The modern world offers many new opportunities. Things change quickly nowadays and something that was unbelievable earlier is a matter of fact today. For example, 300 hundred years ago people possessed horses and it was the fastest way to get to the destination. Today there are cars, trains, buses, planes and ships and one can choose means of transport he likes. Earlier, there was only one way of payment – cash. But present day it is possible to pay by credit card. The concept of such means of payment was invented in the end of 19th century, yet the first electronic cards appeared in the second half of the 20th centuries. Furthermore, electronic cards could not replace the cash payments. Both credit cards and cash have advantages and disadvantages of usage and storage.
Banknotes and coins appeared much earlier than plastic cards. They serve the demands of people for centuries. The advantages of cash payments are easy to detect First of all, a person cannot spend more than he or she has. It means that a person cannot swipe away all the savings in case he or she does not have money in the wallet. In addition, it is not necessary to pay annual fees and extra charges to credit companies or bank. There is also to interests or lateness fees. Besides, there are still some companies and small businesses that do not accept credit cards.
On the other hand, cash is not the most secure means of payment. Money are often falsified. Furthermore, a person needs to take a great amount of money to pay for everything in cash. Coins can be heavy and inconvenient to carry (New). Finally, in case money is stolen nobody is going to look for them.
Credit cards have obvious advantage in comparison with cash. They are light to take and store. Any credit card can be easily put into a pocket. Using a credit card allows person to track one’s purchases because credit history is available at any minute in the ATM machines or in the Internet. Additionally, payments with credit card improve the credit score and make one’s credit history positive. Besides, a reward credit hard allows person to earn cash back for the payments. Furthermore, credit cards are protected against charges in case a person loses a card. Finally, “Banks are also moving very fast into pre-paid, gift and payroll cards” (Weinberg, 1).
Yet, payment with credit card has some disadvantages. Firstly, a person can exceed his or her limit. This can hinder or even cancel future payments. Besides, it results into paying high interests. It is the biggest disadvantage of the credit card.
All in all, both credit card and cash payments have a right to exist. Cash cannot be fully replaced by credit cards because cash still stays convenient for small payments. Credit card is much better for large payments and it is more secure than the payment in cash. Besides, credit card allows more freedom. With credit card a person does not need to exchange money when travelling to Europe, for example. To sum up, credit card is much more convenient for business and trips but cash is better for small everyday payments.
Works Cited
New, Catherine. “Cash Dying As Credit Card Payments Predicted to Grow in Volume: Report”. Huffington Post. Huff Post, 6 July 2012. Web. 3 Oct 2013. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/07/credit-card-payments-growth_n_1575417.html>
Weinberg, Ari. “Credit vs. Cash.” ABC News. ABC News, 17 March 2013. Web. 3 Oct 2013. <http://abcnews.go.com/Business/FinancialSecurity/story?id=89817&page=1>
