Mondex's master card

摘要

Most people would probably agree that certain forms of payment are better suited to certain transactions than others. While the corner shop owner understandably balks at a Visa transaction of under £5, a Michelin-spangled waiter would probably prefer the plastic to a wad of used fivers. But carrying both (and a chequebook, several store loyalty cards, plus a pocket full of shrapnel for parking meters) is inconvenient and the resultant bulges will almost certainly ruin the lines of a good suit. No doubt the two NatWest employees, Tim Jones and Graham Higgins, had these considerations in mind when they began looking at 'smart' cards back in 1990. 'Smart cards' (as opposed to the cards in your wallet, which are all pretty stupid) are based on microchips rather than magnetic strips. These allow far more information to be stored on the card; Jones and Higgins realised that the greater capacity offered by chips would make a payment card that worked like cash possible. Users would be able to treat the card like an electronic purse, crediting it with, say, £20 at the cash point and then spending it at suitably equipped retailers.