To properly determine whether something is digital or not, you can look at how it’s stored, shared, or even used. If it exists only as a file, like a photo on your phone or a voice memo, it’s completely digital. If it’s physical—like a handwritten letter, a printed book, or a cash bill—it’s not. Over time, many physical things have become digital, including bank statements, receipts, and business reports. In the finance world, this made it easier to keep track of data, run calculations, and spot patterns. As for the Spanish-speaking communities, the shift to digital has helped increase the access to services that once required in-person support. However, because not everyone has access to the internet, some people might be left out for services that went fully digital.
Understanding what’s digital and what’s not helps us understand how much our world has developed. In the past, financial records were kept in filing cabinets, and now they’re stored in the cloud. A chart printed on paper had to be read manually, but today, it can be filtered, sorted, and shared instantly. I’ve seen how this improves efficiency, but also how it creates new challenges around privacy and access. If someone can’t read or doesn’t understand digital systems, they may fall behind, especially in financial literacy.