What will be missed most, in my opinion, is the articles that appeared in Moneycard Collector. There is no doubt that there will be fewer in the new format. In the past, I’ve extended an open invitation to any writers that they can submit articles to this on-line publication. That offer still stands.
One other thing for collectors - While there may not be a magazine in the US, there is a newsletter issued by Art Becker called the Telephone and Debit Card Journal. An annual subscription in the USA, Canada, or Mexico, is $30 per year. For other countries, the rate is $40 per year.
For a free sample of the newsletter, send a #10 envelope with 55¢ postage on it. If you are writing from overseas, just send three nice used phonecards, instead of postage.
Just send a check or money order to Art Becker, 4542 E Tropicana #268, Las Vegas NV 89121.
http://www.abcnews.com/sections/tech/DailyNews/smarcards981104.html
Due to copyright restrictions, I can not republish the article, and knowing my luck, the link will expire after this gets published. As of when I am writing this, the link is active though!
These cards were produced by Gazelle Telecard, with phone time by Cable & Wireless. 19,000 domestic, 11,750 international and 250 Canadian cards were issued. They expire 12 months from issue date.
The joint project, which would be concluded at the end of December, was ending because the companies involved said it had met its objectives. The plan, which introduced an alternate payment method in uptown New York, was launched in October 1997. It had initially been slated to last for six months but was extended another eight months to get more information.
The project stems from collaboration between Visa, the world's largest consumer payment system, Mastercard, which has 23,000 member financial institutions, Citibank, a giant credit card issuer and Chase, one of the biggest U.S. banks.
More than 600 merchants in New York City's Upper West Side participated in the project and about 100,000 smart cards were in circulation, the companies said.
The knowledge gained from the project would be used to develop more smart card initiatives, they said. The companies involved said they would continue to develop and test a variety of smart card programs in 1999.
Chase and Citibank said they have formed plans to make a smooth withdrawal from the pilot during a brief transition period. Consumers would have until Dec. 31 to make purchases with their cards at participating merchants and would have until six months after the card's expiration date to unload any remaining value, they said.
SAN FRANCISCO (Wired) - How smart does a smartcard have to be before people use it?
That's the question technology executives at some of the nation's largest financial institutions will ponder in the wake of a much-ballyhooed experiment to turn New York's Upper West Side into a mini cashless society.
Visa, MasterCard, Chase Manhattan Bank, and Citibank said Tuesday they were pulling the plug on a 14-month pilot project in which approximately 100,000 smartcards were issued to Upper West Side residents to use at more than 600 local stores.
The cards were meant to replace cash by allowing users to load value from their private checking accounts, and then use the card to pay for routine items such as groceries, dry cleaning, and video rentals.
Technically, the program was a success. Its main aim was to test whether Visa Cash and MasterCard's Mondex cards could both be processed by the same terminal. But the experiment angered merchants who found the system too cumbersome, and didn't excite consumers, who found no good reason to give up their lucre, no matter how filthy.
Herb Grossinger, owner of Grossinger's Bakery, a Manhattan institution for 63 years, said he took the system offline for two reasons.
``Number one, people who came in here didn't really know how to use it. And number two, salespeople just had no clue how to (process the transactions). It wasn't working.''
Grossinger's opinion was apparently the majority one. Two-thirds of the outlets originally signed up to participate in the project either dropped out or were taken offline because their usage wasn't high enough. Visa spokesman Greg Jones reported that approximately US$1 million was spent using the cards since the program's inception last October, an average of about 83 cents a month per card.
Part of the problem is that unlike debit cards, smartcards have to be loaded with value first, which requires stopping at a smartcard kiosk before purchases can be made. Though initial promotions were able to get people using the cards, once the value ran out, few people bothered to reload.
Another problem, according to Jones, was that although it was the aim of the program to test the viability of smartcards in a small, urban environment, a lot of West Side residents commute to work in other parts of New York where the cards couldn't be used.
For merchants, the frustration was double-literally. Though both Visa Cash and MasterCard Mondex cards could be processed by the same terminal, at the end of the business day two different settlement processes had to be used to actually download the value into the merchants' accounts.
``We had two technologies under the hood of the same terminal,'' Jones said. ``What we found is that this is more expensive for terminal manufacturers and too cumbersome for merchants.''
However, Jones said, the experiment has given a new push to creating a standard protocol for the microchips that make smartcards smart. The coming Common Electronic Purse Specification should eliminate the extra work on the merchants' end. Visa also plans to introduce cards next year that feature a Java-based open platform, which will allow the cards to become more flexible, adding features as they become available the way home computers now add software.
