PLASTIC NOUN (BUSINESS WORLD)

Colloquially, credit cards, debit cards, and other plastic cards which can be used in place of money to pay for goods and services. Etymology: So named because this form of credit is obtained using a piece of plastic which serves as a membership card: see card°. Probably abbreviated to plastic from the longer (and earlier) plastic money (see below). History and Usage: The explosion of credit facilities and the consequent proliferation of credit cards which people carried in the seventies led to the development of the term plastic money in the US in about the middle of the decade; by the beginning of the eighties this was being abbreviated to plastic alone, and used colloquially as a collective term for all forms of credit. Thus 'Do you take plastic?' became a common way of asking to pay by credit card. It [is] easier than ever to spend money without seeing the real thing. 'The acceptance of plastic has reached an all-time high,' John Bennett, senior vice-president of Visa, said. 'Plastic has become a way of life.' Globe & Mail (Toronto) 10 Oct. 1985, section B, p. 13 To use your plastic in a cash machine, you need a personal identification number (PIN). Which? July 1988, p. 299