Electronic purse

The concept of the electronic purse on an integrated circuit (IC) card has been talked about for some years. In this time little progress has been made in actually implementing such an instrument even though everybody agrees that it is a wonderful idea and creates float. The author establishes what is meant by an electronic purse and quotes three descriptions produced by the International Association for Microcircuit Cards in 1982. They are for three instruments-a wallet, a purse and a token, which have now become synonymous and can be described as a pre-paid service (a purse)