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Driver's License to be the Next Debit Card
prostoalex writes "Your US driver's license has a magnetic stripe with unique ID in it, and your debit card carries a magnetic stripe with account information on it, so why not link the two together and allow people to use their driver's licenses as debit cards? That's precisely what a young company National Payment Card is doing in select locations, according to Business Week: 'Gas-station owners are pleased with the program too. Because NPC processes the payment as an e-check with the Automated Clearing House (ACH), a network most commonly used for direct deposits, participating retailers bypass credit card companies such as Visa and Mastercard.'"
...to go into serious, life crippling debt. We should be working on ways of getting out of debt, not ways to make consumerism even fucking worse than it is now. 50 years ago the average American was saving 10-30% of their income a year as savings. Today it's closer to 2%. To make matters worse banks are tossing out cards like a child molester does candy. Interest only loans are now normal. We're on the verge of a housing collapse because of all the shoddy loans to people over extended as it was.
What possible justification can there be for making it even easier to spend money you don't fucking have? I'm no socialist but I'll be god damned if capitalism means "spend till your ass bleeds"