New Use for Smart Cards

We have reported on devices that can be attached to PCs so that smart cards can be used to make purchases, but here's a new development in that field: e-merchants that allow users of those cards to download products back to the user's computer.

SmartAxis and Mondex recently demonstrated how users could enter the SmartAxis site at www.smartaxis.com, use their smart cards to pay for purchases, then download those purchases onto their computers. No, we're not talking virtual toasters. The users were buying electronic products such as screen savers, electronic postcards and digital music.

When making instant purchases like these, users could also access their bank accounts to download more cash so they didn't have to log off when they wanted to shop some more.

Copyright © 2000 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 9, No. 12, 1/00