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Just A Little Piece Of Plastic…
The "smart card" looks like just an ordinary, every day plastic bank card. Actually, it has some very special capabilities. It is, in fact, a portable data-base device.
Embedded in the card is a chip that contains information that enables the card to be used as a credit card, a debit card, an ATM card, a telephone card, a health insurance and medical card, a pay-TV card, a home shopping card and a banking card.
It also has a feature where you can prepay for your telephone calls and "use up" your prepaid amount in calls. The same advantage goes for cash that you can prepay and have credited to your smart card. You can now use the card for a retail purchase instead of cash. As the sale is made, the retailer, by using the card, is credited by the bank that put the credit on the card.
With additional information being available in the smart card, there is greater security. Its lower cost and lower losses are a welcome change to the banking industry.
Copyright © 1992 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 3, No. 2, 5/92
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