Visa Says Cash Is For Losers

Filed in archive Banking , Buying Stuff , Credit on January 12, 2007

Have you seen this Visa Check Card commercial in which a bustling lunch spot moves in a fast-paced yet orderly fashion, with each buyer quickly and easily sliding his/her Visa check card through the reader, thus keeping things moving and keeping everyone happy? Of course, that is, until the loser who hasn't gotten with the program has the audacity to pull out cash and throw off the whole rhythm of our happy, paperless money society:

(Can't get the stupid video to embed properly. It's here.)

It's a very well-done commercial, showing happy people move through like sheep as their orders fly through the air and land safely and perfectly in their arms. Visa gets its point across well---these days if you're not carding, you're holding everyone else up. You are the fly in the ointment.

Do you like the idea of this cashless society, humming along as we all happily spend our money without being quite sure how much is left in our accounts? Or are you willing to risk being the dork who hasn't gotten with the program?

Personally I'm a card user in most cases, although I use credit, not debit. I don't like the money coming straight from my bank account, and I prefer the safeguards a credit card offers. And I pay it off every month.

But I don't think doing everything via cards is right for everyone. Some people seem to not have the constitution to keep up with their spending, to know how much is left in their bank accounts or how big their credit card balances are getting. For those people, carrying cash is a good thing, as they feel every dollar leave their pockets, which hopefully keeps them living within their means.

Visa thinks they're losers.