New Cash Card Announced

[Duncan Frissell <frissell@panix.com>]

Today's WSJ reports that VISA USA intends to launch a "prepaid" travel 
card for use in ATMs and POS terminals.  The card, meant as an electronic 
travelers check, would be yet another form of cash substitute.

This would, in reality, be a Visa card you could purchase for cash.  
Presumably US sales of these cards would be subject to cash transaction 
reporting rules but not those in other countries.

Interesting scenario.  I buy one of these babies for $100,000 in 
Switzerland.  I arrange to have it not yet "turned on."  (Many of the new 
prepaid phone cards must be activated before they can be used.) I enter 
the US carrying a card worth $0.  I order it activated.  Suddenly I have a 
$100,000 cash card in the US without having imported $100,000 into the US.

The nice thing about the explosion of payment forms that is going on right 
now is that the regulators tend to get swamped.  It is hard to regulate 
things with 10 different payment forms (cash, checks, money orders, 
travelers checks, credit cards, ATM cards, debit cards, bank wires, 
consumer electronic money transfers, and bill payment services).  When 
these new cards hit and all of the new electronic banking payment systems 
are up and running, the Feds will be hard pressed to even keep up with the 
bare outline of the payments system much less regulate it closely.

Duncan Frissell

"Dowd's the name, Elwood P.  Here, let me give you one of my cards.  
Don't use that phone number it's the old one use the other number.  I'd
like you to meet a friend of mine.  His name's Harvey.  He's a Pooka." 

--- WinQwk 2.0b#1165