The following actually happened today...

I drive to work this morning around 7:10am. I was already in a rush to get out the door because I had to run to the store for the wife. My habit of eating something in the morning (typically called breakfast) reminds me 15 minutes down the road that I should probably stop at the store and grab something for myself. I wish my brain would have thought of that sooner.

I stop at the convenience store to grab a drink and a breakfast pastry. The woman rings up the order, "Okay, that'll be $3.87". I grab my wallet and realize that I don't have my debit card. Frustrated, I tell her I don't have it on me and say "Just forget it". A great way to start the day...

I start racking my brain on how I am going to get through the day without my card. I live just far enough away for it to be a major inconvenience to drive back home, risking being late to work. Suddenly, I have a great idea! I'll stop at the ATM and do the cardless ATM transaction.

Side note: the bank I am stopping at has recently closed. However, they still keep a fully functioning ATM beside of an abandoned building. Thankfully it's surrounded by restaurants and businesses so it's not totally shady...

I fumble through my phone to set up the cardless ATM on my account since I have never had to use this function before. The ATM reminds me on 3 separate occasions that it's still there and wants to make sure I want to continue the transaction. Finally I get the access code and withdraw $20. This should get me through today.

I stop at the gas station to pick up a couple things to get me through the day (pastry, drink, and e-cig pods to take the edge off of the stress). I stuff the remaining $6 in my pocket. I'm already mulling over what I'm going to do with it...

I get to work and in a flash, lunchtime rolls around. I am contemplating what to do about my lunch with the remaining $6, but I realize I also have a negative balance on my account from having to withdraw the $20 earlier. Sooo...off to find another location with an actual functioning bank. I deposit the $5 bill and save the single dollar for the habitual afternoon Pepsi to take the edge off of the afternoon.

THEN I realize I should probably eat something. I remember that I have money on my Paypal account, but it's not linked to my bank account for me to withdraw. That's okay, though. I have Google Pay. I pull up to McDonald's and ask at the drive-thru (because...you know...COVID-19) "Do you guys accept Google Pay??" The kid says to hang on.

Mic goes silent

"Uh, yes sir we do." Fantastic!

I pull up to the first window and hold my phone up to the mechanism the employee struggled to move from the top shelf. It doesn't pick up my phone. Three separate tries, two attempts from a manager, and a good 6 cars behind me help me come to my decision rather quickly.

"Just forget it!!" And I drive off...

My wife texts me with CashApp and asks that I pick up a couple things from the store on the way home, and she sends me $26. That's great and all, but I still don't have my card. After work = back to the cardless ATM. I withdraw the $20 bucks and make do with a smaller version of the initial shopping list. Hopefully she won't mind....

But my gas tank minds. Maybe I can make it the 20 minute drive on an eighth of a tank....

Let's try this a different way...

Same scenario, but let's imagine the missing debit card didn't happen. Instead the woman behind the counter says "How will you be paying today??" I respond with "Litecoin, please". She presses the button and a QR code pops up on what would normally be the credit card reader. Phone and reader beep and she tells me to have a nice day. No cardless ATM, no longer late to work.

Lunchtime rolls around. But instead of failed infrared and Bluetooth technology, the kid says "Will that be Bitcoin or Satoshi?" I say "Satoshi is Bitcoin". This must have been the kid's first day on the job. He gestures to the QR code on the drive-thru window, I lean back in my car to scan through the camera. Phone beeps, register beeps, and I get what I wanted to eat with no hassle or inconvenience to me or anyone else.

What about the grocery store? If I don't have enough in my wallet app, I could text the wife with the total. In 2 seconds, the amount of Digibyte shows up in my wallet to use immediately.

And then there's that pesky gas situation. If the terminal has a sign that says "Etherum only", you can easily switch out with another fund or send any ERC-20 token that the specific retailer could accept.

Imagine if we could have this type of scenario that's free of the stress and anxiety that comes from a forgotten debit card. No more worrying about negative balances in your ledger (what you have is what you have!) If you need money for the grocery store, your spouse can send you everything you need to cover the cost in a fraction of a second!!

Now realize what a world would be like without banks. Because honestly, we're not far from it....