Paying with Plastic -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Plastic Cards -- From Sea Shells to Electrons -- A Land of Local Banks, Awash in Paper Checks -- The Rise of Payment Cards -- From Gourmets to the Masses -- Everywhere You Want to Be, Not Everywhere They Want to Be -- Chickens, Eggs, and Other Economic Conundrums -- System Wars -- Issuer Brawls -- Puzzles and Paradoxes -- The Antitrust Wars -- Debit Takes Off (Finally) -- And They Don t Take Cash -- Sources and Notes -- Selected Bibliography -- Index.