For all its problems, Jones said the New York project was not a failure.
``Visa has its expectations set on multi-function card programs in the future,'' Jones said. ``What we've learned is that we have to build the business case for these cards a little at a time. Sometimes in this country, the expectations are raised so high that people expect to find smartcards in their mailboxes and be able to use them everywhere. It's going to be more of a gradual migration.''
NEW YORK (AP) -- Now that the pilot project involving electronic-cash cards -- or smart cards -- has concluded, bankers and technology experts face the daunting task of figuring out how to make them more desirable.
The trial's sponsors, Citibank, Chase (NYSE:CMB - news) Manhattan Corp., Visa USA and MasterCard USA, are not calling the enterprise a complete failure. But the project, based in Manhattan's Upper West Side, ran into a few stumbling blocks.
It produced ``a lot of good learning,'' said Michael Tempora, vice president for U.S. chip-card products at MasterCard on Wednesday.
Smart cards are embedded with a silicon chip that stores value and keeps track of how much money is deposited or spent. A main goal of the pilot was to create one reader that could accept different types of cards, one from Citibank that used Visa technology, and another from Chase that used technology from MasterCard and its smart-card partner, Mondex.
On that admittedly modest goal, the sponsors succeeded.
But the card readers broke frequently. And merchants weren't happy about allocating precious counter space to yet another device, even if it was free. So merchants dropped out of the program. Of the 600 merchants who accepted the machines a year ago, fewer than 400 remained at the end of last month. And that number had dwindled to close to 200 by the time the pilot was shut down on Tuesday, said Citibank spokesman Mark Rodgers.
That was an easy decision for merchants to make, because smart cards weren't catching on with their customers, either. About $1 million worth of business was transacted with the cards over a year's time, a fractional percentage of the total commerce for the stores in the 36-block test area.
``People have plenty of payment choices today in the U.S.,'' said David Weisman, a technology analyst with Forrester (Nasdaq:FORR - news) Research Inc. in Cambridge, Mass. ``We have a very good telecommunications structure that allows for credit and debit cards to work in most situations. There are a lot of things that are going to keep smart cards from catching hold here.''
Bankers and smart-card experts said several things need to fall into place before smart cards take off here, as they have in Europe and parts of Asia and Latin America.
Consumers need a financial incentive to use them, such as those provided by loyalty or rewards programs, or even discounts. ``Compensation is essential,'' said Jerome Svigals, an electronic banking consultant in Redwood City, Calif.
The cards have to do more than just serve as an electronic ``purse.'' The few successful trials in the United States have been in controlled settings like college and corporate campuses and military bases, where people have to use them not only to pay for things but to gain access to buildings and computer files, get food at the cafeteria, or check books out of the library, the experts said.
``You have to have a critical mass of people, a well-defined set of applications, and a much more controllable environment'' than was available in the Manhattan trial, said Paul Beverley, vice president of marketing for smart cards at Schlumberger USA, which made about 35 percent of the cards that were used in that trial.
The most critical problem in developing a market for smart cards, however, is that they aren't yet profitable for the issuers, Svigals said.
Smart cards cut transaction time and increase productivity for merchants and customers. But until the issuers, which for now are banks, can charge for their use, and until consumers are willing to pay for the convenience that smart cards afford, they won't take off, he said.
For banks, it's a vital question. Technology companies like Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) are working to create multifunctional smart cards.
``If we don't offer these programs, non-banks will,'' predicted Ronald Braco, a senior vice president at Chase.
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 2, 1998--Driven by strong sales in Europe, the worldwide chip card market reached $1.4 billion in 1997, and the market is forecast to continue to show strong growth with revenue reaching $6.8 billion in 2002, according to Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner Group, Inc. (NYSE:IT - news).
Europe was the No. 1 region for chip card revenue, accounting for 76.8 percent of the worldwide market in 1997. Dataquest analysts said other regions will begin to see increased chip card revenue.
By 2002, Europe's share of worldwide chip card revenue will decline to 47.8 percent, while Asia/Pacific will be the No. 2 region with 30.1 percent of worldwide sales. The Americas (not including the United States) will account for 8.6 percent of sales in 2002, and the United States will have 7.8 percent of chip card revenue.
``Europe is the leading region in every chip card application, from public pay phone cards to wireless communication cards,'' said Jonathan Cassell, industry analyst in Dataquest's Semiconductor Application Markets Worldwide program.
``Europe's leadership will continue throughout Dataquest's five-year forecast. Major chip card markets, such as France and Germany, will continue to consume large quantities of various types of cards.''
