Smart card

Smart card lets Tokyo crowds zip on through

Electronic wallets catch on as train ticket alternative - Way too busy to waste any time, on-the-go commuters stream through Tokyo train stations, chatting on mobile phones, listening with disc-player earphones, and flicking "smart cards" instead of stopping to pull out tickets. Although the technology is generally a novelty elsewhere, gadget-loving Japanese commuters have embraced the cards - plastic embedded with a tiny computer chip, permitting payments without the hassle of coins or making change. Here, the challenge is not getting people to use them, but figuring how to expand the system for shopping, concert tickets and other electronic wallets. Similar cards have been introduced or tested in Washington, France and Hong Kong, and in the United States by retail chains like Target and ExxonMobil.

=> http://www.gomemphis.com/mca/business/article/0,1426,MCA_440_1748316,00.html

We have those in Holland as well. Nobody is using them.

We're not that advanced yet, lol. Here they plan to introduce a "health card", a similar system to be used at pharmacies, doctors and hospitals. They call it the "transparent patient".

People are too conservative. I don't like to use it either. You can't instantly see how much "cash" you have left in your wallet. I also think it's risky to use magnetic storage for such a thing as money. I'm in the neighbourhood of heavy loudspeakers too often.

The Dutch government however, is trying to force people to use it. You can fill parkingmeters with the card and many parkingmeters don't accept real coins anymore.

Eventually everyone will use it. I very sure about that.