A new survey has shown Britain is to become a cashless society dominated by multi-purpose smart cards within ten years, according to a report from The Scotsman.
The study, by market researcher Mintel, claims 35 million smart cards will be in circulation in Britain by 2002, despite the fact many people are uncomfortable with the idea of having so much information stored on one card, says the newspaper.
The Scotsman reports almost half (48 per cent) of those surveyed said they would only use one if security was improved. The credit card-sized devices are used widely in Europe and the US, where they are fitted with a computer chip instead of current magnetic strip technology. The chip holds more information, which makes the cards harder to defraud.
Graham Collett of Mintel told the paper the only real problem was between banks and retailers. Updating cash machines and tills would cost billions of pounds.