| Johannesburg, 7 April 1999 Demonstrating the power of smart cards to provide anytime, anywhere access to bank services, Visa International announced that it had carried out the world's first down load of electronic cash onto an electronic purse card via a StarTac D GSM mobile phone. The world's first implementation of the new technology will take place in Leeds, UK, where one of 62 worldwide Visa Cash programs is currently underway. Barclaycard, the UK's largest credit card issuer, will make this service available to 1,000 selected Barclaycard cardholders, whose cards also carry the Visa Cash electronic purse function. Tertius Steyl, head of relationship card initiatives, Visa Southern Africa said, "This new Visa Cash service means that, for the first time, a mobile phone can act just like an ATM, providing electronic cash and other information to consumers quickly and easily. It is tangible proof that
devices such as phones, PCs, televisions, and personal digital assistants can be used with
Visa smart cards to access new consumer services. In effect, the smart card
functions as a 'bank in the pocket' for consumers." "The phone prompts the cardholder for a PIN and the
amount of cash to be loaded. The amount is then credited to the Visa Cash purse and
debited from the cardholder's account. The transaction time is less than one
minute," continues Steyl. In Leeds, the service will be operated by Barclaycard and
Cellnet over the GSM network. The specifications will be based on the Open Platform standard, which has been developed by Visa to facilitate the introduction of multifunction smart cards. |
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