London gets ready for contactless payments

No PIN, no signing, no touch required

By Chip Mulligan: Saturday 25 November 2006, 19:41

DETAILS WERE ANNOUNCED of the initial London roll out of a new wave
of contactless debit cards, credit cards and pre-pay cards for payments
under [Pounds]10.

An extension to the existing Chip and PIN EMV network, Maestro /
MasterCard's PayPass and Visa's contactless system will allow users
to pay for small goods such as rail tickets, newspapers and beers by
waving their card in front of an RFID sensor on a point of sale or
vending machine.

[...]

Initial trials in Scotland, and elsewhere across the world, have
shown very positive feedback from customers and merchants alike,
with cardholders liking the ease-of-use and speed, and merchants
the reduced hassle, especially having to haul less cash around at
the end of the day.

The London roll out, itself, will be quite an ambitious affair, with
over half a million new cards issued, and 4,000 updated chip and pin
readers with built-in RFID sensor sent to over a thousand shops within
the central city area and Docklands, starting from September 2007.

By the beginning of 2008 it will start to be rolled out across the
whole of the UK, provided any bugs that have been shown up in the
initial launch have been ironed out.

[...]

One thing is certain: the government and banks are serious, and see
this as a war on cash. Official figures estimate that handling of
physical cash is a [Pounds]4 billion drain on the economy. We can
only hope that it goes slightly better than their war on terror

-=<*>=-

Full article at "The Inquirer" http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=35968


Cheers, Steve..

---
* Origin: Xaragmata / Adelaide SA telnet://xaragmata.thebbs.org (3:800/432)

Sounds no different than cash, except a central control could control
the public's ability to spend it more tightly than with cash. . .

Because I care,
|<+]::-) (Cyberpope(the Bishop of ROM!))


On (27 Nov 06) Steve Asher wrote to All...

London gets ready for contactless payments

No PIN, no signing, no touch required

By Chip Mulligan: Saturday 25 November 2006, 19:41

DETAILS WERE ANNOUNCED of the initial London roll out of a new wave
of contactless debit cards, credit cards and pre-pay cards for
payments
under [Pounds]10.

An extension to the existing Chip and PIN EMV network, Maestro / MasterCard's PayPass and Visa's contactless system will allow users
to pay for small goods such as rail tickets, newspapers and beers by waving their card in front of an RFID sensor on a point of sale or
vending machine.

[...]

Initial trials in Scotland, and elsewhere across the world, have
shown very positive feedback from customers and merchants alike,
with cardholders liking the ease-of-use and speed, and merchants
the reduced hassle, especially having to haul less cash around at
the end of the day.

The London roll out, itself, will be quite an ambitious affair, with
over half a million new cards issued, and 4,000 updated chip and pin readers with built-in RFID sensor sent to over a thousand shops within
the central city area and Docklands, starting from September 2007.

By the beginning of 2008 it will start to be rolled out across the
whole of the UK, provided any bugs that have been shown up in the
initial launch have been ironed out.

[...]

One thing is certain: the government and banks are serious, and see
this as a war on cash. Official figures estimate that handling of
physical cash is a [Pounds]4 billion drain on the economy. We can
only hope that it goes slightly better than their war on terror

-=<*>=-

Full article at "The Inquirer" http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=35968

Cheers, Steve..

---
* Origin: Xaragmata / Adelaide SA telnet://xaragmata.thebbs.org (3:800/432)
138/146

--- PPoint 1.76
* Origin: Cyberpope pointing via Bandmaster BBS! (1:153/715.1275)

Mulling over George Pope to Steve Asher 28 Nov 2006

Sounds no different than cash, except a central control could
control the public's ability to spend it more tightly than with
cash. . .

What, like this, in Oz?


Your details could be logged at the till
By Justin Vallejo
November 29, 2006 12:00am

EVERYDAY transactions such as buying a store gift card or playing
pokies could lead to your details being recorded on a government
database under a crackdown on money laundering and terrorism.

Top law firms, privacy groups and shopping giant Westfield fear
low-risk and low-value items such as gift cards, phone cards and
toll road passes could be subject to the Anti-Money Laundering
and Counter-Terrorism Financing Bill, which was passed in the
House of Representatives last night.

