With the advancement of technology, in recent years, all over the world, plastic money such as credit cards and debit cards has gained more popularity in comparison to paper money and coins. This essay would delve into the merits and demerits of this new trend and try to arrive at a rational conclusion.
First and foremost, it has become more convenient to do online shopping from any part of the globe. For instance, a person can reside in any country and just by entering the card details, they can buy any sort of product from the other side of the world. Besides, individuals can transfer a tremendous amount of cash safely with just a click of a button. With this amazing feature, it would reduce the risk of carrying a huge sum of money as well as minimise the risk of theft and loss. In addition, with the help of digitalisation, each transaction would take less time for completion, thus making people more convenient to send money from their homes.
Nevertheless, in spite of the fact that electronic money show many advantages, their drawbacks should not be overlooked. Primarily, an online purchaser is more susceptible to scams and cyber thefts. In other words, hackers can easily gather required information of a person’s identity and account details, and make financial transactions to anonymous accounts without being tracked. Also, plastic money could make people more prone to impulsive shopping habits.
On top of that, in rare situations, a payment may be incomplete due to technical problems such as loss of internet connection, bank servers being busy and so on.
In short, plastic money allows convenience, large transactions and takes little time for a payment. However, it is vulnerable to cyber thefts, impulsive shopping habits and technical problems.