The chip card is the highest-volume electronics end product in the world today. Dataquest estimates that 462 million cards were sold in 1997. The number of chip cards sold in 1997 was about 13 times the number of cellular phones manufactured, about 12 times the number of audio CD players made, and about 11 times the number of PCs produced.
Chip cards can perform various duties such as pocket change, paper money, debit and credit cards, acting as a means of identification, access, or payment.
``Semiconductor technology is driving chip card market growth, with more powerful and lower-cost chips allowing the product to be used in more applications and by a greater percentage of the worldwide population,'' said Cassell. ``Some of the biggest growth opportunities for semiconductor vendors will be for microcontroller chips used in various types of smart cards.''
Smart cards accounted for 56.2 percent of chip card revenue in 1997. Dataquest projects smart card revenue to represent 70 percent of the market by 2002. More memory cards were shipped than smart cards in 1997, but these cards are less expensive than smart cards, so memory card revenue will continue to trail the revenue from smart cards.
The most popular chip card is from the memory card segment. Pay phone cards led the industry with 67.7 percent of the chip cards shipped in 1997.
Dataquest defines a smart card as a chip card including embedded microcontroller silicon. A memory card is defined as a chip card embedding silicon memory and possibly other logical functions (including cryptography). Memory cards are usually EEPROM-based.
Additional information on the chip card market is available in the Dataquest Focus Report ``The Chip Card Evolution: Chip Cards Progress toward Ubiquity.'' This report covers the market for chip cards and the semiconductors used in them. The report includes a detailed forecast on the chip card market through 2002.
This report is produced by Dataquest's Semiconductor Application Markets Worldwide program. This program provides strategic planning information about the electronic systems in which semiconductors are used, including system production forecasts, accompanying chip demand, and identification of system features and implementation trends affecting the chips needed in future systems.
DETROIT, Nov. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T Wireless Services has four Michigan students to thank for colorful new AT&T/America's Thanksgiving Parade(R) promotional calling cards AT&T Wireless Services has created. AT&T Wireless Services and The Parade Company selected the students as winners of AT&T Wireless Services' ``Calling All Schools'' art contest. Kindergarten through sixth-grade students throughout the state were invited to submit images of their favorite children's story, song, legend or holiday theme for possible calling card designs.
AT&T Wireless Services will donate a digital multi-network phone and one year of AT&T Digital PCS local wireless service to each student's school. The students will receive VIP grandstand seating for themselves and their families at America's Thanksgiving Parade(R) on Nov. 26 in downtown Detroit, hotel accommodations on the eve of the parade, a special gift pack from AT&T Wireless Services, an award certificate featuring their design and 25 of the $5 pre-paid long-distance calling cards of their own design.
The winning students and their designs are:
``The contest was a way to combine our sponsorship of the parade with AT&T Wireless Services' national commitment to education,'' said Kristine Molander, promotional marketing manager, central area, AT&T Wireless Services. ``It's fun for the students, the schools benefit and we have wonderful new calling card designs.''
The limited-edition calling cards will be given as a thank you to anyone who tries a wireless phone at a Detroit-area AT&T Store in November while supplies last. Stores are located in Ann Arbor, Birmingham, Dearborn, Lathrup Village, Novi, Roseville and Shelby Township.
It is the intention of Oberthur and ET&T to work together to establish a ``consortium of select companies'' to develop the potential of the Easy Card.
ET&T is presently distributing free ATM-card/credit-card/smart- card terminals in public locations. The first application of these terminals is to allow waiting consumers the ability to shop from printed catalogs while they wait at car washes, hair salons, hotel lobbies, clinics, etc.
Oberthur and ET&T are focused on beginning a Los Angeles-area pilot program where the Easy Card will be used with the terminals in public locations, and later in the home, for paying a utility bill by the ATM-card and PIN side for a banking consumer and by the stored- value-card side of the Easy Card for a nonbanking consumer.
The usage of the Easy Card and the ET&T terminal to legally replenish or open off-track-betting gaming accounts and other types of sports gaming will also be tested by Betting Inc. (OTC BB:BETT - news; OTC BB:BETT).
ET&T will act as the bank host, processing the incoming Easy Card transactions.
The development of the Easy Card, in conjunction with inexpensive mass-marketed home and office terminals, will allow both the banking and nonbanking consumer the ability to effect online, real-time cash electronic transactions.
Oberthur Smart Cards is an international leader in manufacturing and personalizing high-value-transaction cards. ET&T is a leader in the development of the PERFECT industry of personal, encrypted, remote financial electronic-card transactions, and has developed the terminal and the host processor to effect these transactions. Betting Inc. is a facilitator of PERFECT gaming transactions.
