Students forego cash for credit cards, checks

     With the advent of new technology inevitably comes the phasing out of the old.  More and more students are being found to rely on swiping plastic when it comes to spending money.  So the question must be posed, “Why is this so?”
     “It is so much easier to keep up with one card than it is to carry multiple bills and loose change, and it is also easier when in the checkout line at the store,” said Chrissy Begemann, a sophomore English major. 
     Cash seems to be becoming rudimentary.  Oftentimes it becomes a game of treasure collecting, allocating certain amounts of coins and dollars to various uses, and reserving some for later in a special jar or hiding place.  With plastic, though, it is an entirely different story because everything is in one place, accessible with one device. 
     “But we are a part of the electronic age, we put a lot of trust in our plastic cards, we feel safe relying on them,” said Justin Morgan, a sophomore environmental science major.
     Convenience seems to be an obvious reason, but there may come a point when some individuals feel there is too much of a liability issue with plastic that slides ever so easily through credit machines and ATMs. 
     “We all know that identity theft is easy, but we ignore it, I guess,” Morgan said. 
     Many cards these days can be used as either a check card or a credit card.  As many people already know, when cards are used as debit, only a PIN number is required.  When used as a credit card, only a signature is required.  This leaves a lot of room for strangers to use cards that do not have their name stamped on them — some might say it is too much room.  After all, money is accessible to anyone who has the right four-digit number to correspond with the right card, or anyone can scribble a name on a receipt. 
     Courtney Wilson, a biology graduate student, knows all too well how money can be accessible to strangers.  In January, she opened her online bank statement to find that $427 had been spent at Wal-mart to purchase various items, including an X-Box.  Wilson does not own an X-Box, and admitted that she is not interested in changing that. 
     “I was told that a fake card had been made with my information and account number, and the name that was signed on the receipt retained by the store was not even close to my name,” Wilson said. 
     Wilson is now more protective of her account information, and tries to be more careful than ever with her PIN number and where she uses her check card. 
     “It’s a horrible feeling, especially being a student.  The number on my bank statement represents how I am going to take care of my bills that month,” Wilson said.
     Who needs cash, when you have a check card, a credit card, and even a Bobcat Card complete with CatCash?  Society is quickly transitioning from the old world ways of monetary exchange through coins and bills and converting to the quick and easy plastic and electronic method of card swiping.  And GCSU students certainly seem to be on the bandwagon, despite setbacks that threaten to leave unsuspecting card users with a stolen identity and wiped-out bank account.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 20 2007. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry