New York City has noticed the percentage of people paying cab drivers with a credit cards has risen dramatically in the past two years. The question is whether the use of credit cards has risen for convenience purposes or because of the economy?
Other cities have been slow on the take, and they have not implemented this program as aggressively as New York City. But, they will slowly change their minds as consumers demand it and the credit card companies push the idea.
Unfortunately, for people who carry a balance on their credit cards, you have to wonder what that cab ride is really going to cost over time.Anyone who has ever carried a balance on a credit card knows the experience of seeing the monthly statement and realizing that the interest is just ridiculous. I don’t care if you have a very low interest rate, I just don’ t like paying interest on anything.
For those of you who have never carried a balance on a credit card and don’t understand what I am speaking about, why are you reading this? For those of you who do, it feel something like a hangover for the moment, and then you realize that everything you spent money on is going to cost a little bit more than what you paid for it.
This plays right into the hands of the credit card companies like Visa, American Express, MasterCard, Capital One and Discover. How I love to hate these companies. These companies work very hard everyday to devise new strategies to get more of your disposable income, and they are succeeding on this issue.
Cabbies in New York like the idea of a person paying a $6.00 cab fare, adding a tip and getting on to the next fare. You can bet your last dollar that the credit card companies love it. They are just hoping that you don’t pay the entire balance and they get to charge you interest on that $8.00 cab ride.
I know that credit cards are widely accepted, but you will see in the future many new ways to use your credit card. If fast food wasn’t enough, now cab rides, what’s next penny candy? For those of you who remember what penny candy actually was, as I do. I just cannot imagine using a debit card for a purchase of a dollar or two.
But the reality is that credit cards and debit cards are going to take over our lives. The cards and your cell phone are going to be merged at sometime in the future in some way, shape or form, and you will only need to scan the cell phone. This idea gives me an upset stomach because of the convenience factor and the lack of personal responsibility for over-spending.
This post was submitted by Carmen Dellutri, Esq., founder of The Dellutri Law Group, P.A.
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