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Hey everyone, this is Stephane Fouche
大家好，我是Stephane Fouche
So, I wanted to share a story with you guys
首先想跟大家分享一個故事
The story is of me, traveling fromJapanin order to make it toChina
我從日本坐飛機來中國的故事
So flying Korean Air, I had a layover in Busan
我做的是韓國航空，在釜山轉機
So usually, I have layovers in Seoul when I’m flying toChina
一般我來中國要轉機都是在首爾
This time, Busan, and it’s a ten hour layover
這次是在釜山，而且轉機要等十個小時
I told myself that since I had some work to do
那剛好呢，我還有一些工作要做
I would just stay at the airport, and finish doing my work
所以我打算就呆在機場，把我的工作做完
I arrive at Busan, and the lady at the counter tells me that
但是到了釜山機場之后，前臺的一位女士攔住了我
“Oh, this is not a 24 hour airport”
她跟我說，“您不能在這個機場過夜”
I tell myself, what do you mean?
我當時就懵了
“Sorry sir, we are going to have to escort you outside”
然后她跟我說，“不好意思，先生，我們現在要把您送出去”
So here am I, in Busan
當時的情況很窘迫
I can’t withdraw money because the ATMs are closed
釜山機場附近的自動取款機都已經關了
I can’t change the money that I have on me
我不能換我帶來的錢
Because all the banks and all the Travelex,money changing businesses
因為所有的銀行和換匯公司什么的
All of them were closed
所有這些都關門了
And I’ve never been to Busan before
再加上我從來沒有到過釜山
I start to panic
我開始焦慮
I have no hotel reservations, it’s cold outside, so I just started to look at the map
我沒有來得及訂酒店，外面很冷，無奈之下我只能打開手上的地圖找能去的地方
Luckily, this was my third time inKorea
幸運的是，這是我第三次來韓國
To travel in Korean there is a small little card, it’s called T-money, T-pac
在韓國，有一個叫做T錢或者T包的卡
What you can do is you use it, you tap, and you get in the subway system
你可以在坐地鐵的時候刷這個卡（有點像北京的市政交通一卡通）
I had some money left
我的卡上還有一些錢
So I looked at the map, and I asked myself, which is the biggest station around the airport
所以我開始在地圖上找，看機場附近最大的公交站是哪個
And it was Sasang
發現是釜山的沙上區
Tapped, got into the system, made into Sasang, and gotout
然后我用這張小卡刷進了地鐵站，做到了沙上區
So I’m just looking around, looking for a bank
出來之后我就開始在附近找銀行
looking for somewhere where I can change the money that I have
能夠換我手上的現金
or withdraw money from my bank accounts
或者是從我的銀行賬號取錢的地方
And I still cannot find one
但是一直都找不到
And I look into my wallet, and I tell myself, I have my credit card
這個時候我翻了翻我的錢包，發現我還有我的信用卡
And I called the people saying that I’ll be inKorea, so let me try to see if it works
之前銀行的人說過這個卡在韓國的一些地方是可以用的，所以我準備試試看運氣
So I start walking around and I saw a lot of hotels and motels
所以我就開始在附近找旅館
I didn’t know which one to choose
我不知道選哪個
You had La Vie, Jazzy luxury motel
附近有個叫生活旅館的，還有個叫爵士旅館
So I just went to the one that looks decent
我就隨便找了個看起來不錯的
So I went in, and as I got into the hotel there is this big massive fish tank
進去之后看到有這么一個特別大的魚缸
The name of the motel was luxury motel
然后這個旅館的名字叫奢侈旅館
It was quite luxurious for a motel in that area
跟附近其他的比起來，的確看起來挺高端的
So I passed them my card and I’m like
我把我的卡給了他們，然后問道
“Do you guys take credit card?”
“你們收信用卡么？”
And they go, “which one?”
他們問，“那一種？”
I say “do you guys take Visa?”