The T-card pilot project began last year when the university distributed 45,000 smartcards to students, staff, and faculty. Like many students across the US, where such programs are common, the 39,000 Toronto volunteers were sold on the convenience of having all their ID combined on a single piece of plastic.
``Students don't have to carry around so many cards,'' said University of Toronto registrar Karel Swift, the chairwoman of the school's T-card implementation committee.
Not everybody feels that way. The university says it has been open about the new program, but some students feel that the school has not been up front with them about what is being done with information on purchases made with the card.
``We just want some answers,'' said James Hoch of the Identity Technology Working Group, the coalition of students and faculty that will host Monday's forum. ``We feel we are being used as a captive market.''
Andrew Clement, a professor of information studies at the University of Toronto, said the university has an obligation to be more open about the project.
``We don't think they are up to some nefarious scheme,'' said Clement, moderator of Monday's forum. ``But they are implementing the new technology, which is going to be used in a wider setting, and should be setting a good example.''
Nevertheless, Swift said that students have not been left out of the process.
``We consulted with student reps when the project was under consideration,'' Swift said. She added that the university has privacy policy and that their records are protected by a rigorous access to information policy.
Some still worry that the university, in the interest of efficiency, is introducing a new technology without looking at the potential uses or misuses.
``There is a lot of concern among the students about collection of information for purposes they are not aware of,'' says Jack Dimond, the university's commissioner for freedom of information and privacy. ``My concern is that as smartcards are used more, there is a procedure of review of information it collects. When you begin using the new applications, you have to look at them closely.''
One freedom and privacy advocate encourages students to boycott the cards. ``Students should just say, 'I refuse to use this card for any cash purchases until you tell me where this info is going and what you're doing with it,''' said David Jones, president of Electronic Frontier Canada.
EDS said that Visa, the largest consumer payment system worldwide, predicts that smart cards, which are plastic cards that contain embedded microchips, will comprise one third of its card volume by the year 2002.
``The Visa Smart alliance is a major step in the evolution of the on-line consumer market, with distinct advantages for financial institutions, merchants and consumers,'' said John Meyer, president of EDS' Diversified Financial Services unit, in a statement.
``The alliance also extends EDS' thrust into the e-commerce market, which is a main competitive focus for us,'' he said.
An EDS spokesman was not immediately available to say how much the deal was worth.
The role of EDS is to enable Visa's member banks to make the transition to smart card technology from the traditional magnetic strip technology.
The restated net loss is $25.7 million for 1997, $15.3 million for the first quarter of 1998 and $29.2 million for the second quarter of 1998.
Originally reported results for the periods were a $61.9 million loss in 1997, a $3.4 million loss in the first quarter of 1998 and a $2.2 million net income in the second quarter of 1998.
SmarTalk previously gave revised revenue estimates but not net income figures.
Since SmarTalk gave preliminary results of the review on October 22 it reduced an in-process research and development charge to $13.4 million, as opposed to the $39.2 million charge originally recorded. The company said this will reduce the amortization of goodwill by $8.4 million over an estimated 15 years.
The review was initiated over over concerns with the accounting for six acquisitions SmarTalk made in 1997 for a total of $161.1 million and a $25 million related restructuring charge.
The review was conducted with the assistance of PriceWaterhouse and was overseen by Arthur Andersen LLP.
``As we have stated previously, the review found no fraud or other improprieties,'' chief executive officer Erich Spangenberg said in a statement.
SmarTalk said it expects to release its third quarter 1998 results after the close of business on November 12.
``Offering the AT&T PrePaid Card at Red Roof Inns will allow our guests to make their long distance calls without any hassles or cash,'' said Stephen T. Parker, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Red Roof Inns. ``It's another practical service that we can provide to our guests.''
``We're excited to be working with Red Roof Inns,'' said Mark Evans, general manager, AT&T PrePaid Cards. ``Consumers, and especially travelers, tell us that using AT&T PrePaid Cards is easy and convenient. Since the cards are from AT&T, consumers know that they are backed by AT&T's 24-hour customer service, and they can feel assured that they are purchasing a prepaid card from a company they know and trust. Our cards are very popular with people on-the-go, so it was natural to team up with Red Roof Inns, a high-quality company that caters to the needs of travelers.''
Stephen C. Lehman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of National Media, said, ``This is a perfect example of National Media's new initiative to leverage its existing television infrastructure at absolutely no additional cost. It is a true win-win-win for National Media, its customers, and for SmartTalk.''
``The prepaid card will be particularly attractive to Everything4Less customers because the $75 incentive exceeds the membership cost for the entire year. This is an offer that will be very difficult to refuse,'' Mr. Lehman added. ``We have always believed that Everything4Less is an excellent value, but now our members will literally make money even before they start saving money.''
