Empty pockets - Cover Story

Since the first credit card appeared in the late 1950s in the US, we have been heading – inevitably, some would say – towards to cashless society. Yet the Bank of Americard, which evolved into today’s Visa card, was only the next step in a series of moves which have attempted, with varying degrees of success, to remove the need for cash, or at least the need to carry it around. In fact, the first reference to the concept of a credit card was made in 1887, when the author Edward Bellamy used the phrase several times in his novel Looking Backward. The 1920s saw a number of US petrol stations use the credit card concept to support fuel sales and the 1950s saw the inception of the iconic Diners Club card. Since then, the number of credit cards in circulation has increased enormously – along with the amount of credit. And the UK is one of the most intensive user of credit cards in the world. According to payments trade association APACS, there were 141.6million payment cards in issue in the UK in 2005. Of these, 69.9m were credit cards, 4.7m were charge cards and 67m were debit cards. The credit card is, of course, only one element of an emerging cashless society. The supporting range of debit cards, prepaid cards and reloadable cards really does allow us to do away with the need to carry what some regard as ‘shrapnel’. The caveat is, of course, should we want to. Today, many of us still need the emotional comfort zone provided by a pocket full of coins and a wallet full of banknotes. The thought of emerging from your house to battle with the world armed only with a couple of pieces of plastic might well fill you with dread.