Credit Cards 信用卡

Developing rapidly and flourishingly, credit cards play an indispensable part in people’s daily lives all over the world. Credit cards, a special kind of credit voucher, are payment cards issued to those with good credit by banks or some other financial institutions (Lin 27). They allow cardholders to consume in specific businesses or deposit or withdraw money from specific bank institutions (Lin 29). At first, credit cards were not issued by banks but by some individual companies such as oil companies and hotel chains in the United States to make consumption easier during the 1920s. There are different kinds of credit cards based on different standards, such as gold cards and ordinary cards according to the credit situation of cardholders, international cards and local cards according to current range and so on (Lin 28). Credit cards are a better alternative to paper money, which makes it more and more popular.

Credit cards are much more convenient than paper money when people pay for their goods. Cardholders can use them to pay for their goods directly instead of paper money so it can reduce the use of paper money in the society. Since using credit cards can simplify the steps of paying, it will make people’s shopping and consumption much easier and it will also save precious time especially when people are in hurry (Evans 99). Internet and credit system developing so rapidly and greatly, people are able to search the Internet for goods and what they need to do is just to input their credit card numbers to the Internet then they can receive what they want. Furthermore, people have less trouble in buying things in other places around the world if they have international cards which enable people to

pay for goods even in different countries (Wang 5).

Compared to paper money, credit cards are much safer, which is also an evident advantage beneficial to customers. Credit cards can help people get rid of the trouble of false paper money, reducing the financial loss caused by having it. False paper money is commonly existent in different historical times and it first appeared to make extra benefit through consumption as soon as the true paper money came to use (Shi 1). People are easily confused by the surprising similarities between true paper money and the false one because of the rapid development of printing technology, especially if they are not carefully enough to check the money (Shi 2). Besides, since credit cards can be used to pay for goods directly, people are free from the fear of taking too much paper money and people can avoid suffering the great loss if money is stolen.

Using credit cards are also more enjoyable and beneficial than using paper money when people go shopping. Cardholders are allowed to pay for goods and services without paper money based on their promise to pay for them and they just need to pay for the bill on billing date once a month (Evans 4). Having credit cards, people need not worry about the problem of payment when they want to buy some goods without cash in hand so they are able to go shopping to their heart’s content. In addition, cardholders can not only enjoy discount when they consume in specific shops but also obtain credit card points which are able to be changed into some gifts or some bargains in special times (Evans 10). Furthermore, as well as convenient and safe, credit cards offer consumers an easy way to track their expenses by the bill, which is necessary for monitoring their personal

expenditures.

Generally, compared to paper money, credit cards have some obvious advantages, making it more advanced than paper money. Convenient and safe, credit cards make shopping and consumption easier, no matter shopping in specific shops or online. Credit cards enable people to enjoy their shopping and get benefit from them, greatly improving people’s quality of life. Overall, credit cards are a better alternative to paper money and they play an increasingly significant role in modern society.

Works cited

Evans, David Sparks, and Schmalensee, Richard. Paying with Plastic: The Digital

Revolution in Buying and Borrowing. U.S.: The MIT Press, 2005. 7 November

20131_sch _0001.pdf>.

Lin, Gongshi, and Lin Jianwu. Credit Cards. Beijing: Tsinghua University Press,

2006.

Shi, Changyou. Counterfeit Banknote Secret. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 2007.

Wang, Xuebin. Study on the Bankcard Market under the Perspective of Network Economics. Beijing: Economic Management Press, 2008.