A Cashless Society

Ebony Johnson

Microeconomics 2302

31 May 2012

A Cashless Society

There have been countless cases in society where technical revolutions have started out as just science fiction before becoming a reality. Needless to say, having a plastic card that can be used for currency was an idea of science fiction in the early 1900s. The famous dinner that sealed the fate of credit over cash has been told in history the same way. Head of Hamilton Credit Corporation, Frank X McNamara and Alfred Bloomingdale founder of Bloomingdale’s and Ralph Snyder all went out to dinner in New York. Mr. McNamara noticed at the end of his dinner that he had forgotten his cash to pay for the meal and had to have his wife bring him the money from home. This is where the idea of a credit card that could be used in different locations was born (Rosenberg 1, 3-4). Since that faithful day, the idea of a credit card has progressed to what it is today, a convenient way to access cash as well as borrowed money without having to actually carry around cash. The idea of carrying large amounts of cash is not only dangerous due to possible theft, but also dangerous due to it being dropped, lost as well as being counterfeited (Kupetz 1).

The idea of being able to borrow money has been around longer than actual money. In the early twentieth century, store owners wanted to hold onto loyal customers, so they would extend lines of credit in the form of a card which allowed them to receive items and pay for them later. Having to carry so many cards at once made shopping difficult, this is where the idea of just one card seemed like an advantageous idea. In 1950, Bloomingdale and Snyder put their money together to form a new company, the Diner’s Club. This card grew quite popular, by 1958; two more cards had made their way to mainstream, American Express and Bank Americard which later became Visa (Rosenberg 2, 3-11).

A cashless society would save money on minting money, but some believe that this...