Cell phones -- at least after Friday the 13, October, 1307. ;^D
This posting is a good example of why the world has always improved under capitalism. The mindless Marxists of today say that capitalism is a failure; it is Marxism that always fails.
I sometimes post a reminder of Nabta Playa, a wet region around 8,000 BC of the now Sahara Desert of southern Egypt. There is evidence that there was extensive livestock herding in the region and that some trading was done with Mesopotamia --- a perfect example of early capitalism.
Another example of early capitalism is the ancient Silk Route. The risks of these long distance trading enterprises indicate that civilization has grown and thrived on capitalism, even high risk capitalism.
IMO Marxism continues to intrude upon civilization - despite constant failures - due to Darwin's evolution claims. We moderns are conditioned to believe that society is evolving on to a higher plain - and Marxist egalitarianism is the logical outcome {but never achieved}. However, even under Soviet Marxism capitalism intruded, usually illegally or 'black market' style, sometimes with the elite ruling class wetting their beaks on the profits.
LOL
My guess is that the Templar letter of credit and money transfer system was based on passwords, which is how the Muslim hawala system of alternative banking works. Hawala developed in India in the Fifth Century. It became part of Muslim trade relations with medieval Italy, was widely adopted into European banking, and even prompted European development of the law of agency to recognize how hawala worked. Perhaps the Templars had a different system, but the lack of evidence for that suggests otherwise.