To help launch this year's holiday cards, people who buy a 60-minute or higher minute denomination holiday-themed AT&T PrePaid Card between November 1 and December 31, 1998, will receive a free 10-minute PrePaid card.
Holiday AT&T PrePaid Cards have been very popular with consumers since the first series of cards was introduced several years ago. ``The holiday cards capture the festive mood of the season and make terrific gifts,'' said Mark Evans, general manager of AT&T PrePaid Cards. ``Our holiday cards make perfect stocking stuffers, and are great to give to relatives and family members so they can keep in touch during the busy holiday season. We've packaged them with a gift motif so gift-wrapping isn't necessary. And whether a person shops at one of our participating retail outlets or contacts AT&T directly, we've made it easy for people to purchase our cards.''
The Holiday AT&T PrePaid Cards are on sale through December 31 at participating Chevron stations and on-campus Barnes & Noble Bookstores, Samsonite stores, Red Roof Inns and all AT&T Stores across the country.
The cards can also be purchased directly from AT&T by calling toll-free 1-800-437-0973 ext. 62360. The cards may also be purchased online, beginning November 3, by visiting the AT&T PrePaid Card website at http://www.att.com/prepaidcard. Holiday AT&T PrePaid Cards also can be purchased through 800-PRESENTS, by dialing 1-800-PRESENT. Cards purchased directly will arrive in a keepsake gift box accompanied by a personalized card.
``Consumers tell us that using AT&T PrePaid Cards is easy and convenient. More and more people are also using AT&T PrePaid cards as part of their day-to-day communications needs,'' said Evans. ``Since the cards are from AT&T, consumers also know they are backed by AT&T's 24-hour customer care service, and can feel assured that they are purchasing a prepaid card from a company they know and trust.'' r
BASKING RIDGE, N.J., Nov. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T is announcing a new series of four AT&T PrePaid Cards today featuring exclusive images from Paramount Pictures' ninth Star Trek(TM) movie, ``Start Trek: Insurrection(TM),'' coming to theatres across the U.S. on December 11. The new cards make it easy and fun for Trekkers(TM) and non-Trekkers alike to connect to other Earthlings.
Now available in select retail outlets nationwide, the new ``Star Trek: Insurrection'' AT&T PrePaid Cards feature scenes from the new movie and make great gifts that guarantee callers will always be connected to the AT&T Network.
To help kick-off the new series of Star Trek(TM) AT&T PrePaid Cards, a special promotion will run from November 1, 1998, through January 31, 1999. When consumers enter the PIN number found on the back of the ``Star Trek: Insurrection'' AT&T PrePaid Card, they will hear a message telling them if they have won and a toll-free number to call to claim their prize. A variety of prizes will be awarded, including one Grand Prize of an all-expenses-paid trip for two to the ``Star Trek: The Experience'' attraction at the Las Vegas Hilton and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Complete details on the promotion are available wherever ``Star Trek: Insurrection'' AT&T PrePaid Cards are on sale.
The four ``Star Trek: Insurrection'' AT&T PrePaid Cards, available in 15-, 30-, 60- and 100-minute denominations, feature exclusive images from the new movie, including some familiar faces like ``William Riker,'' ``Geordi La Forge'' and ``Data,'' as well as some new ones. The popular cards can be used to call anywhere in the U.S. and to more than 200 countries.
True ``Star Trek'' fans can ensure that they will be among the first to get the cards by ordering now by calling 1-800-437-0973, ext. 62369. All four cards can also be seen and ordered online, beginning tomorrow, on AT&T's web site at www.att.com/prepaidcard/.
``Prepaid cards are one of the fastest-growing communications products, with more and more people using them as part of their regular communication routine,'' said Mark Evans, general manager for AT&T PrePaid Cards. ``The AT&T name on our cards assures customers that they will receive the high-quality service they are paying for. We're extremely excited about the new cards and working with Paramount to support the latest film in the 'Star Trek' family -- 'Star Trek: Insurrection'.''
When the cards go on sale the first week of November, they will be available in Spencer Gift stores nationwide, participating on-campus Barnes & Noble bookstores and Chevron convenience stores, as well as AT&T Stores nationwide.
AT&T PrePaid Cards are an easy, convenient way to call from any touch-tone phone. Calls always travel on the AT&T Network, and the Network even keeps track of the balance of minutes left on the card. To use a prepaid card, customers simply dial an 800 number, enter their PIN, hear how many minutes remain on the card, then dial the number.
From: Janice Cohen
Until Next Time,
Alan
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