January 2, 2007 at 4:28 pm
· Filed under Money, Shopping, Technology
We have seen the new run of Visa commercials that show the whole flow of a busy cafeteria coming to a stop when someone chooses to pay with cash and just this morning I saw a news clip about a Washington, DC cafe, called Snap, that no longer accepts cash. Is this the beginning of the end for cash? Personally, I rarely have cash on me and maybe write 1-2 checks a month. Everything else is done via my debit card or a credit card.
According to Snap’s owner, the plastic only policy means more security in the store (less risk of robbery), easier balancing at the end of the day, and no more daily trips to the bank to make deposits. Makes perfect sense to me. But is it legal? There is nothing in the US legal system that says it isn’t.
However, what about those who don’t have plastic whether by choice or not? Cash leaves no paper trail for its users, either. Where does it leave them?
It is getting more and more difficult to function in today’s society without some form of plastic, whether it be a debit or credit card. According to the American Banking Association, more than 53% of US consumers use debit and credit cards for the majority of their purchases - and that was a number from 2003/2004 - you know that has gone up.
What do you think? Is doing business via cash becoming extinct or will cash always be king?
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Ingo wrote @ January 2nd, 2007 at 5:20 pm
Cash is (still) king in our area. But plastic will win the race. Somebody told me that you can pay a bus ticket with your cell phone in Kiel which is the next big city to us. Don´t ask me how that works.
Char wrote @ January 3rd, 2007 at 1:12 pm
I have heard about using your cell phone to make purchases too. I bet they just charge it to your cell phone bill.
Ingo wrote @ January 3rd, 2007 at 4:31 pm
I think so, too. Did you know that the German word for cell phone is “Handy”? Isn´t that ridiculous? We slightly lose our language!
Char wrote @ January 3rd, 2007 at 4:48 pm
Handy? That doesn’t even make sense.
V-Grrrl wrote @ January 3rd, 2007 at 5:11 pm
If currency disappears and becomes digital, how will we protect it, own it, dispense it? Interesting thought. How will digital currency be created, moved, controlled?
I’m still adjusting to life without checks here in Belgium….
Char wrote @ January 3rd, 2007 at 5:17 pm
No checks in Belgium? Is it just cash or plastic? I can’t imagine cash going away completely - not just yet, but I can see why more and more businesses may be going toward a cashless way.
Phil wrote @ January 4th, 2007 at 1:25 pm
Interesting, one credit card company (though the name escapes me at the moment) has been advertising over here that “cash is spent”.
I don’t like the idea of not having cash… and I certainly don’t understand the concept of everything coming to a stop when someone decides to pay with cash, surely the converse is true?
Also, what happens to kids who are too young to get debit cards?
And lastly, I feel wrong buying a beer at a bar or a chocolate bar and using a card. It’s time consuming and pointless.
Wow, I feel I could rant about this for ages! I’ll stop now…
Char wrote @ January 4th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
But Phil, that is exactly the kind of discussion I was hoping to elicit with this post. Take it and run with it - you could do a great post at your blog on the topic (if you feel so inclined).
This is obviously a topic that will continue to be discussed as technology marches forward and more and more people have access to plastic.
Ben wrote @ November 18th, 2007 at 10:01 pm
Interesting stat on the 53% of people using cards and that being a few years old I’d be curious to see what it is now…
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