Is it all funny money? Chromosomal cash - the meaning of strife

Look at the coins in your pocket or the notes in your wallet; ask yourself “where have they been?”, or perhaps more worryingly, “are they real?”

Think forward a few years - will you even need pockets? Will you know the history or DNA of your money and will you be able to trace it after it leaves your hands? So is this another challenge for Dr Watson or Dr Crick rather than Mr Holmes fame?

Increasingly technology has found solutions to many of life’s problems, whilst at the same time, posing new questions. Vinyl plastic, celluloid, paper, bricks and mortar, are just a few of the materials in recent years whose previous use has given way to the digital highway. Cheaper, faster, brighter - will it ever end? The words pixel, high resolution and digital have all become important to us in less than a generation. In parallel, jobs continually evolve to keep pace. Social historians are bringing back to life our ancestors through analysis of their DNA and digitisation of their historic records. Social media now seeks to influence our real-time buying, viewing, sharing and learning habits. The leather wallet is under threat. The swipe, the chip and the e-wallet are taking over - even the pickpockets will need to retrain.

Where have you been? How were you made? Are you genuine....and can I trust that you are what you say you are? These are all important questions. Whether it’s blood diamonds, meat, pets, terrorism, anti money laundering, marketing habits, environmental pollution, inheritance and even professional examinations, at various times, all have needed to answer the authenticity question.

So why am I thinking about these things? Well I am looking forward to this year’s ACT Annual Conference. Amongst many high quality speakers we have a futureologist and trendspotter - Magnus Lindkvist. Make sure you are there; with this year’s theme of hindsight, insight, foresight, you will gain the essentials needed to meet the challenges facing business and the real economy in 2013 and beyond.

So in preparation I thought I’d better put my thinking cap on. A few questions if I may to start the ball rolling to get you in the mood.

Will our cash, in our e-wallet, have its own cash DNA passport? In 25 years will society favour those businesses and those individuals which enrich society? Will we be able to monitor their respective influence? Will we be able to trace the roots of their cash and our cash? In 100 years time will ‘cash history’ become an antique of the future? Will this be your own currency, sort of real money, with traceable roots, like an antique with provenance? Will you be able to prove your ancestor or your ancestor’s business did something great with their cash because it has been tracked and authenticated? Will there even be a new branch of financial genealogy?

Will we be able to influence spending habits by knowing exactly how much is spent in our local shops or in support of our local business through direct or indirect employment? Will we be able to praise businesses and individuals who support socially responsible investing and measure the impact end to end? Will it be obvious what was made through legitimate means? Could you really tell how much was generated by businesses, and provide real targeted incentives to those which supported the agreed political agenda of the day? Surely by then it will be easier to determine whether our banks and financial institutions are supporting local businesses and to what extent.

Too many questions, but not enough answers. Well treasurers have been ahead of the game for years. ‘Follow the cash’ has always been the treasurers’ maxim. It has always been clear if you want authenticity, and a passport to future cash, there is no better choice than ACT professional qualifications to help shape your future in finance. The letters MCT, AMCT, CertITM, CertICM, CertCFF, CertFMM and CertFin after your name are already proven to be a passport for success. Who knows, one day you may also become one of our prestigious FCTs. Take a look at our latest Celebrating Success publication which acknowledges the achievements of our latest students from the October 2012 exams. If you want to experience similar success as highlighted in our case study profiles, don’t delay; the enrolment deadline for the next ACT exams is 15 March 2013. If you want to find out more about our leading suite of professional qualifications, visit our website or contact our education team at education@treasurers.org.

A final thought from me; in the age of digitised cash, will one of your children run their own currency’s Central Bank? Don’t tell me - popular children’s names will then be Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine!

By Colin Tyler