Rupert Jones
A cellular phone which thinks it is a cash machine is about to go on trial in Britain.
The hybrid handset brings the dream of access to one’s cash any time, any place, anywhere a big step closer.
Cellphone banking is not new, but the customer is unable to do much more than check his or her balance and view the last few transactions. None of these services can actually put money in one’s hand.
The new device is the product of a partnership between Barclaycard and cellphone company Cellnet.
It won’t dish out tenners and twenties, but customers will be able to use it to download electronic cash from their account on to a smart card which can be used to pay for goods.
The “mobile electronic cash machine” will be piloted in a year-long trial in Leeds, where 60 000 people are already taking part in an experiment involving plastic payment cards embedded with computer chips. The two companies have started recruiting their guinea pigs.
A customer will slot his or her Barclaycard, containing a computer chip, into a specially- designed cellphone.
He or she then enters the amount required, plus a personal identity number. The electronic cash will be debited from the customer’s account and loaded on to the card in less than a minute.
“Withdrawing e-cash over your cellphone may seem a futuristic idea, but within five years it will be commonplace,” said Cellnet managing director Peter Erskine.
“After the trial, we will need to have a thorough evaluation before setting an official launch date,” said a Barclaycard representative.