It is said that Japan’s cashless adoption rate is still low compared to other countries around the world.
Perhaps the reason many minimalist and slim wallets are currently gaining attention is that Japan is currently in a “transition period between cash and electronic payments.” We at SOLAHAHPU do not believe that we “must go completely cashless at all costs.” This is because a complete shift to cashless payments could harbor specific risks, such as system failures or issues during disasters.
That said, it’s true that a certain level of cashless adoption makes daily payments smoother, and above all, switching to a compact wallet reduces the bulk in your pockets.Although we’re lagging slightly behind the global average, given the current context of this gradual shift, we’ve considered what might happen to our daily lives and belongings if a “fully cashless era”—where cash completely disappears—were to arrive in the future.
I’ll list the anticipated changes, including the concerns that arise alongside the increased convenience.
Changes and Concerns in the Fully Cashless Era
The Main Payment Methods We Carry: In addition to QR code and contactless payments via smartphones, biometric authentication (fingerprint, vein, and facial recognition) will become mainstream, and physical cards will be reduced to just a few “ID cards that also serve as backup cards.”
Changes in the Roles of Smartphones and Wallets: Smartphones will become even more integral to our daily lives. Wallets will shift from being “places to put money” to serving a role more like a “key case that protects a minimal number of cards and keys.”
Concurrent Sources of Anxiety
The fear that, the moment a large-scale power outage or communication failure occurs, you will be unable to make any purchases at all.
The risk of becoming a “digital refugee” due to lost devices or dead batteries.
Concerns about privacy, as all activity logs and purchase data are centrally managed.
There is a certain segment of the population that resists digitization
While convenience reaches its peak, anxiety about these vulnerabilities unique to the digital world will inevitably remain. So, if such a completely cashless era were to arrive, what kind of products would SOLAHAHPU create? I tried to imagine it for a moment.
A wallet SOLAHAHPU might create in the future
“A minimalist case that holds physical ‘keys’ and cards”
[Reason] Even if cash disappears, physical keys for homes and bicycles, as well as ID cards and the like, will likely remain.Some might suggest a mobile battery for smartphones, but in an era this cashless, it’s possible that smartphones themselves could be worn on the wrist or slipped onto a finger to project a virtual screen within a given space. If that were the case, even traditional mobile batteries might disappear, so I left that idea out.
As we navigate this transitional period, what we’re striving for with our thin, compact wallets—such as the Tenuis series—is the perfect balance between cash and cards. However, no matter how the future changes, we intend to solve the challenges of each era through ingenuity and creativity.