我回復，“Visa卡收么”
And they say, “no problem at all”
他們說，“一點問題都沒有”
So I pass my credit card to them
然后我把我的信用卡給了他們
It’s this, or I sleep outside
如果他們不收的話，當晚我可能就要露宿街頭了
And they swipe it into the machine
當他們把我的卡刷進去
And they say, ”mister, could you please sign?”
然后讓我簽字的時候
At that point I felt relieved
我才真正的松了一口氣
I was like finally, I can find a place to stay
因為終于找到一個能住的地方了
I have enough money on my train card, in order to take the subway back to the airport
而且我的T卡上還有足夠的錢，能夠讓我做地鐵回機場
And I can work during the night, and finally make it into Beijing the next day
我可以晚上在旅館做些工作，然后第二天順利到達北京
So, as you probably guessed it
那么咱們今天的話題也跟我這個故事有關
The story today has to do with payment methods
今天的話題是支付系統
If we go down the list we have
人們有很多的支付方法
Credit cards, debit cards, cash, checks, bank transfer, money order, you can name it
信用卡，儲蓄卡，現金，支票，銀行轉賬，匯票，等等
There is a lot of them
有很多種方法
We humans as a society have created complex and convoluted ways
人類社會在進化過程中創造了各種各樣的支付方法
From bartering, cash, and now electronic payment to complete one simple task
從以物易物，現金，到現在的在線支付
You already guessed it, it’s paying for goods and services
都是為了交換或者獲取商品或者服務
So why do we need credit cards?
那先說信用卡，為什么要用信用卡呢？
Well, I have three reasons for you right now
有三個重要的原因
One is that credit cards are convenient
首先是信用卡很便捷
Instead of having to carry a lot of cash
你身上不用帶很多的現金
People are always guaranteed to have the amount they will need
人們基本上想花的大部分錢都可以用信用卡解決
If you have a five thousand dollar credit card
如果你有可以透支五千刀的信用卡
It’s like having five thousand dollars in Cash that you can use
這跟身上帶了五千刀現金沒什么區別
The other one is, you have points and cashbacks
另外一個原因呢，你可以或者積分和回饋
So the more you use it, the more points you get
你用的越多，積分就越多
You can use it to buy stuff online, and you can use it to travel for cheap airlines and so on
然后用這些積分換取東西或者是便宜的機票
It’s like a game, you want to have more points, so you use your credit cards for everything
這種體系就像玩游戲一樣，你想要獲得更多的分數，所以你就會什么都用信用卡
The last one, and this is something that saved my life when I was inKorea
最后一個原因，也就是我在韓國的時候把我救了的原因
For emergency situations
信用卡可以用來救急
So this sort of relate to the fact that credit cards are convenient
這根信用卡的便捷也有關系
The more places it’s accepted the better it is
信用卡被接受的地方越多越好
because you can feel comfortable that if you don’t
因為這樣即使你身上沒有帶夠錢
have enough cash in your pocket, you can always rely on your credit card
你也不會害怕去太陌生的地方
Now looking at it from a different perspective
現在我們從另外一個方面來看
From the store owner, they either love it, or they hate it
對于你使用信用卡的商店來說，他們對信用卡要么愛，要么恨
The reason why is that, using the cards
首先為什么恨呢
It cuts into their margins
因為信用卡會從消費中抽成
Because the store owners are charged a fee when their customer is using them
當人們用信用卡消費時，商店主要交一部分費用
So visa is going to get a little portion, master card, union pay, JCB, whatever the company is
所以不管是Visa還是銀聯什么的，他們會掙一部分錢
On the other hand, if you have a card, you don’t see how much money you have in your wallet
同時，如果你用信用卡，你并不能明顯的感覺到你花了多少錢
So you just go, put it on the card, put it on the card
不管你買什么，都是用信用卡
So you just keep on spending and spending and spending
那么你就更容易一直不停的花錢
Which is great, you go on shopping, you go on eating and you spend a lot more money
這樣你在去購物的時候，或者在吃飯的時候就會花更多錢
So for these restaurants
這對商店主來說肯定就是好事了
Having a credit card can actually help them make more money
從這個角度講，接受信用卡能讓他們爭更多錢
even though they have to pay a fee to visa and the rest
盡管他們要從中支付一小部分費用
Nonetheless, not all the cards are the same, there is such a variety of them
然后，并不是所有的卡都一樣
So some of them are harder to get, and some are easier to get
有些卡要獲得很容易，有些就很麻煩
Your debit card from your bank account, that’s the easiest you can get
在銀行的儲蓄卡是最容易獲得的種類
But speaking from my experiences, in theUnited States
那從我個人的經歷來講，在美國
Some cards require to have a really high income, and really really high income
很多卡需要你有很多很多的錢才能夠辦理
Other cards are almost impossible to get unless you have an impeccable credit score
還有些卡，必須要有完美的信用記錄才能夠使用
The card that I would like to focus today is a special one
今天我們要提一個特別的卡
which is called American Express Black Card
這個卡叫做美國運通公司黑卡
What’s so special about this card?
