#58: Cash is no longer king
Did you know that there are 1.5 billion credit cards in America? It seems that the average household has over 10 credit cards.
So, how did you pay for your gifts this year? Ten years ago, Americans paid cash or check for 70% of their purchases. Now more than 50% of purchases are charged to cards. Cash is no longer king.
And yet, according to some estimates, there are 80m unbanked consumers in America. They pay $1.5b in check-cashing fees a year. So card companies are offering ‘pre-paid’ cards that can be re-loaded.
The last hold-out of cash is the small purchase (newspapers, bus tickets and so on). Now credit card companies are offering ‘contactless cards’ for purchases under $25. These cards wirelessly beam data to a receiver in a store. The process takes less than 2 seconds, resulting in fewer queues. I can’t wait.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com
Copyright: 2006 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
So, how did you pay for your gifts this year? Ten years ago, Americans paid cash or check for 70% of their purchases. Now more than 50% of purchases are charged to cards. Cash is no longer king.
And yet, according to some estimates, there are 80m unbanked consumers in America. They pay $1.5b in check-cashing fees a year. So card companies are offering ‘pre-paid’ cards that can be re-loaded.
The last hold-out of cash is the small purchase (newspapers, bus tickets and so on). Now credit card companies are offering ‘contactless cards’ for purchases under $25. These cards wirelessly beam data to a receiver in a store. The process takes less than 2 seconds, resulting in fewer queues. I can’t wait.
I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com
Copyright: 2006 James Henry McIntosh
James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
posted by James Henry McIntosh at
8:20 AM
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