The Marketplace: Uncredit Cards

In a world of credit-cardmanship, someone was bound to think of it: the cash card.

The Courtesy Club’s card entitles a holder only to pay cash. But when a holder presents it at any of the 2,500 participating restaurants, hotels, motels and resorts in 42 states, he gets a 10% discount.

The restaurant and hotel men like the system because it spares them the bookkeeping involved in credit cards, and because the 10% discount is simply equivalent to their costs and kickbacks to the credit-card companies. The club claims about 400,000 members—all of whom obviously intend to spend more than $100 a year, since Courtesy Club dues are $10.