作者:城市网 来源:城市网学院 更新日期：2013-3-29
The Credit Card Economy
——Money Transactions of the future
Credit cards are big business. Americans spend $16 billion a year on cards and there are already 590 million of them in circulation. Many banks sponsor their own credit card #panies and issue cards free to their customers. Other credit card #panies charge their members annual dues. The stores that accept credit cards must pay a small fee to the credit card #pany —— a percentage of the purchase price of the merchandise or service. In turn, the credit card #pany promptly pays the store for the merchandise or service. Credit card #panies make a profit from the fees they charge the store and also from the fees collected from customers who pay for their charges in monthly installments. However, credit card #panies sometimes have problems collecting overdue payments from unreliable customers. Also, the use of stolen, lost, or counterfeit credit card by criminals has be#e a big headache for the credit card #pany that is responsible for the goods and services illegally charged to its customers' account.
Many feel that it will only be a matter of time before credit cards #pletely replace cash and checks for both individuals and businesses. In such a credit card economy there would be only one “super-credit-card-bank-#pany” and each individual would be given his or her card.
信用卡是赚钱的大买卖。美国人每年在信用卡上要消费16亿美元，已经有5.90亿张信用卡在流通。许多银行开办自己的信用卡公司，并免费发给他们的客户。其他的信用卡公司向他们的会员收取年费。接受信用卡的商店必须向信用卡公司支付少量费用 —— 按商品成交额或劳务费用的一定百分率计算。相反，信用卡公司则随时向商店支付购货及劳务的款项。信用卡公司向商店收取费用，以及向按月分期付款的客户收取费用，从而获得利润。然而，信用卡公司在向不讲信用的客户收取逾期款项时也会遇到麻烦。还有，不法分子使用被盗、丢失、或假信用卡，对信用卡公司来说是件头痛的事，因为在客户的账目中如记有不合法的商品和劳务支付，公司就得承担全部责任。
许多人认为，信用卡完全代替现金，取代个人、企业支票只是时间问题。在这种信用卡经济中，要是只有一家“超级信用卡银行公司”，那人人就会得到信用卡。
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