Yahoo Lifestyle Retire your wallet
By MH tech expert Tom Guise
Once an indicator of style and status, your wallet is now just the wrong kind of bulge in your pants
MONEY
Cold, hard cash. Here’s how to warm and soften it. Square Cash is the invention of Jack Dorsey, co-creator of Twitter. It’s simple: email someone, write a sum in the header, and cc cash@square.com. That’s it – payment to anywhere in the world, zero commission and no signing up. The first time, you’ll be asked for a debit card number, but it’s “100 per cent secure” according to Square
There’s even an app (US-only at present) ¬– it just opens a blank email, ready to send.
Slimming effect: 14%
CREDIT CARDS
Invented so you don’t need to carry cash, the plastic is ripe for punting, too. PayPal is for more than just eBay – download the app (free; iOS, Android, WP) and you can see stores around you that accept it as payment. Check in via the app and the shopkeeper will confirm purchase and email a receipt. Watch the 2.9 per cent surcharge, though.
Slimming effect: 12%
RECEIPTS
Carrying more records than Al Capone’s bookkeeper? Receiptmate ($2.99; iOS) is your . . . receipt mate. Scan a sales docket with your iPhone camera, highlight the total with your finger, tag it and it automatically uploads to digital notebook evernote.com. From there, you can even create itemised PDF statements.
Slimming effect: 17%
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BUSINESS CARDS
Still using a Rolodex? Check your back pocket – yes, you are. Before undertaking the shameful ritual of binning business cards, photograph them using Evernote Hello (free; iOS, Android). It recognises the details and files them with their LinkedIn and Facebook info. For your business cards, Airdrop (iOS, iPhone 5 and later) can send your details straight to another iPhone user’s contacts – neatly circumventing their bin.
Slimming effect: 24%
TICKETS
Not so much filling your wallet as forgetting to fill your wallet. LifeLock (free; iOS, Android) lets you scan movie and event tickets, vouchers, store cards and more, complete with barcodes that work at the counter. It’ll even notify you when a gift card is about to expire.
Slimming effect: 9%
LOYALTY CARDS
Nothing tests loyalty like half-stamped coffee cards oozing out of your wallet. There’s an app for that. A few, actually. Big stores have their own: Myer One (iOS, Android) can be scanned at the counter just like the hard card. For arabica aficionados, eCoffeeCard (iOS, Android, WP) locates shops and lets you pay and keep your stamps in-app. Best, though, is Beat the Q (free; iOS, Android), which allows you to pay en route and skip the line at places like Campos and Toby’s Estate. You even get a free coffee when you sign up. How’s that for loyalty?
Slimming effect: 21%
Wallet fatness remaining: 3% (your driver’s licence)
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