| Series Title | European Voice |
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| Series Details | 22/02/96, Volume 2, Number 08 |
| Publication Date | 22/02/1996 |
| Content Type | News |
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Date: 22/02/1996 About 4,000 Commission staff are being used as guinea-pigs in the testing of a new invention - the electronic purse. They are using 'X-change swipe cards' to pay in Commission restaurants and vending machines in the Breydel and Beaulieu buildings. It is all thanks to technology arising from the CAFE (Conditional Access for Europe) project, supported by the Esprit programme run by DGIII (industry). The cards have a maximum capacity of 100 ecu and can be topped up by cash or cheque deposits. There is even a CAFE helpdesk and, according to a DGIII note, “specially-developed encryption techniques provide a high degree of protection against theft or misuse”. The boffins have also come up with the 'electronic wallet' which is now being tested. Similar in size and appearance to a television remote control gadget, it works like the X-change card, but communicates directly with the cashier's terminal using infra-red technology. Impressed? You should be. The aim of the trial is apparently “to demonstrate the feasibility of CAFE technology as a secure, reliable and easy-to-use payment instrument for both small and large purchases in multiple currencies”. A bit like cash, really... |
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| Subject Categories | Business and Industry, Culture, Education and Research, Politics and International Relations |
