Alternative finance -- New ways to spend your money

Money

The days of paying for everything with cash are slowly drawing to a close, and if you borrow or pay back money, there’s a very good chance wads of notes won't be involved in the transaction. I personally do a lot of online shopping, pay for goods in real shops using contactless cards, and send money and pay bills via an app, and I imagine a lot of people do the same. I still carry a wallet, but it generally doesn’t have much, if any, actual money in it.

Foreign exchange marketplace CurrencyFair.com has put together a very detailed, and great looking infographic covering the many different and innovative ways you can now make payments and exchange currencies -- from crowdfunding, through peer-to-peer payments, to cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin.

This fascinating peek into the world of alternative finance explains what each method is, provides a brief history, and explains how it works. It also looks at whether or not the system works. Unsurprisingly, all of the methods covered are successful, and are set to become even more so in the future.

The controversy surrounding Bitcoin gets its own section -- there have been thefts, discrepancies, and calls for regulation -- but despite all the bad press, the cryptocurrency remains incredibly popular with an average of 3,000 Bitcoin transactions processed every hour. Whatever your views on Bitcoin, it certainly looks as if it’s here to stay.

Which of the various methods detailed below have you had experience of? Do you trust them?

The World of Alternative Finance

Photo Credit:  iprostocks/Shutterstock

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