● Developments in banking and financial technology will soon make money idioms such as ‘signing for the bill’ or ‘a penny for your thoughts’ a thing of the past
● Zopa, has given a modern-day twist to the top ten money phrases
● Zopa commissioned popular cartoonist Jonesy to bring the ideas to life with brilliant parodies
● Each cartoon takes money-based idioms to the next level, illustrating humorously how different our lives could be as we become a digital society
Zopa, the FeelGood MoneyTM company, has examined money idioms and gestures – like asking for the bill by miming signing a cheque, or flipping heads or tails with a coin – and concluded that many of them are soon going to be things of the past.
As new technology changes the way we invest, spend and lend money; the terms and phrases we use surrounding money are transforming too. Zopa, a digital pioneer with 14 years’ experience in the financial tech industry, which is now launching a digital bank, created a top 10 list of money idioms that could be labelled as outdated.
Ever thought about the phrase ‘a penny for your thoughts’? Zopa suggests that we could be asking for Bitcoin instead. And rather than flipping a coin at a sporting event, we will be tossing a credit card into the air.
Zopa commissioned famous newspaper cartoonist ‘Jonesy’ (Steve Jones) to illustrate just how transformed our lives might be in the future. Jonesy parodied the top five phrases, depicting each humorously with his own unique and recognisable cartoon style.
Each future-looking idiom challenges the status quo. For example, according to Zopa, the ‘signing for the bill’ gesture will be redundant soon. Instead, when people have finished their meal, people will be more likely to signal facial or iris recognition to the waiter. Jonesy gives his take and takes it one step further by illustrating a customer displaying his eyeball to request the bill.
Clare Gambardella, Chief Customer Officer at Zopa, added: “At Zopa, we have changed the way that customers invest money and get loans and are now looking to improve other banking products. We see customer behaviour and expectations changing all around us but we all still use these outdated idioms in our everyday lives. We wanted to know what fresh phrases and sayings will come out of this period of innovation. Jonesy’s future predictions are a great mix of satire and thought-provoking accuracy.”
Jonesy, who created the fun, future-gazing cartoons, said: “You don’t think about it, but so much of our language is based on old sayings that just aren’t relevant any more. This really made me think about how our lives could change in the future.”
Zopa has been an award-winning peer-to-peer lender since 2005. Since gaining its bank licence with restrictions in December 2018, Zopa will now offer a wider suite of simple, fair financial products – including a fixed term savings accounts, credit card and money management app – with the aim of making people feel good about their money.