UMD LSBE Study-in-China 2009

I am going to blog about a style of business I have noticed in two different restaurant places I have been. This is quite different from the U.S. and I have been thinking about some of the positives or reasons for doing business this way. The first place we went to was a hot pot with Professor Li. The second place that did this is a series of restaurants in a mall that Monica took us to. The way these places do business is as follows. First you give money to a person, who then in turn puts the amount of money you give her onto a card. The card is then used to buy food or whatever else you would like. There is around a 10 Yuan fee if you lose the card. After you are done eating your food and have not used the full amount on the card, you go back to the person and they give you back your money. I think this is a very interesting way to business. An advantage I see to this is to avoid multiple cash transactions. The exchanging of money is easier in this kind of way because you only have to give your cash one time and the rest of the time you use your card. This avoids places not being able to give change back and also avoids you doing multiple cash transactions and misplacing some of your cash. Another advantage is that it makes the exchange of money faster. Instead of you counting out your money you just hand them your card, they scan it, take off the amount, and then you are done. It is quick and easy. Another advantage I see is if you work in the mall or somewhere close to it. You load up a card with money one day and then you use it on a regular basis to grab a meal. This avoids you having to bring cash without if you eat there a lot. The only disadvantage I see is the time it takes for you to load the card with money, and then if you want the money back you have to go back to that lady and get it returned. It doesn't take a long time it is just kind of a hassle in a way. Other than that I really like this and would like to see this in the U.S. someday.