Life gets super busy and as I venture into more of what my peers call “real adulthood”, I’m realizing that more and more. So long are the days when we all had “scheduled break times”. Those break times are now reserved for doing errands and making necessary phone calls. My girlfriends and I have even pre-scheduled “catch ups” a month in advance so we ensure we make time for each other.
Such is the reality of living an “adult” life, right?
Because of this, I’ve made it a priority to find more and more efficiencies in my day-to-day. The more time I can free up, the more time I can reserve for down-time or spending evenings committed to watching a movie with Dave. It’s a mission, but it’s something I’ve found wildly successful as I try to maintain a good “work-life” balance.
Enter technology. It’s one of the biggest tools I’ve leaned on to make more efficiencies in life.
It might not seem like a lot but I find managing my payments and finances a huge part of being efficient. I online bank like no other and I’m the first to try any new app that comes out on the market.
Enter Android Pay.
I’m SO excited that my bank (CIBC) is the first Canadian institution to offer all 3 leading mobile wallets. It’s totally secure and I’m able to add all of my credit and debit cards onto my Google Pixel. Not only is it quicker than needing to fish for and pull out my wallet, but it also comes along with showing purchase history, recent transactions, and merchant information via Google’s location services.
At first I was skeptical about how long it would take to set up but it was literally a 2 minute endeavour. Efficiency? Check!
In Real Life?
After about a week of full blown usage, I can confidently say it’s become embedded into my life. It’s literally the coolest new feature since the “card-tap” technology. If you think about it, I can’t believe it didn’t come sooner! For Dave and I, our lives change at the drop of a dime. We often need to pick up and leave on a trip, or work out of a coffee shop all weekend because we had a last minute deadline. For all of this, my phone is typically right in my hand and it makes grabbing that latte-to-go that much quicker.
It might sound cheesy, but your bank and your phone are probably two of the most intimate entities in your life. One holds your means to do anything and everything and the other… well I guess just about the same thing.
I know a lot of skeptics will think, “is this secure”?! I’ve done my research, and trust me, it is. If anything it’s even more secure than your card (which I’ve lost on several occasions).
Instead of pushing against new waves of technology, I’ve learnt to embrace it, use it, and really make my life more efficient because of it. I’m always on the search for efficiencies and this phone-tap sitch definitely has a checkmark of approval from me.
After all, life’s too short to spend even a second of it doing something as mundane as paying for something. Collecting all of those seconds and putting it towards my goals (and hopefully less adult errands).
*** This post was made in partnership with CIBC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
