Money, banking, and travel tickets

Money

Convenience is always attractive, but relying on your phone for paying for things does have its downsides:

The battery issue, again…
Security: you’re responsible for your phone not getting hacked.
The inherent fragility of software: OS upgrades that arrive with glitches, entire payment systems going down, etc.
Hardware is fragile, too. And more readily stolen: when you’re not actually buying something, your wallet or purse tends to stay out of sight. Phones, not so much.

The obvious alternative is to use bank cards:

They’re tiny.
They make it easier to move on from the “I couldn’t possibly leave the house without a computer” mindset.
For extra security, you can use a credit card rather than a debit card. This way, if you are hit by fraud, it’s the bank’s problem, not yours. (But pay it off in full each month: perhaps have two credit cards, one for everyday expenditure and one for actually buying things on credit.)

And is cash just for old people?

It’s heavy, bulky, losable and stealable.
But it’s tangible, real. It has continuity, your great-grandparents used it. The current surge in virtual living is being paralleled with a dramatic increase in anxiety, depression and similar conditions (10% of the UK are now on antidepressants – a situation reflected in other wealthy countries). That’s not to say that everything can be blamed on not using cash, but it’s certainly true that having a less physical, unshared reality is bad news, and shifting away from cash is one of the factors that engender this.
Again on a psychological level, there’s something about cash that makes financial self-control easier. Or would you rather hang on until AI replaces willpower, and all your purchases are subject to e-approval, parents-style?
You can give cash to buskers.

Banking

Internet banking also seems very convenient. But it too brings disadvantages:

All software is potentially hackable.
The human-based alternative – speaking to actual people on the phone – will cost you a few minutes each month. But how contactless do you want your life to be?
Choose a bank that has a decent call centre, put their number on speed dial, memorise your account number, learn their automated menu system – it’s almost as fast as an app. For the UK, we recommend the Manchester-based staff of the Co-op Bank.

Travel tickets

The smartphone’s ability to display a travel ticket is another gateway drug that leads you into a life of always having to carry a computer – and always thinking how much charge its battery has … plus the indignity and security risk of perhaps having the contents of your phone (your life) cloned at passport control, your data retained and always hackable.
But plenty of people manage perfectly well without having tickets on a smartphone. Again, at the cost of a few minutes a month, in terms of printing out tickets.
Also, it’s possible to send a text message from a computer to a voicephone that is capable of displaying a QR code.
One compromise is to have a cheap smartphone that is set up specifically for travelling, perhaps with a different SIM that is orientated towards use abroad.
Better still, a mini tablet: as well as being able to display tickets, it will have a screen that’s fit for purpose in terms of watching a film or two while travelling, and using electronic maps once you arrive at your destination.