Plastic money
Topic: Payment Systems and Digital Finance · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 3 "Money and Credit"
Meaning
Plastic money means plastic cards, such as debit cards and credit cards, that people use instead of cash. Class 10 NCERT notes that these cards are used in place of cash, "but not all of them money per se". A debit card only gives access to your bank deposit, and that deposit is the money. A credit card gives access to a loan. Class 7 NCERT lists these cards among the new, intangible forms of money.
Example
Instead of carrying ₹10,000 in notes to buy a television, a buyer pays with a debit card at the shop's POS machine. The card replaces cash, but the actual money is in the buyer's bank account.
Don't confuse with
- Legal tender: only notes and coins are legal tender, meaning money everyone is bound by law to accept. A shopkeeper can refuse a plastic card.
Related concepts
- Automated Teller Machine
- Personal Identification Number
- National Financial Switch
- Debit card
- Credit card
- Point of Sale
- Card tokenisation