of money still changes with supply and demand. And more importantly, for better or worse, money is a central part of our lives. It drives us to go to work, and allows us to buy our food and pay for our shelter. It’s been called the root of all evil, and is always coming up in songs! But we are entering a new era in commerce; we’re nearing the end of tangible money.

It’s not really that far of a stretch for us either. Unlike so long ago, the dollar amounts on the coins and paper bills we use today have little to do with the actual value of the materials they’re made from. Gold is still traded, but good luck buying your morning paper using that. Cheques have no real value at all, regardless of how many zeros are on them. Not until you cash them and the electronics get involved are they worth anything.

As a seller in our wired world, coins and bills just aren’t very practical when buying things online. Could you imaging getting payment from an Ebay sale in pennies (or goats for that matter)! There are several services now that offer ways to accept payments from your buyers.

• PayPal http://www.paypal.com is likely the most well known site. But there are others out there that work a bit differently.

• ZayPay http://www.zaypay.com works via Text messaging to send small payment via smartphone. This is great for anyone who sells low cost items like online games for smartphones. This could also work by making donations to those Bell Ringers easier!

• Moneris http://www.moneris.com is a company well known for their Debit/Credit card services. But they offer online payment processing as well.

Regardless of what you sell online, there are easy ways to get paid fast.

Now that’s all and well for those who own cell phones and computers. But as a result, the biggest hold up to this change is waiting for the technology to finally get to the point of being cheap enough to be readily available. For a cashless world to exist, everyone would need access to these devices.

The question is then “How will we be paying for our stuff in 10 years?” Right now the Debit/Credit card is king. Virtually every store you go to accepts these cards, many use wireless marvels that seemingly work in the middle of nowhere. The system as it is works fairly well, but magnetic strip cards are also pretty easy to counterfeit. They also wear out fast with use, at least mine does! As a result, these old school cards are getting upgraded and are now coming with electronic chips imbedded in them. These chips are a lot harder to forge than the simple magnetic strip. And they’ll also make it possible for secure readers to be installed at home to also allow for easier online purchasing.

And what’s more, these chips don’t really need to be on a card to be convenient. Many gas stations and restaurants are now using RF (Radio Frequency) chips on a key fob that you just swipe over a sensor to take payment. As more and more of these readers become commonplace, what’s stopping us from moving from cards to wearable RF tags? And for the brave among us, what stopping us from having those chips implanted? These could store your information, while biometrics and pin codes will prevent the bad guys from stealing your hard earned money. Some fear this as a bad omen, but technology is only bad when used improperly.

Finally, the end of cash is also good not just for online retailers, but also the economy as a whole. And for anyone, nothing is as good a motivator as saving money. The act of making money uses a lot of resources and costs a lot of money!  No longer having to make, as well as handle all of that cash will save governments billions over time. What’s not to like?

Now get out there and start selling.