Published 11/17/07 (Modified 3/8/11)
By MoneyBlueBook

J.D. Roth From Get Rich Slowly posted an entry today on his blog in which he drew attention to those popular Visa ads that promote the use of credit cards as the new trendy and speedy way to make everyday purchases. In case you've been living in a cave with your fingers stuck in your ears, or you just don't watch much television, here's the commercial we are talking about:

The message is pretty self evident - Using credit cards is fun, fast, and everyone is doing it, so don't get left out. Only those who aren't hip or "with it" use cash. The spinning shoppers in the commercial represent the gears of everyday commerce that grinds to a halt when someone like the lone, meekly man at the end attempts to use cash to make his purchase. The gesture causes everyone to drop everything in their hands in stunned shock - food, drinks, and all.

Using Credit and Debit Cards Is Much More Efficient

J.D. seems to really dislike the commercial as he sees it as a misguided attempted to demonize the usage of cash. I personally like the commercial and must disagree with his views on this one. I find that credit cards are almost always exponentially faster than using cash. Every time I go grocery shopping, I always dread following after someone in the checkout line who plans on using cash or even worse, checks. Cash is cumbersome and there is always the inevitable pause as the sales clerk and customer fumble around for loose change, to the occasional rolling eyes of everyone else.

Credit card purchases do require customers to pause momentarily to swipe their card and sign the receipt, but each transaction is otherwise seamlessly efficient. With the growing trend towards phasing out the need to sign the receipt for certain types of credit card purchases such as for fast food, the usage of cash will continue to wane.

Cash is Old School and Will Eventually Be Replaced By New Advances In Card Payment Technology

There will always be those who insist on sticking by their old habits and familiar ways of doing things. I'm sure there are some who still use paper book maps, rather than sites like MapQuest, but I think new technology should be embraced. They're designed to make our lives easier.

Not only that, cash is inherently very dirty to handle and you never know how many strange people have handled the bills and coins you are touching. Cash and checks also don't provide any of the pluses that card payments provide. Many credit cards today offer great ways to earn cash back rewards for making everyday purchases, and ways to earn interest income from no fee 0% balance transfer offers. The money and rewards you can earn really do add up over time and should be a part of everyone's financial planning.

Of course, not everyone can handle the responsibility of using credit cards. For those who have difficulty paying off their credit balance in full each month, there is always the option of using debit cards, which automatically withdrawals money from your checking account rather than using money on credit. Some companies like Citibank even offer reward points for using debit cards in the same you way you'd earn points for using credit. Either way, I just think card technology will only get better and quicker. Someday we might even have scanner technology that will allow us to pay without even having to take the card out of our wallet or purse!