National Westminster Bank Plc has rallied Spom Japan Co Ltd, the joint venture of Compagnie des Machines Bull SA and Dai Nippon Printing Co Ltd, and Bull CP8 Smart Card technology licensees Hitachi Ltd and Oki Electric Industry Co Ltd, plus NCR Corp, Texas Instruments UK Ltd and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co’s battery arm for its pioneering effort to create a cashless society. NatWest, in partnership with Midland Bank Plc and British Telecommunications Plc plans to launch its Mondex Smart Card in Swindon in 1995. The embedded-microprocessor card will enable customers of the bank to charge their cards with cash from specially adapted NCR automatic teller machines owned by NatWest or Midland, or over the phone using a planned British Telecom hand-set. Retailers will have to install special terminals to debit cash from the cards, and will be able to send the their updated balance to their accounts over the phone at the end of the day. To limit the threat of theft, Mondex cards can be locked by the cardholder and unlocked by using a personal code. A key ring sized personal reader will tell the card-holder how much cash is left, and they will also be able to check at teller machines. NatWest hopes to rally partners at home and abroad for Mondex.
