As seen on 9Honey.

Popular amongst newlyweds, the days of the wedding wishing well are numbered with rising concerns around the security of unattended cash and a steady decline in the use of physical money.

With its functionality in question, Melbourne mother Marta Barbayannis saw a gap in the market to take the wedding staple into the digital world, developing the groundbreaking smart phone app GiftWell.

Looking to modernise the way guests give presents at weddings, engagements and birthdays, the GiftWell app functions as an electronic cash gifting platform enabling users to safely and conveniently send, manage and receive cash all via their phone.

Unsurprisingly, findings suggest that our reliance on cash is dwindling, with ATM withdrawals dipping 22 percent in the past five years alone. Further to this, Marta said wishing wells pose their own security risks, with many guests hesitant to stuff envelopes containing money into an open box that is unlikely to be monitored.

“For many couples, and even guests, organising monetary gifts is quite stressful. Aside from getting to an ATM, there is unfortunately a lot of nervousness about leaving cash unattended at a function.

“Using the app, people can safely and conveniently send, manage and receive cash gifts all via their own phone. It really just streamlines this process making it easy and secure for everyone involved,” said Marta.

One couple who have played victim to stolen money is Aaron Callahan* and his new wife, who were devastated to find contents from their wishing well stolen in plain sight.

“We had organised a glass, shoebox-sized wishing well, but we were none the wiser and underestimated the volume of cards we would receive. The cards were overflowing onto the table,” said Aaron*.

Two days after their special day when reading through cards from their guests, the couple discovered over one third of envelopes were missing from their wishing well.

“We were shocked. It was panic for the first 12 hours because we thought that we had stuffed up and left them at the venue. We had a sleepless night trying to establish what had happened, however, it became apparent that the missing cards had been stolen.

“One week had passed and the remaining cards had still not turned up anywhere. The money is a big factor, it meant a lot of course that our loved ones had been so generous, but what was more meaningful were the messages the cards contained.

“My wife’s Nonna travelled all the way from Italy and wrote a card we will never be able to read. It’s really hard not having those sentimental messages,” said Aaron*.

Reflecting on his experience, Aaron* believes a solution such as GiftWell should no longer be an alternative, but the new norm for couples across the board.

“Only once you go through this sort of thing do you realise it’s worth keeping up with the times,” said Aaron*.

*Full name has been changed to protect the privacy of individuals