Interesting little problem that is exercising the bankers – if you take money out of your account via a card-operated teller machine and put it in your pocket, we can all agree that the money in your pocket; if you buy a pre-paid telephone card from the newsagent, most of us would say that the money was then in the card and as good as coins if you can find a card phone that’s working; if you have one of these planned Smart Card electronic purses, and charge it with cash from your account at a machine, where then is the money? Once again, most people would say in the card – it’s certainly no longer in your account at the bank; but in fact, it’s not in the card at all, but in an escrow account held by the card issuer – and if he goes bust before you get a chance to spend the cash he is holding on your behalf, chances are your electronic purse will be rejected by every transaction machine in the world; accordingly, the European Monetary Institute is demanding that only supervised credit institutions should be authorised to issue the new cards.
