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# Money-Counting Smartphone Apps
The LookTel Money Reader Lets You Use Your iPhone to Count Cash

By Michael Hines | Published 2011-03-12 | Tech
Source: Trend Hunter, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/looktel-money-reader
References: [engadget](http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/09/looktels-money-reader-ios-app-helps-the-visually-impaired-count/) & [looktel](http://www.looktel.com/products)

Counting cash could soon become a thing of the past thanks to the LookTel Money Reader. The LookTel Money Reader is a new [iPhone](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/macroscope-2) app that uses the iPhone's camera to read and recite the denominations of money.

I can think of several uses for the LookTel Money Reader, first and foremost to aid the blind in cash transactions. If the app could be refined and tweaked, it could also be useful as a [low-tech anti-counterfeiting tool](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/audi-reader).

Currently the LookTel Money Reader is only programmed to read U.S. bills, but what it lacks in variety it more than makes up for in accessibility and ease of use. The app can be used without an Internet connection and does not need to stay trained on a bill to read its value. The LookTel Money Reader app is available now in the [Apple](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/alfredcamera) app store for $1.99.

## Trend Insights (Trend Hunter)

- Score: 2.2/10
- Popularity: 23% | Activity: 35% | Freshness: 8%
- Audience gender: 70% men, 30% women
- Primary generations: Millennial
- Top markets: North America, Europe, Asia

## Categories

[Trend Hunter](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends) > [Tech](https://www.trendhunter.com/tech) > [Mobile](https://www.trendhunter.com/mobile)

## Key Themes

### Why This Trend Is Growing

- **Anti-counterfeiting Technology:** Further developments can turn the app into an anti-counterfeiting tool, disrupting the security industry.
- **Hands-free Transaction Technology:** There is a potential for hands-free transaction technology using augmented reality in the retail industry, where customers could use these apps to make transactions more accessible for people with disabilities.

### Industries Being Reshaped

- **Technology:** Mobile app development companies have an opportunity to design inclusive and accessible apps while expanding their market to include the disability community.
- **Retail:** Augmented reality interfaces can be developed to enhance customers' experience making payments more accessible and hands-free for the visually impaired.
- **Security:** Future developments of mobile money reader apps could disrupt the security industry and help in the fight against counterfeit money.

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