The centuries old habit of dealing in hard cash is one that is dying hard in the era of plastic money but the Margin was still surprised last week when someone asked a corporate communications specialist at Visa International about the virtues of having a credit card.

The request was for an "in her own words" rundown, rather than flooding the fax machine with bumph as PR types are fond of doing. But no joy. She said she had got rid of the Visa card, preferring to rely on an ATM card to negotiate the day's financial dealings.