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BankruptcyNews
Junior Member
358 Posts |
 Posted - 12 March 2007 : 10:31:22
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Has cash had its chips?
Until now, royalty and paupers have been the only ones not to carry cash. But within five years, it could apply to all of us.
The prediction comes, perhaps not surprisingly, from a man whose career is based on the growth of plastic transactions.
Peter Ayliffe, head of Visa's European operation, says that by 2012 Britain will be a cashless society in which everyone will see credit and debit cards as more convenient than notes and coins.
He believes the transition will be eased by the advent of a new generation of 'wave and pay' cards which it is hoped will speed the purchase of small items such as newspapers and cups of coffee usually paid for with cash. Shop-pers could even find themselves surcharged for paying in cash.
Today, convenience and credithungry Britons spend more than £300bn a year on plastic, paying with debit and credit cards more than six billion times a year.
Last December alone, shoppers made 669million transactions with plastic - charging a record £ 31bn to their credit and debit cards.
However, surveys show that almost half of Britons prefer to use cash for anything costing less than £10.
'Wave and pay' cards, under trial by Visa and Barclaycard, are being introduced in the hope of persuading these customers that it is quicker and easier to pay with plastic.
Mastercard is also working on its own version of the technology. The cards work by being passed over a scanner at a shop check-out.
The most common form at the moment is the Oyster card used to pay for journeys on the London public transport system.
The prediction of a cashless society comes five years after Britons spent more on plastic than on cash and cheque for the first time, and 41 years after the introduction of the first credit card. Some utility firms have started to penalise householders who still prefer to settle their bills by cash or cheque.
Last month, BT caused uproar by announcing it was introducing charges for the millions of customers who choose not to pay by direct debit.
However, not everyone shares Mr Ayliffe's vision, with the British Retail Consortium saying that the high fees imposed on retailers by credit card companies encourage shop owners to seek payment by cash rather than plastic.
A spokesman for the consortium said: 'It is about providing a service for customers, and as long as we are in a situation where customers require cash transactions, we are going to provide that facility for them.
'While it is possible that we will reach a stage where we have become a cashless society, it will be a long way away.'
Fiona MacRae, Daily Mail
12 March 2007
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Has cash had its chips
