(Mis)Uses of Technology

(Mis)Uses of Technology

by Mike Masnick




Paper Or Plastic?

from the plastic-all-the-way dept

An article talking about the expected trend to move more and more payment systems away from paper checks and towards plastic/electronic forms of payment. The article talks a lot about prepaid cards gaining acceptance over credit, debit, and smart cards. I barely use paper checks at all any more, but I'm not so sure I'd want to use a prepaid card over any of the other forms of plastic. Why not hang onto the money for as long as I can?

2 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 
 

Reader Comments

(Flattened / Threaded)

  • Jan 24th, 2002 @ 9:50pm

    Think "cash"

    by D Henkel-Wallace

    Universal stored-value cards can be more like cash (i.e. anonymous). This is what has killed digital cash systems in the past: the banks wanted a cut (and couldn't see how to get one) and of course the regulators don't like the anonymity.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

    • Jan 25th, 2002 @ 7:20am

      Re: Think

      by Anonymous Coward

      I hear pre-paid cell phones are going the same way. Gov't doesn't like anonymity, so they will try to kill the off.

      (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

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