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32 of 32 found the following review helpful:
 Excellent overview of the development of cards Dec 25, 1999
The authors bring disciplined methodology to the study of "industrial development," using credit cards as a case study. The book is useful not just for its anecdotal review of how credit cards got started & how they are used; and not just for the wealth of statistics it provides on how card & other payment usage has changed over the years; but most importantly, by putting some structure around all that material so that we can understand it coherently. So many books on banking & on industrial development (like things by guru Tom Peters) are just so many anecdotes strung together for 100s of pages, with no "system" for understanding what's being talked about. This book's strength is that it provides the reader with a way of interpreting not only what's in the book but with a way of understanding the incessant new developments in the industry that we read about in the trade press every day. I recommend this book highly to anyone in banking or interested in what's going on in the payments system.
41 of 47 found the following review helpful:
 Bias comes through. Nov 16, 2001
By M. McCormack
"mmccorma5"
The authors both are long-time consultants for Visa and it is very apparent in this book. The discussion of MasterCard, Discover, and American Express is limited. The treatment of various legal actions (Nabanco, US DOJ, WalMart, duality) is one sided. There is minimal study of the economics of the business from vantage points (consumer, merchant, acquirer, Issuer, co-branding partner, etc.) other than the card association.It's clear from some of the statistical material prsented that Visa particpated in the book. Ever see JAG? It's about a real portrayl of the Navy & Marine Corp as this is of the card industry.
11 of 12 found the following review helpful:
Highly Recommended! May 09, 2005
By Rolf Dobelli
"getAbstract"
In this history of payment cards, David S. Evans and Richard Schmalensee provide an amazingly lucid account of a couple of unusual business models: the "two-sided platform," which in the use of payment cards means walking a tightrope between the interests of merchants and consumers; and the "co-opetitive," in which the bank members of MasterCard and Visa cooperate in developing industry practices while competing for business. The authors, who are both former Visa consultants, sound like your favorite college professors - up to date and extremely sophisticated, yet friendly and anecdotal (at one point, they describe a Shell gas station near MIT to make a point about competition among cards). They typically begin chapters with easily understood notions from which they methodically build complex structures of ideas and information. Another virtue of the book is its concreteness - although that occasionally devolves into repetitiveness - starting with an explanation involving electronic signals and following the paper path of what happens when you hand your credit, debit or charge card to a cashier. The authors even consider the design and manufacture of the cards themselves. We recommend this book as essential reading for those in the banking or payment card industries; and it's not a bad idea for card users to read it - which these days means you...and just about everyone else.
6 of 8 found the following review helpful:
What's old will be new again Oct 24, 2005
By Larry Chiang
"send an email to my phone: chiang9@duck9.com"
Paying with Plastic first edition has been revamped, rewritten and repositioned here with edition number two.
Most important, Paying with Plastic "2.0" addresses new developments of online payment processing. The authors correctly begin to question the requirement of a merchant set top box for reading "antiquated magnetic stripes".
"Old is new" item #1. Frank McNamara's Diners Club platform would cost about $50,000 to set up today. What's the next mutiny of merchants?
Old is new item #2. Sears starting up Discover and getting to more merchants tha American Express -all within 2 years. Moore's law (doubling within time) would suggest the next Discover would ramp up in less time.
Old is new #3. Industries in decline, lobby best. The payment industry's recently raised interchange rates. Does technology cost more?! No, but growth is stagnant.
Old is new #4. Whoops, John Reed (ex-ceo of Citibank) pulled their Visa membership (p14) and moved the Mastercard logo to the back. Why?! Pull the entire Citi into a closed loop - Citi wanted to be like Amex and Discover. There will be more banks doing this like Chase (Octogon) or MBNA (PayPass).
Old is new #5. Wal-mart as a bank. See Sears above in #2. Wal-marts pays fees to V/MC/D/Amex but they'd rather charge fees and lend money. Why just make $2.00 on the VCR when you can make $10 on the financing. By the way, I like the payment system name, "Wallycard"... just kidding.
12 of 17 found the following review helpful:
A monumental effort! Oct 14, 2000
By Ng Chon Hsing
I picked up this book because I have always been interested in the history of money and the power of gold as currency. If you are fascinated by the concept of money and how it makes the world go round, Paying With Plastic will whet your appetite. To many a layperson, paper money has intrinsic value ostensibly because it is backed by gold. That, is furthest from the centre of gravity. Since Bretton Woods, paper money has not been backed by gold and has absolutely no value. The "value" of paper money is perceived and has "value" only because governments say so and because we believe in it. In fact, paper money forms only a very small portion of the money that is in circulation. These days, money is in the form of digits, bits and bytes - expressed as numbers in some computer harddisk. Paying With Plastic explores a new form of money and how credit cards are the latest form of money - evolving from metal coins, bills of exchange, and paper money. The book traces the early and painful development of what was initially a clumsy mode of payment to what is today one of the most effecient, organised and widespread form of payment. Paying With Plastic is the leading book of its kind - thorough, yet readable. If you are interested in the concept of money and how the credit card system works, then this book is for you.
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