THE FUTURE OF MONEY Bernard A. Lietaer - library.uniteddiversity ...

Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) has taken care of that and
eliminated some 179,000 human teller jobs (37% of US banks'
workforce) over just one decade (1983- 1993). This adaptation is still
going - Deloitte, Touche in a 1996 study estimates that another 50% of
present bank employees will be history within five years. Even all of
this does not fully take into account the impact of the second wave of
computerisation which has just begun - the Internet revolution the
creation of a new cyber economy and a whole new world of open
finance (described in Chapter 3).
Credit cards
Credit cards started as a convenience for the purchase of gasoline,
frequent oil changes and repairs needed in the early automobiles in
America. They were issued by oil companies to encourage brand
loyalty - exactly as the airline industry is doing today with frequentflyer
miles. In 194·9, Diners Club created the first modern 'charge
card' on the back of which it proudly listed all 27 restaurants 'the
finest in the country' where the card was accepted. As in Bellamy's
time trip, they were made of cardboard (see sidebar). In 1955, Diners
Club switched to plastic. By 1958, the Bank of America and the
American Express Company, which had already established itself as
'the traveller’s check company', each launched its own plastic credit
cards. BankAmericard was re-launched as the VISA card alliance
after a major reorganisation in 1971. By 1999,VISA involves no less
than 20,000 financial institutions all over the world, 400 million card
members and an impressive 81.2 trillion in annual turnover.
Although it is the biggest, this is only one of the thousands of credit
card systems that have proliferated around the globe. Most
significantly, a whole new way of lending money came into
existence.
Interest rates applicable to credit card loans are much higher - often
a multiple - of what banks would be able to obtain from normal