I was at Barnes and Noble to pick up a book or two... At the checkout counter, the conversation with the Cashier goes thus -

Cashier - Do you have a Barnes and Noble card?

Me - No. And I don't want one either. I'll just pay for what I have.

Cashier - OK.

Cashier - Oh, if you had a card, you'd have saved 20% on the hardback.

Me - Umm.. oh well, I guess I'm in a hurry. I'll pass.

On the way back, I start thinking - Wouldn't it be cool to have a credit card that partners with the nations top 20 (or 50 or 100 or 250) discount sellers like Barnes and Noble, QFC, Fred Meyer, Costco, Safeway, Airlines rewards programs, gas stations, REI, JC Penney, Bed Bath and Beyond and whatnot - simply an exhaustive list of all major regional and national chains - and make the damn thing just work. I use my Uber Smart Reward Credit card in Barnes and Noble and it automatically works the magic - and lo! I got 20% off on my hardback. And if I go to Tom Nobody's shop, I still get my old fashioned 3% cashback rewards from the credit card, and when I hit up REI, I can accumulate my reward credits from REI (10% or whatever) and redeem it at the end of the year.

I think a multipurpose card would be really cool. I'd pay about a $100 annual fee to use it. I also think that it would take a lot of market research and hard work to create a plethora of partnerships and a magnetic card technology that works seamlessly with everybody's computer system and retrofits seamlessly. But whoever does this would become a market leader and it would all be really really cool.

An oh, they will also pay me some royalty because I just described the idea here first ;)

I'm born with an ancient curse

racing the winds to quench her thirst

she waits for me with her patience versed

kisses ol' me and takes my breath!