Er, I hit "send" prematurely, and I meant to go on to say that I have often used 1 or 200 UKP in folding money - it is easy to do with universal availability of ATMs. If anything I use more cash than I did 15 years ago because it is so simple to get hold of. And saves the bother of waiting while they go online to validate the credit card if the latest series of Buffy on video exceeds the floor limit at the shop.
Of course that doesn't apply to genuinely expensive items. I'm not sure I ever spend more than maybe 200 UKP (300 USD) in cash at one time. Ken Ken Brown wrote: > > "R. A. Hettinga" wrote: > > > > The reason we have ready availability of credit in the first place > > > is because consumer debt is the most profitable business in the > > > United States. > > > > I really wonder what component of this market is actually payment > > driven. After all, to easily buy *anything* over, say, $100 right > > now, you have to borrow money, use a credit card, to do it. > > ? > > I use a debit card, one that draws against my bank current account the > way a cheque does (probably "check" to you). It's the same card that is > used as a cheque card. Lots of purchases over $100. I've bought a > miniature video camera with it, maybe 1500 dollars US. > > Still involves merchant charges of course. As far as they are concerned > it is no different from a credit card. The cashier at the till probably > doesn't even know the difference (after all it says "Visa" on it).
