Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
h a l f b a k e r y
On the one hand, true. On the other hand, bollocks.

idea: add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random

meta: news, help, about, links, report a problem

account: browse anonymously, or get an account and write.

user:
pass:
register,


                               

Please log in.
Before you can vote, you need to register. Please log in or create an account.

Receipt Credit Card

Swipe your Reciept Card, so you won't need to carry around a pocket full of paper reciepts, everything you buy will go onto this card, making it easier for everyone to find their reciepts~!
  (+21, -4)(+21, -4)
(+21, -4)
  [vote for,
against]

This Reciept Credit Card will allow you to carry only one card, with all of your purchases / reciepts on it! That way, if you need to return or exchange something, you wont need to search through hundreds of small papers, searching for the reciept you are looking for. It is right on your card! Bring your card and your item to the store you purchased it at, and have them swipe it to see your last purchase! Retail shopping and returning could never be easier!
DiRusso, Dec 31 2000

[link]






       With a $0.00 balance, this would be super for signing up for porn sites and other delicate authentication duties.
reensure, Dec 31 2000
  

       I like this idea. My reciept-bloated wallet likes this idea.
PotatoStew, Dec 31 2000
  

       Would the receipts be stored at the store or in some flashram on the card? I really like the idea though!
badoingdoing, Dec 31 2000
  

       Credit card companies track your purchases and maintain databases; what about instead convincing merchants to accept credit company transaction records in lieu of paper receipts (and perhaps convincing credit card companies to accept extra product-identifying information when a purchase is made)? Let the card companies charge a small fee for the information and its delivery. Little extra to do or buy or carry for anyone involved this way.   

       That aside, this doesn't seem like a bad idea but it appears to have a lot of drawbacks: Expense of cards with sufficient memory, the problem of convincing merchants to use the system (do they benefit enough?), increased transaction times, unreadability by receipt-holders (making the card useless for personal reference and taxes and the like), etc.
Monkfish, Dec 31 2000
  

       Isn't Monkfish's variation on this idea called "American Express"?
egnor, Dec 31 2000
  

       No, he didn't mention anything about the card charging you for magazine subscriptions you didn't want, or 500$ two months AFTER you close the account...
StarChaser, Dec 31 2000
  

       I just assumed that the scam part would be obvious. I don't know -- does American Express do that? It seems to me that I would have trouble getting a refund with nothing but a credit card transaction record, but I'm not really up on these things.   

       Looking back, the real problem with my other scheme is that everyone would have to use credit cards for everything they don't want to carry receipts for. Don't know why that seemed natural at the time; maybe the fact that it was called the 'receipt credit card' in the idea threw me.
Monkfish, Dec 31 2000
  

       American Express did that to ME...   

       The original idea was interesting, but I don't carry around too many reciepts anyway. When I get home, I dump them out and put them into Quicken...
StarChaser, Jan 01 2001
  

       An optional USB card reader could be marketed... after a day of shopping, plug the reader into your computer, swipe the card, and your reciepts are automatically dumped into Quicken. That would be nice.
PotatoStew, Jan 01 2001
  

       American Express (and others, but AmEx is the original) offers "purchase protection" that effectively means you can get a refund on a defective good, even if you don't have the receipt.   

       I was thinking of the primary reason I save receipts: reimbursement. AmEx corporate has that down pat.
egnor, Jan 02 2001
  

       I always thought of receipts as being your only physical proof of purchase. it is a way of having checks and balances with your money and you are just going to let a computer handle it all? does anyone still balance a checkbook in here? People seem to have this idea that with more technology comes less corruption and scams. the last thing i want is a receipt card out of "convenience" so credit card companies, banks, and all the companies i do business with will completely have me by the balls (like they dont already!). Lets throw away our wallets and take it a step further and have an implanted chip pay for everything, record all our transactions, pinpoint where we are at all times, etc...   

       are we all becoming slaves to convenience? I may be a hypocrite but somebody had to say it.
darth_smoothies, Feb 06 2001
  

       Second that, Darth. I'm a slave to convenience and a hypocrite as well, and share your reservations.   

       With GPS systems in handhelds and cars becoming more and more commonplace, it's becoming a double-edged sword: my fear of becoming lost has been replaced by my fear of being traced and/or monitored. Not that I could ever afford one (or would purchase one if I could), but for example, I've heard that the new Cadillac Escalades come with remote entry features which can be triggered from out of state, by someone at a computer, if you happen to lock your keys in your car. Consequently, your exact location and whereabouts are on a computer screen and accessible, somewhere 24/7/365...and I'm not into it.   

       At the end of the day I may actually use all these items of convenience, but I still think the examination of the idea "Where does it end?" is definitely worthwhile.
iuvare, Feb 06 2001
  

       Couldn't Point of Sale terminals email you your reciept? (cash sales) Then with wireless access to your email account, you could verify sales for a refund. Store identifiers (PGP) could make the mail forgery proof.   

       For credit/debit transactions, parties have to be in contact with the merchant approval service and they have to keep track of all transactions, so why can't _they_ email you the reciept and have an interface for the retrieval/verification in the case of returned merchandise.   

       How about a card that JUST saves reciepts?   

       The swiper could be devised to write information to a memory card, perhaps a flexible optical substrate instead, that writes all of your reciept transactions into ROM. Readers could be more like special interface with your CD/DVD player and a card (shaped hole with round outer radius) holder that fits into the tray to read the reciepts or download them into personal accounting software.
subflower, Nov 17 2005
  

       I'm not sure how much data credit cards hold. The magnetic strip effectively just holds a number and the chip something simelar. The data requirements of this system are much greater, not great in of themselves, but greater than the capacity of normal credit cards.
bs0u0155, Feb 08 2010
  

       I have this thing at home, its called a wicker tray. It lives on top of the bookcase in the shadows. I put my receipts in there. Im more of a cash deal man myself......
S-note, Feb 08 2010
  
      
[annotate]
  


 

back: main index

business  computer  culture  fashion  food  halfbakery  home  other  product  public  science  sport  vehicle