Alternatives to EFTPOS: Is the Smartcard smart enough?

Abstract

As we discussed in our last issue, there are a number of difficulties which are impeding the satisfactory introduction of EFTPOS, not the least of which seems to be a remarkable slowness on the part of retailers and bankers to come to any agreement. In this article Tim Kingaby is suggesting the Smartcard as a simpler and more satisfactory alternative to EFTPOS. The Smartcard looks like an ordinary credit card, but in effect it is a tiny computer, with its own memory, which records the transactions for which it is used. Tim Kingaby claims that it offers the maximum of flexibility together with virtually complete security. Noting that the banks are heavily committed to their plans for the 1986 EFTPOS experiment, he wonders whether they have made the right choice. In a further article he will look at ATM networks and Customer Activated Transactions Systems.

Citation

Kingaby, T. (1984), "Alternatives to EFTPOS: Is the Smartcard smart enough?", Retail and Distribution Management, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 46-47. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb018227