| Cash becoming a thing of the past
BLOOMINGTON — Mina Aitelhadj had about $8 and some change — less than the $10 she needed to renew her driver's license — when she went to the Secretary of State's office in Bloomington recently.The Normal resident wasn't caught off guard by an unexpected fee; she expected to pay with her credit card. But after waiting in line and handing it over, she found out the agency only accepts Discover, cash and check.“That was a bit of a problem," Aitelhadj said. “I had to run and get some cash at the ATM."Aitelhadj doesn't carry more than $20 in her wallet and rarely spends cash, just for the emergency cup of coffee or gasoline. She prefers to use her debit card for most purchases.The 26-year-old graduate student at Illinois State University is like a growing number of Americans.Nationwide, 45 percent of consumers use cash less often than they did two years ago, according to the American Bankers Association's 2005-2006 Study of Consumer Payment Preferences.
GE chief lays out plans for emerging-market expansion
NEW DELHI: Pressure to raise General Electric's share price at home in the United States has not dampened Jeffrey Immelt's plans for emerging-market expansion. On Thursday, Immelt, GE's chairman and chief executive, told executives in New Delhi that India has "never offered us more potential than it does today." GE's plans to participate in the country's "massive focus" on energy will include creating a fund for infrastructure that could reach $1 billion, he said. GE also hopes to start exporting technology from India to the rest of the world. "This is the era of the developing world, and of emerging markets," Immelt said. As the U.S. economy cools, GE and other large multinational companies are shifting their focus to faster-growth parts of the world.
Equity group invests in Palm
Palm Inc., maker of the Treo smart phone, said Monday that it will receive a $325 million investment from private-equity firm Elevation Partners and get new leadership, helping it compete in the fast-expanding market it helped pioneer. Elevation Partners, a relatively new equity firm that counts rock star Bono as a partner, will secure a 25 percent stake in the Sunnyvale company. Palm is using the cash injection, combined with $400 million of new debt, to finance a $9 per share dividend to stockholders. The distribution will total about $940 million and Palm will have $300 million in cash on hand after the transaction. The deal also means a shakeup on Palm's board. Jon Rubinstein, former Apple senior vice president of hardware engineering, will join the board as its executive chairman.
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