• by Amy , November 5, 2007

Apple has decided to stop <a href="http://www.smartphonetoday.com/articles/2007/10/2007-10-30-Apple-Says-No.html">accepting cash </a>for means of iPhone payment in order to better track iPhone sales.  In addition to tracking iPhone sales, Apple hopes to use this new policy to prevent future unlocking and reselling of the popular product by tracking and limiting purchases.  Currently around a quarter of the million iPhones sold are not connected to the AT&amp;T network causing monetary loss for both AT&amp;T and Apple.  

Apple's decision to go paperless is a good example of the shift towards a paperless currency.  As in Apple's case where the risk of product alteration and hacking is high, many companies selling cutting edge and technologically advanced products may follow suit and decide to stop accepting cash payments.  Unlike cash sales, debit and credit card sales provide a quick and easy way to track buyers.  

A shift towards a plastic currency can also be seen in the new line of <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=kOMhNb6jtrg">visa commercials </a>telling consumers that 'life takes faster money, life takes Visa.'  The commercials depict a crowded and bustling but smooth sailing store or event, which grows disorderly when a customer decides to write a check or pay for a product with cash.  In this sense, Visa is telling consumers that the quick and easy way to pay for products is by using a Visa check card. Consumers choosing to pay with check or cash will be ridiculed for slowing purchasing pace and not conforming to the use of plastic currency.  

Regardless the reasons, the use of credit and debit cards is increasing.  Working at a retail store, I experience first hand the decrease in 'paper payments.'  Payment requirements, like Apple's new policy and commercials aimed to show ease of use, will surely increase the future frequency of debit and credit card payments.  Will we eventually go paperless?  It is hard to say if we will ever completely switch to a plastic currency, but the idea may not be as far-fetched as we once thought.