TITLE:
Cash?, Card?, “Put It on the Tab”?, Or a Kind of Osmosis
AUTHORS:
Alexandru Trifu
KEYWORDS:
Cash, Card, Digital Devices, Payment on the Tab, Trust, Benefits
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Business and Management,
Vol.13 No.6,
October
17,
2025
ABSTRACT: In this complex and changeable world, especially due to the boost of AI, we want to underline the main payment means, cash and card, along with a traditional one, that of “putting on the tab, mettre sur le cahier”. In our opinion, this analysis means a parallel between the digital/virtual world and the day-to-day life, represented by recording debts on the tab, or in the account. The latter mean is still used in the case of bistros, taverns, pubs, peripheral stores or rural ones, where it deals with loyal and regular customers, in fact, a form of credit. This is not a modern method, but it still exists in the places already mentioned above. There are no contracts or guarantees, but just the promise that the payment will be done in the next few days or even weeks. Based on questionnaires, stories of students, graduates, people who have worked or are working abroad, we came to the conclusion that the future solution in payment will be a mix of cards/digital means in the largest proportion, along with cash and, in small proportion, the direct relationships vendors—customers, buy/consume now, pay later. This forecast is valid only in the case in which AI will not replace humans in all their actions and existence, that is to reach the AGI (Artificial General Intelligence), compared to human intelligence. The digital devices will be prevalent, but in united payment system, cash and “put it on the tab” will co-exist, to strenghten the direct human interactions.