“We aren’t releasing that data,” said a Visa spokeswoman in response to a query about whether the company had noticed a recent dip in card use. A MasterCard spokesman declined to comment.
– From yesterday’s New York Times article: Newly Wary, Shoppers Trust Cash
A very interesting article was published yesterday by the New York Times. It highlighted the fact that according to an Associated Press poll, 37% of Americans “had made an effort to use cash instead of credit or debit cards to pay for purchases as a result of the recent data thefts.” While I certainly agree with the assessment that people will likely only switch to cash temporarily and move back to plastic as soon as their low attention span minds allow, doubt regarding credit cards has been firmly planted in people’s minds. The more breaches we see in the future, the more people will look for alternatives.
Fortunately, we already have Bitcoin, and the more people learn about it, the more people will continue to adopt it. While the criticisms remain with people saying “but where can you spend them,” this is becoming an increasingly false critique. You can now buy airfare with Bitcoin, all the items on Overstock.com as well as also precious metals. In fact, the precious metals part has me particularly excited, and Amagi Metals is a local company that has led the way in BTC payments for PMs. They are also running a series of specials on silver all of February which you should definitely check out.
Now from the New York Times:
Like dieters vowing to trade cupcakes for carrots, a number of American shoppers are making a new pledge: cash only.
The drumbeat of disclosures about credit and debit card breaches at major retailers (and hints of more to come) has unnerved consumers to the point where chatter online and at the water cooler is filled with people promising to curb their plastic habits.
“This is CRAZY. First my Target card, now this,” wrote Lorraine McCullough on the Michaels Stores Facebook page last week after the arts and crafts chain said that it was investigating whether customer data had been exposed. “I am going to pay cash from now on.”
A poll released last week by The Associated Press and GfK Public Affairs & Corporate Communications found that 37 percent of Americans had made an effort to use cash instead of credit or debit cards to pay for purchases as a result of the recent data thefts — almost as many as those who checked personal credit reports because of the thefts. (Just 29 percent said they had changed passwords or requested new cards.)
from A Lightning War for Liberty http://ift.tt/1fp1zNR
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