Bennett: The Debit Card

Saturday, January 15, 2011

I FOUND the debit card in Guangzhou, China as most interesting. I found it again in the USA and was curious that it didn’t quite function in the same way as that of the Chinese counterpart. What I liked about it was that it can be used to curb corruption.

The debit card is a plastic card that is loaded with money through a machine. When I was in Fuda Cancer Hospital, the cashier loaded the card with the cash that I requested her to put in it. The debit card was required in the two restaurants that the hospital ran.

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I was fascinated with it because food was cheap in the hospital and the use of the card seemed an unnecessary exercise. Sometimes we forgot to bring the card along and it was a hassle to go up six floors and run back across the street just to order a meal. But anyhow, we presented the card and it was just placed on top of a scanner and the amount deducted from the load. The meals in China were also good enough for two Pinoys. Often, my cousin and I split the meals and still had leftovers. The point is that no money was passing around in the food shops. No cash register, no paper money like we have here. It was a sanitary practice and at the same time you couldn’t tip the restaurant servers. Tipping was prohibited, even gift giving in the hospital.

I was so impressed at the whole practice. Wouldn’t it be nice to do the same here in the Philippines? I don’t exactly know how much the food servers were receiving for their work but in China, it was enough that they had work out of the 4,000 million population. Many were content with what they did, no matter how menial. I am of the impression that they were paid decently. The money was enough to keep their body and soul together. One did not tip and no one expected a tip.

With the debit card, there was no temptation to steal money because there was none to steal. Only in the market was everyone expected to have cash. There, they had weighing scales that were accurate to the last Yuan cent. Even with the language barrier, they didn’t cheat your ignorance to charge you higher.

Apart from the hospital, there was a debit card too for the buses. There are no conductors in Guangzhou. When one got on the bus, one slipped two coins or two paper Yuans into the box or scanned the debit card to pay the fare. How the driver would know if you indeed paid two Yuans is a question. Often, the card inside the bag needn’t even be brought out, the bag was just placed on the scanner and a tick would be a sign that the fare was paid.

Wow! That was really such a great idea to curb the desire to steal or cheat.

In the USA, they also have the debit card. Many people prefer to use the debit card instead of the credit card because it is a direct transaction. The credit card meant billing and again paying the bill, while, the debit card just deducted the amount and no more billing but receipts. However, the debit card is not preferred by business establishments because of the nature of the transaction.

I got the explanation when I ordered a Magic Jack online. The company explained that the credit card was preferred because it was easier for the company to charge the amount to the card after a month. It guaranteed money back if you didn’t like the product after a month. It explained that it would not debit the amount from the card until after the guarantee period. Unlike the debit card, it was going to be difficult to return the money through the system.
I didn’t really understand what was difficult but that’s the way they want to operate.

I rather like the way the Chinese have made the debit card as a means to discourage corruption. I wonder if it could work for us too.