Swipe, print; swipe, print; swipe print sign; swipe print sign…
These are the sounds of money leaving my accounts and moving into the merchant accounts of dozens of businesses all over town. Restaurants, grocery stores, gas stations, clothing stores, book stores, office supply stores… you name it I swipe it. Lately, I’ve been making more and more transactions as The Sheconomist and I transition from bachelor and bachelorette to newlyweds (not telling when).
The end result is a pile of receipts. I’ve got receipts to stuff I didn’t even buy. It’s impossible to keep up with everything, and even if I could keep up I don’t need receipts to 95% of the stuff I’m buying. I’m tired of receipts, and we’re about to enter the 2nd decade of the 21st century, these tiny pieces of paper have got to go.
Receipts were once a useful method of tracking sales for the business and providing a summary of the transaction for the customer. The receipt is a record of everything of everything purchased for both parties and the price paid, that way if there is any dispute or reversal of the transaction, everyone has the same record. Very smart.
But in this day and age we don’t need receipts like we once did. Sure we need a record of the transaction, but we don’t need a physical record that’s just going to get washed during the next laundry day or lost in the depths of a wallet.
I see a great potential market for the likes of Visa and MasterCard in partnership with banks. Every time I swipe my card, Visa will record the details of the transaction, itemizing purchases and showing taxes, product IDs, and even barcodes in an electronic record. Each purchase can be emailed to me by my bank, or they’d keep the record with my account. If I need to return something all I need is the product and my credit card, which many stores already rely on instead of receipts.
This process would be so easy to implement and no one really loses. If the value-add is good enough, merchants will have no issue paying a tiny bit more per transaction for the electronic receipt. Afterall, it costs money for those receipt printers, ink, and paper.
Smartphone users could even have an bank application on their phone that keeps the receipts. If Bank of America’s iPhone app allowed for this, a BofA credit card user could pull up the receipt on their app and show it to the customer service department if need be. It could also manage your receipts, and maybe companies like Mint.com could add some budgeting resources.
Environmentalists should love this too. I have no idea how much paper is used for receipts every year, but you know it’s a lot.
Cash is king to many, and if you continue to pay with cash you’ll have to live with the disadvantages of keeping up with a receipt to prove your transaction. Maybe something can be done to record those transactions, but it’s only a matter of time before some companies start to refuse cash as payment because it’s too expensive to handle.
Receipts serve a great purpose, but I get so many these days they’ve all lost their usefulness. I’m tired of receipts, let’s bring them into the 21st century.
Photo: jelene
 By The Weakonomist |
The Weakonomist is the founder of Weakonomics. Clicking the picture of the puppy will tell you more about him. If you like what you're reading consider subscribing to the blog, following him on Twitter, and checking out the related posts below. Please consider a donation if you really enjoy Weakonomics. Also keep in mind that nothing I say can be construed as financial advice. |
