| OCR Text |
Show ( BANKING 1 IS ElERYBODY'S BUSINESS J ! Plastic Card Dilemma-Which One Do You Use? 1 By Willis W. Alexander ! Executive Vice President American Bankers Association There's a new dilemma for consumers today. Imagine: You've spotted a for-sale item you really need, but you don't have the cash on hand to buy it. Your wallet is full of plastic cards, but which one should you use? Credit card . , . asset card . . , charge card . . . bank card , . . cash card . , . debit card . . . "T & E" card? If that question hasn't occurred oc-curred to you yet it may soon. Use of cards in place of cash began before World War I when charge account cards were issued in limited number by a few hotels, oil companies and department stores for local or company use only. Today, with increased travel, decreased acceptance ac-ceptance of personal checks and a real fear of carrying too much cash, the variety and number of cards has dramatically dramatic-ally increased. Here's a breakdown of the variety by type: Credit cards, charge cards and bank cards like BankAmer-icard BankAmer-icard and Master Charge are all based on the "charge" or "line-of-credit" privilege. The company or bank issuing the card bills the cardholder once a month for all purchases made, and, in most instances, the individual in-dividual has the option of repaying re-paying part of the bill and putting put-ting the rest on a deferred basis. In this case, a finance charge is generally added to the unpaid balance. Bank cards may also be used to borrow money called a "cash advance" up to the card holder's "credit limit." The cards are accepted by a variety of merchants, professional offices of-fices and service organizations. In most cases, there is no initial fee to obtain one, and no finance fi-nance charge is added if the monthly bill is paid in full within a specified time. "T & E" cards, such as Diner's Club, Carte Blanche and American Express, are generally gen-erally restricted to travel and entertainment related expenses. They require an annual membership mem-bership fee of about $20, and they usually do not allow cardholders card-holders to make extended payments. pay-ments. Cash cards and debit cards were introduced by banks along with automated tellers. They allow a customer to make deposits de-posits and cash withdrawals or to transfer money between accounts ac-counts at any hour of the day or night by simply stepping up to a machine, inserting the card and pushing a few buttons. The asset card (which is also a debit card) is the latest addition to the card collection. Recently announced by National BankAmericard, Inc., which expects ex-pects them to be on the market by October, these new cards will subtract money almost instantly in-stantly from your assets your checking account or savings account ac-count through the use of electronic elec-tronic impulses rather than a paper check or withdrawal order or-der at retail outlets instead of banks. Cards. Each filling a need in modern life. With their individuality, indi-viduality, though, the cards have one thing in common: each is the equivalent of money and should be used just as wisely. |
