If you’re one of those people who spent last weekend fretting about the end of the world, then today’s Google announcement of a mobile payment platform probably has you up in arms. Yes, people well-schooled in the signs of the apocalypse well know that a cashless society is often said to be one of those signs. Mobile payment solutions abound, but I’ve yet to be standing in line at a Target — or even a futuristic IKEA — and see a fellow shopper whip out his or her smart phone to pay. Nope, we’re all still punching our pin numbers into a keypad. But if anyone can finally convince the masses to use their phones to pay their grocery bill, it’s probably Google…or Apple.

When it comes to putting all my financial information on my phone, I’m a bit skeptical, but Google’s announcement of “Google Wallet” brings us one step closer to the reality of going full-on cashless (unless, like me, you ever park at the train station in Bridgeport, CT where you have no choice but to pay with cash or check as though it were 1995 or something). Google also unveiled “Offers’ today which is basically a Google-ized version of the daily deal and the supermarket flyer. This, frankly, intrigues me more as a potential user. I can’t remember to bring a coupon into the grocery store to save my life, but having them right there on my phone would be amazing. I would, no doubt, save hundreds of dollars if coupons just showed up on my phone.

All of this is just the start, though, according to Google. Wallet will, eventually, be able to hold everything from your driver’s license to your health records in the future. (Note to self: Remind me to tell my brother to stop jumping in the pool with his phone in the pocket.) Google assured the audience at today’s press conference that this is a “lockable wallet” — more secure than the one you carry in your pocket. This, though, is not really something I’m willing to take a company’s word on. It’ll be some time before enough people have tested this to my satisfaction. If you live in New York, Portland, or San Francisco you’ll be able to test Google Wallet and Google Offers out this summer but the rest of us will have to wait. I’m certainly looking forward to seeing how this all turns out…and hope those apocalyptic-types are wrong about what this all means.