Monopoly goes techno, ditches paper money for credit cards

Washington: Monopoly has got a fresh makeover with the iconic board game's new cashless version being launched that uses credit cards instead of paper money in a bid to stay relevant for the tech-savvy generation.

There was a time when true success was measured by the height of your Monopoly cash stack but these days, it is calculated with your credit score.

In an attempt to keep the classic board game relevant to the millennial lifestyle, makers Hasbro have dropped the dollar bills for bankcards in its newest Monopoly edition "Ultimate Banking," which will roll out later this year. In the game, players will tap their plastic on a small credit card reader dubbed the "Ultimate Banking Unit" to purchase properties and pay rent. The bankcards will also track wealth and rising property values, Hasbro said. However, whether the move will payoff or not is not known. In 2007, Hasbro unveiled a similar concept called Monopoly Electronic Banking, but the company says the new version is different.

"Now bank cards, event cards and title deeds are all readable with the Ultimate Banking Unit," the company was quoted as saying by the Washington Post.

"The Ultimate Banking Unit allows fans to track their wealth, buy properties, collect rent and watch their fortunes rise and fall with a simple tap to the unit," the company said.

"Also, there is a difference in the gameplay that makes it more fast paced, dynamic and fun. For example, there are event cards that can make rent levels rise and fall, so your luck can change in an instant," it said.

Monopoly Ultimate Banking was recently shown at the 2016 American International Toy Fair in New York City.

Matthew Hudak, an industry analyst for the market intelligence firm Euromonitor International, was quoted as saying that Hasbro is trying to keep the game current.

"Monopoly, for a while now, has been taking a strategy of focusing on family playtime, trying to make it appealing to the children of millennial parents. They want to be able to appeal to this next generation of families," he said.

It is hard to predict how parents will react to the changes.

Some may appreciate a family game that reflects their day-to-day lives, Hudak said, but some may hold onto their nostalgia for the original game.