How Your Business Can Accept Credit Cards
Paper currency has a long history in the United States. Even before the Declaration of Independence was penned, coins and bills were quite common in the colonies. The era of national American currency officially began with the First Bank of the United States (1791). In time, popular commodities like gold, tobacco and animal skins lost out to an established monetary system everyone could agree on.
Though it may not make the history books, we are currently experiencing a similar shift in popular payment methods. For over two hundred years, cash was king in America. Personal checks came along a few years later, but they were never as popular as paper money. It wasn’t until 1950 that a non-paper option was introduced.
Depending on whom you ask, the modern credit card was first offered by either American Express or Diner’s Club in 1950. It was advertised as “plastic money” and it was only issued to preferred customers. Since most retailers did not have the equipment to process these transactions, they were only accepted at select locations. It wasn’t until the 1980s that these cards caught on with the average American consumer.
With the help of the debit card, which was introduced in the late 1980s, plastic payments outstripped paper payments (cash and checks) in 2003. Six out of every ten retail purchases are now made with a debit or credit card. The numbers are even more lopsided on the internet, where ninety percent of purchases are electronic.
What’s next?
If history has taught us anything, it is that old ways of doing things rarely come back into fashion. In short, there is absolutely no reason to suspect that cash will ever again be king. If anything, cash is growing less popular by the day. Slowly but surely, we are headed toward a truly cashless society. What does this mean for modern businesses?
Cash only establishments are indeed a dying breed. The small general store, the local diner, or the town barber shop may be able to get away with it. After all, their customers understand that the services and products they offer are typically inexpensive. They also know that accepting plastic costs money. However, shoppers are not nearly as understanding when they shop for more expensive items.







