The race to get rid of paper money continues unabated by governments who want to switch over to electronic means to dispense money to the masses. This will allow those who control access to our money a valuable tool of control not used before. The government wants to keep a close tab on every financial transaction as not to lose out on any taxable income that is now being lost to “under the table” transactions. Most payments made by the United States Treasury are done by direct deposit. State governments are also eliminating paper checks to employees. This mode of payment is now commonplace in our society and will in time totally replace the paper check altogether. The next goal will be the elimination of paper currency.

In the country of Venezuela, the currency is not worth the paper it is printed on. The prices of goods that are available to the citizens are so high that some businesses use money-counting machines for simple transactions and in some cases, currency is weighed on a scale because of the number of bills needed to pay for anything except for gasoline which is produced by the government. Those who are lucky enough to be affluent use debit and credit cards to pay for everything that can be purchased from retailers.

The use of debit and credit cards is no longer a choice to get access to your money it is a requirement that we all have accepted. Checks are a thing of the past and following close on the path to extinction is paper money. Enjoy it while you can.