PRODUCTS
Plastic Card, Magnetic Card, Smart Card, Key Card, Credit Card, Bank Card, Debit Card, Premium Cards.
NEWS = More than a dozen large banks worked most of the year with IBM on a home banking product. The venture, called Integrion Financial Network, was designed to draw millions of bank customers into the information age. Several banks tested the public's appetite for replacing cash with so-called smart cards during the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta. The cards, equipped with a computer chip, deduct the cost of an item such as food or souvenirs from the total value stored on the card. Customers can transfer money onto or off the card at an automatic teller machine or by using specially equipped telephones. More tests were in the works. Still, Citibank Chairman John Reed predicted in September that it could be 2066 before the majority of Americans used electronic banking, because replacing tellers with computers leads to questions about the security of transactions.
Smart Card
Smart cards, are becoming increasingly common as security devices for accessing computer networks and corporate buildings. In addition to an identifying photograph, the smart card contains an embedded microchip on the reverse side that stores data about the user, including a password or pins that changes periodically. This information is read by a device attached to a computer and ensures that only authorized persons can access a corporation's internal computer network.
Premium Credit Card
Card that identifies its owner as one who is entitled to credit when purchasing goods or services from certain establishments. Credit cards originated in the United States in the 1930s; their use was wide-spread by the 1950s. They are issued by many businesses serving the consumer, such as oil companies, retail stores and chain stores, restaurants, hotels, airlines, car rental agencies and banks. Some credit cards are honored in a single store, but others are general-purpose cards, for use in a wide variety of establishments.
