No Cash for Girl Scout Cookies? They Take Credit

There's modern and then there's modern. Now, the Girl Scouts are modern.

Capitalizing on a trend away from carrying around cash in your clothes, wallet, or purse, the Girl Scouts have now found a way for all of us to part with our money even if we don't have any money on us at the time.

They now take credit cards.

Want that extra box of Thin Mints for your friends or neighbors? Now you can get that extra box — and another two or 10 — as long as the Girl Scouts have a smartphone and a GoPayment device strapped to the top of that smartphone.

That little add-on, courtesy of the IT company Intuit, enables the virtual purchasing of cookies in a way never before seen. Break out the plastic, get a few boxes of goodies.

So the $714 million business will get even bigger. Yep, that's the annual take of the Girl Scouts in exchange for all those cookies. (Take away the production costs and you probably end up with less than the whole $714 million, but the final figure will still be a lot more than the Girl Scouts would get from donations that gain their givers nothing in return.)

So far, the idea has proved monetarily successful, as initial reports of troops selling out of existing stock more quickly. The trial is on in a couple of states now; but if current success is anything to go by, then the rollout nationwide can't be too far behind.