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London Olympics To Be Cashless
14 December 2006
The Visa credit card company has just signed a deal with Barclaycard in the UK to offer a new generation of ‘wave and pay’ plastic cards that require no PIN number to operate.
According to Britain’s Daily Mail, this represents a ‘bold step in the march towards a cashless society.’
The new cards, similar to the Oyster cards already used throughout London’s transport system, will be used for small change purchases under the value of $10. Users will wave wave the cards across scanners and have their accounts automatically debited.
The spokesperson for Visa Europe, Sandra Alzetta, says: ‘With over 75 percent of cash payments being less than £10, the introduction of contatcless payments will play a major role in encouraging the use of cards for low value transactions.’
‘The decision to go live [with this system] in less that a year supports our vision for a cashless Olympic Games in London in 2012.’
MasterCard is also working on a version of the same technology, the PayPass card, which is now being trialled by staff at a major Edinburgh bank.
Whilst there are clear benefits associated with digital cash, not everyone agrees that ‘wave and pay’ represents a positive move for consumers.
Social commentator Mal Fletcher says, ‘There are some real dangers in this headlong dive toward a zero-cash economy.’
‘For some people, the switch to cashless will only exacerbate their struggle with debt. Studies have shown that overspenders are less inclined to face up to their problem when they deal only with digital money: credit cards, for example. They can’t see the value of their spending in terms of anything tangible, like cash-in-hand.’
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