金融英語泛讀:紙幣VS信用卡，未來誰主天下

Cards to Replace Notes in Our Affections紙幣VS信用卡，未來誰主天下

Credit and debit cards are expected to overtake cash this year as Britain's most popular method of payment, according to a new industry report.

It will be the first time that card payments have outstripped cash outlay for goods and services. There are 246 plastic card transactions made every second.

Total plastic card use is expected to exceed￡269bn in 2004，just a whisker ahead of the predicted￡268bn for cash payments, said a spokesman for the banking industry body the Association for Payment Clearing Services.

The group, which represents the major banks, said credit cards had become“demonized”as one of the main causes of ballooning debts, but added：“Without plastic, our society would virtually grind to a halt.”

Last year, the number of plastic cards in use in Britain grew by 13 million, or 9%，to 160 million-the equivalent of 3. 5 cards per adult.Two-thirds of card transactions are now made using debit cards.

Plastic accounted for￡244bn of spending in 2003.“This year, total plastic card use, if business card usage is included, is expected to top￡269bn.”said the spokesman for the Association for payment Clearing Services.

In terms of numbers of transactions, cash will remain much bigger than plastic for some time to come, he added.“Cash will always remain there for low-value payments.”

Meanwhile，2003 was the year that e-commerce“came of age”in the UK. More than 18 million people bought goods or services online, up 50%compared to 2002.Credit cards accounted for 69%of the 200 million transactions, with debit cards mopping up most of the remainder.

Last year was a landmark year for another reason-the first reduction in card fraud for eight years. Fraud losses on plastic cards fell by 5%to ￡402 million as measures to combat crooks started to take effect.

A new generation of cards containing computer chips is being introduced, and by the end of this year most people making face-to-face purchases will have to type their four-digit Pin number into keypads at tills and will no longer have to sign receipts.

根據(jù)一份新的行業(yè)報(bào)告顯示：今年，信用卡和借記卡有望取代現(xiàn)金成為英國最流行的付款方式。

這是購買商品和支付服務(wù)費(fèi)用時(shí)銀行卡付款方式首次超過現(xiàn)金付款方式，每秒鐘有246筆銀行卡交易。

銀行業(yè)機(jī)構(gòu)付款清算服務(wù)協(xié)會(huì)發(fā)言人說，2004年使用信用卡進(jìn)行交易的總額有望超過2690億英鎊，比預(yù)計(jì)的現(xiàn)金支付總額2680億英鎊稍高一些。

這個(gè)代表著各主要銀行的協(xié)會(huì)說，信用卡已經(jīng)成了“魔鬼”，是造成債務(wù)激增的主要原因之一，但他們也補(bǔ)充道：“沒有信用卡，我們的社會(huì)將會(huì)停滯不前?！?/p>

去年，使用中的英國信用卡數(shù)量增加到1.6億，增長了1300萬，增幅達(dá)9%，相當(dāng)于每個(gè)成年人擁有3.5張信用卡?，F(xiàn)在，借記卡占銀行卡交易的2/3。

2003年，信用卡消費(fèi)額達(dá)到2440億英鎊。付款清算服務(wù)協(xié)會(huì)發(fā)言人說：“如果包括商業(yè)卡在內(nèi)，那么今年信用卡的交易總額有望超過2690億英鎊?！?/p>

就交易的數(shù)量來說，在未來一段時(shí)間內(nèi)，現(xiàn)金交易還是會(huì)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)多于信用卡交易。發(fā)言人還補(bǔ)充說：“現(xiàn)金會(huì)繼續(xù)作為小額款項(xiàng)的支付方式?！?/p>

同時(shí)，2003年是英國電子商務(wù)走向成熟的一年。超過1800萬人在網(wǎng)上購物或接受服務(wù)，比2002年增長了50%。在兩億筆交易中，使用信用卡的占69%，而剩下的部分幾乎被借記卡囊括。

去年之所以是具有里程碑意義的一年，還有另外一個(gè)原因——8年來，信用卡詐騙事件首次有所縮減。由于打擊信用卡詐騙的措施開始生效，信用卡詐騙的損失額降低了5%，為4.02億英鎊。

新一代內(nèi)置電腦芯片的信用卡已經(jīng)產(chǎn)生。今年年底，大部分人在進(jìn)行面對(duì)面交易時(shí)，必須在收銀臺(tái)的鍵盤上輸入自己的四位數(shù)密碼，再也不用簽署收據(jù)了。

實(shí)戰(zhàn)提升

核心單詞

outstrip[aut'strip]v.超過；勝過

equivalent[i'kwiv?l?nt]adj.等價(jià)的，等值的；等量的

e-commerce['i:k?m?:s]n.電子商務(wù)

remainder[ri'meind?]v.削價(jià)出售

fraud[fr?：d]n.騙子；假貨

財(cái)經(jīng)知識(shí)一點(diǎn)通

網(wǎng)上購物（online shopping）

是通過互聯(lián)網(wǎng)檢索商品信息，并通過電子訂購單發(fā)出購物請求，然后填上私人支票賬號(hào)或信用卡的號(hào)碼，廠商通過郵購的方式發(fā)貨，或是通過快遞公司送貨上門。

借記卡（debit card）

是指先存款后消費(fèi)（或取現(xiàn)）、沒有透支功能的銀行卡。其按功能不同，又可分為轉(zhuǎn)賬卡（含儲(chǔ)蓄卡）、專用卡及儲(chǔ)值卡。是一種具有轉(zhuǎn)賬結(jié)算、存取現(xiàn)金、購物消費(fèi)等功能的信用工具，它還附加了轉(zhuǎn)賬、買基金、炒股等眾多理財(cái)功能，并提供大量增值服務(wù)。

翻譯練習(xí)

lt will be the first time that card payments have outstripped cash outlay for goods and services.

More than 18 million people bought goods or services online, up 50%compared to 2002.

Fraud losses on plastic cards fell by 5%to ￡402 million as measures to combat crooks started to take effect.