Submission documents tendered to a Senate inquiry, obtained by The
Daily Telegraph, show the Bill could affect every aspect of our lives.

Law firm Freehills said the Bill requires financial agencies, gaming organisations, pawnbrokers, bookmakers, jewellers, lawyers,
accountants, real estate agents and any operator handling thousands
of dollars in cash to make "risk assessments" of clients.

If there is even a slight suspicion of money laundering or terrorism
funding, operators must report details of a client's income and assets
to the Federal Government's AUSTRAC database.

Moreover, 2700 people - more than half from the Australian Tax Office
- are authorised for online access to the database.

Westfield's lawyers, Mallesons Stephen Jaques, told the inquiry that
under the Bill, gift cards could be classified as "debit cards" and
subject to the same scrutiny unless the Bill is amended.

"It would become a criminal offence under Section 139 to issue gift
cards on an anonymous basis," Westfield's submission said.

[...]

"As stored-valued cards gradually replace cash, the anonymity of low-
value cash transactions could become a thing of the past - no doubt a
welcome prospect for the tax authorities," he said.

Privacy Commissioner Karen Curtis told the inquiry there were concerns
over the 2700 people authorised to access the AUSTRAC database, with
more than half from the ATO. "Information collected for the purpose of enforcing serious crime, such as terrorism, should generally only be
used for such purposes."

[...]

Full article at "News" http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20840016-421,00.html

Cheers, Steve..

---
* Origin: Xaragmata / Adelaide SA telnet://xaragmata.thebbs.org (3:800/432)

Hmm, 2700 employees -- hope they're paid well enough that some mobster
won't have an easy in with a cheap bribe, to the database! :P

Because I care,
|<+]::-) (Cyberpope(the Bishop of ROM!))


On (29 Nov 06) Steve Asher wrote to George Pope...

Mulling over George Pope to Steve Asher 28 Nov 2006

Sounds no different than cash, except a central control could
control the public's ability to spend it more tightly than with
cash. . .

What, like this, in Oz?

Your details could be logged at the till
By Justin Vallejo
November 29, 2006 12:00am

EVERYDAY transactions such as buying a store gift card or playing
pokies could lead to your details being recorded on a government
database under a crackdown on money laundering and terrorism.

Top law firms, privacy groups and shopping giant Westfield fear
low-risk and low-value items such as gift cards, phone cards and
toll road passes could be subject to the Anti-Money Laundering
and Counter-Terrorism Financing Bill, which was passed in the
House of Representatives last night.

Submission documents tendered to a Senate inquiry, obtained by The
Daily Telegraph, show the Bill could affect every aspect of our lives.

Law firm Freehills said the Bill requires financial agencies, gaming organisations, pawnbrokers, bookmakers, jewellers, lawyers,
accountants, real estate agents and any operator handling thousands
of dollars in cash to make "risk assessments" of clients.

If there is even a slight suspicion of money laundering or terrorism funding, operators must report details of a client's income and assets
to the Federal Government's AUSTRAC database.

Moreover, 2700 people - more than half from the Australian Tax Office
- are authorised for online access to the database.

Westfield's lawyers, Mallesons Stephen Jaques, told the inquiry that
under the Bill, gift cards could be classified as "debit cards" and subject to the same scrutiny unless the Bill is amended.

"It would become a criminal offence under Section 139 to issue gift
cards on an anonymous basis," Westfield's submission said.

[...]

"As stored-valued cards gradually replace cash, the anonymity of low- value cash transactions could become a thing of the past - no doubt a welcome prospect for the tax authorities," he said.

Privacy Commissioner Karen Curtis told the inquiry there were concerns over the 2700 people authorised to access the AUSTRAC database, with
more than half from the ATO. "Information collected for the purpose of enforcing serious crime, such as terrorism, should generally only be
used for such purposes."

[...]

Full article at "News" http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20840016-421,00.html

Cheers, Steve..

---
* Origin: Xaragmata / Adelaide SA telnet://xaragmata.thebbs.org (3:800/432)
138/146

--- PPoint 1.76
* Origin: Cyberpope pointing via Bandmaster BBS! (1:153/715.1275)