Y2K seemed like a real threat to us all, and that was only ten years ago.  Now a 2010 bug has affected millions of German bank customers, rendering their credit cards useless until the glitch was fixed.  A real life scare, based in a technological overlook.

It seems as though the German banks would have recognized the threat before it happened–an inability to recognize the new year as 2010 can be a major problem for banking indeed.  At least a little preemptive scare could have driven the German banks to assess and manage the situation prior to the turn of the new year, saving the millions of customers the headache of not having access to their money, among other things.

While the issue is being taken care of, and relatively quickly considering the number of people that were affected, the German bank bug reminds us of the fragility of relying on electronics for money management.  It’s a particularly important topic of discussion moving forward, because our currency is becoming less and less tangible.  The digital representation of our cash is becoming a point system, which can be modified, erased or infected at any time.

Take myself for instance.  Some payments received for my work comes electronically through a gateway such as PayPal.  From there the money is transferred to my bank account.  That account is accessible to me online as well as on my phone, and I can immediately make payments using my bank card.  Never once did I see any cash, or even the paper representation of a check.  The only tangible evidence of my money is a plastic debit card, which has no monetary value as an item itself.

Yes, it sounds a bit scary when you think about it.  The online banking industry is largely unaffected by things like year changes.  And our ability to overcome Y2K has helped to place a great deal of trust we have in online banking.  From a consumer standpoint, we’re becoming increasingly accepting of the intangibility of our money, and that puts us in a new economic position we have yet to experience based on our cultural past.

Nevertheless it’s an important topic for us to consider, as virtual goods and mobile apps give us more reasons to enhance the presence of the intangible.  Not only is currency becoming less tangible, but products as well.  The two go hand in hand, and a number of industries outside of banking will have to deal with the management of these intangible products, services and currencies.

Social media in particular has a vested interest in protecting itself from future threats such as viruses or another Y2K.  Networks such as Facebook are becoming conduits for digital currency exchange, converting your money into something that is only of value within the walls of Facebook.  The battle for establishing standards around virtual currencies will leave consumers with a lot of options for where they can "virtually" spend their money, though the stability of each platform will convey a level of trust based on consumer interactions.

As an end user, be aware of he changes that are taking place and diversify your "credits" and cash to some extent.  In our recovering economy, it’s likely that a push for virtual and intangible currency will become increasingly prominent as an integrated feature across web and mobile services, so know the ins and outs of products you purchase and utilize for spending and managing your money.