為什么這個卡特別呢？
So the more money you make, the higher your limit, 2000, 5000
首先，你掙得錢越高，你信用卡的額度就越高
The Black Card has no limit, seriously, no limit
黑卡是沒有額度的，或者說，額度是無限的
You can literally buy a Ferrari with it, an Audi with it
你可以用它買一臺法拉利，或者一臺奧迪
You can buy whatever you want because there is no limit
用它什么都可以買
It’s accepted almost everywhere in the world
基本上在世界上的任何地方都可以用這張卡
And the people who use it, are actually the celebrities and the rich
一般只有明星和特別有錢的人才能使用它，因為你必須要被邀請
In order to keep the card, the person who owns it has to spend a minimum
要保留這張卡，一個人必須要每年保持使用這張卡消費
A minimum of 250,000 dollars every single year
而且是每年至少花掉25萬刀
So imagine you are at your next business meeting and you are trying to impress your customer
所以假設你要跟人談生意，想要給人靠譜的感覺
And you whip out that card, you put on the table and pay with it
想象一下拿出這張卡并用它支付
It leaves a really good impression
這會給人非常好的印象
The higher the qualifications for a card, the higher it shows the status of the card owner
獲得一張卡的門檻越高，卡主的身份象征就越高
Such high status of cards are akin to having literally a Ferrari in your wallet
拿著這些卡給人帶來的身份象征，就像是錢包里放了一輛法拉利
If you look at it, luxury cars, mansions, you name it
不管是高端的轎車還是別墅
They are a way for celebrities, and of course the rich, to brag
其實都是明星們和有錢人用來炫耀的資本
You want to show to the world what you are capable
你要讓這個世界看到你能做什么
You want to show your power, how much money you have, how much you can do
你的權利，你有多少錢，你的能力范圍
If you are going back toChinaand we are taking the example of cars
比如說舉個在中國的例子
You have the Audi, it’s a favorite car sought after by the rich
大家就會很喜歡奧迪車
And you now have the Red Flag, which is a symbol of high status in Chinese society
另外還有中國專屬的“紅旗”轎車，也意味著很高的身份
especially high status in the government
尤其是政府里專用的那種
It seems simple right? Just what a card can do, just what a little card in your wallet can do
所以，不要小看這一張卡，他的意義可大著呢
So bring it back to payment methods, and credit cards specifically
讓我們回到支付體系，以及信用卡
The question that I have is, which method do you use to pay your bill, do you still carry cash?
我想問問大家，你們一般是怎么支付的？你還帶很多現金嗎？
Do you have a debit card? Is it union pay? Visa? What’s that little symbol on it?
你們用儲蓄卡嗎？是銀聯的嗎？還是Visa卡？他又有什么象征呢？
