Re: Anonymous payment scheme

[Brian Lane <blane@seanet.com>]

On Tue, 3 Jan 1995, jRT wrote:

> 
> Well, I know some shops have so called 'switch' or 'smart' cards to debit 
> your account, some of these are on their own credit line, others are not.
> 
> I have an account with a bank in Britain which gives me a "VISA" Card 
> which is actually a 'direct-debit' card.  I can use it (and have) all 
> around the world as a regular VISA card and in any 'VISA compatible' ATM.

  Alot of the banks in the US are now offering these cards for use with 
checking accounts.

> 
> As soon as my balance drops to zero, I can no longer use it.  And when I 
> do, the money jumps out of my account immediately and can no longer be used.
> 
> This is a bank-issued card, and also acts as my ATM card to access my 
> current account - there is NO charge for this.  I'm not sure exactly how 
> that works.

  When a charge is made to the card it is subtracted from the balance 
until midnight? of that night. If the actual charge does not come in to 
the bank, the amount is then added back to the balance. (This was learned 
thru my GF who had some trouble with her card -- forgot to write down a 
couple of transactions and ended up at zero).

> 
> Whether or not VISA would accept a proposal from First National 
> Cyberphunks or not remains to be seen...

  I think they should. If they would is another matter. It would be 
similar to having a 'secret' Swiss bank account that can be accessed from 
anywhere in the world, converted to cash at cash machines, transferred to 
others, etc.

  I like the idea of an anonymous Visa better than some sort of new 
net-bank because it is already established, the mechanism for transfer is 
already in place, and for the most part de-bugged.

  If there was an Anonymous Visa debit card I'd defiantly go for it. It 
would certainly keep those marketing types from tracking my spending 
patterns.

    Brian

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