At the recent American Bankers Association National Bankcard Conference in September, Visa unveiled its new debit product, the Visa Check Card.
While officials of the card association have high expectations for the product, a Visa official was quick to concede to a representative of the U.S. Mint that it was far from putting the mint out of business.
That was a remarkable concession. For years, bankers have predicted the coming of the "cashless society," pointing to inventive credit card strategies and the potential convenience of debit.
The Reigning Currency
These modern-day Nostradamuses have long used that the time when cash is useless and redundant is just over the horizon.
But others have turned their noses up at this notion, arguing that cash remain the reigning currency and that human nature dictates that people will always want money in their pockets.
American Banker asked, "Is there a 'cashless society' in the future?"
H. SPENCER NILSON
Publisher The Nilson Report Oxnard, Calif.
Nobody reading this paper will ever live in cashless society, in this country or any other. U.S. consumers currently use cash for over 46% of all spending and that has declined only 9 percentage points from 20 years ago.
Even by the middle of the next century, cash will still account for over 35% of dollar volume on all types of consumer-payment systems.
DALE REISTAD
Project manager Interactive Financial Services Tyson's Corner, Va.
ATMs have mae cash easier to access in the last two decades, but the cost of cash continues to increase while debit cards and other electronic cash substitutes are becoming more convenient and much cheaper to handle. On the horizon are prepaid and other "chip" card products that may one day replace coin transactions. This will lead to an increase in cash-type transactions (without an audit trail) and greater reliance on plastic cards.
MIKE SHADE
Marketing director Verifone Inc. Redwood City, Calif.
I don't believe we can expect a "cashless" society, but we will definitely see a "less-cash" society. For 25 years, the financial services industry has provided card-based payment alternatives to cah and checks. The focus has always been to increase consumer flexibility and ease of use at the point of sale, while reducing expenses, such as processing cost and losse due to fraud.
First came the bank card. Now debit cards are beginning to replace checks.
PAUL MARTAUS
Matau & Associates Clearwater, Fla.
It has been a practice of mine to never say never about anything, but I feel extremely comfortable about going on the record as believing that we will never see a checkless, cashless society in this country. The paper check remains the cheaper, faster, and easier-to-use alternative.
It may be true that PC and modem ownership is at an all-time high, but penetration remain far from supporting the critical mass necessary for a checkless society.
