Cashless in Korea... bring it on!

[Perp]

I saw a very interesting story on the BBC about South Korea moving towards a cashless economy. The banks and retailers agreed (or, more likely, had imposed on them by legislation ) a universal standard for V-chip technology, using your mobile phone's SIM card (as I understand it).

You can swipe your mobile phone to pay for anything, even down to things under $1, so there's no need to carry any cash at all. You can also transfer money between your accounts, and deposit to anybody else's account, using your mobile phone - the same things you can currently do with internet banking. The public transport providers have also signed up and you can use your mobile phone as a bus/train ticket, too.

I know it would be enormously difficult to get all our institutions and retailers etc to agree on a standard, but I'm hoping we get this technology implemented soon, too. Bring it on!

 

[Witzl]

they already have a system similar to this operating in Hong Kong - called the "Octopus Card".

It's not entirely cashless, as you have to credit the card with cash (you get it topped up at 7-11).... but once you have credit on the card, you just use it to buy stuff at convenience stores and to ride the MTR (metro rail).
It works really well, and makes the MTR sooooooo efficient and fast. Just walk up to the gates, scan your wallet, and keep walking.

 

[Propertunity]

I have had a Visa payWave credit card (from Macq Bank) for a few months now. Same kinda deal for purchases under $100 - just 'wave' it near the merchant's eftpos thiny and you're on your way - no PIN, no signing anything.

 

[grossreal]

hi all
coke have the system already to buy a coke and will become more popular

 

[Witzl]

i think it should be pushed for implementation into all public transport. Seeing the effect it has overseas on public transport, it really is a good thing.

It just totally eliminated silly queues, waiting times, and congestion.
I hope it happens here for public transport.

 

[Bill.L]

Hi all,

Ozperp,

You can swipe your mobile phone to pay for anything, even down to things under $1, so there's no need to carry any cash at all

What happens in areas where there is no mobile coverage?? like where I live.

What happens when the mobile system crashes?? no transactions?? no boarding trains??

bye

 

[ianvestor]

South Korea still has a hell of a lot of poorer people selling their wares in the streets. I doubt they're going to rush out and get a swipe thingy.

No, I'm sure they'll still be using cash for a long time yet.

 

[eggnog]

i think it should be pushed for implementation into all public transport. Seeing the effect it has overseas on public transport, it really is a good thing.

It just totally eliminated silly queues, waiting times, and congestion.
I hope it happens here for public transport.

They just rolled them out here in brisbane - GO cards. But half the bloody time the machines don't read the cards properly or there's a fault.

 

[Aaron Sice]

just something else to add to the chaos theory with evolution, huh?

 

[natecv8]

Hi all,

Ozperp,


What happens in areas where there is no mobile coverage?? like where I live.

What happens when the mobile system crashes?? no transactions?? no boarding trains??

bye

Most EFT technology works using fixed line telephony today. It won't be the mobile phone making the transaction in most cases, it's the fixed line EFT equipment which identifies your subscriber information from your mobile phone and sends it over the phone network.

What concerns me is what happens when your phone gets stolen. How can you limit someone's ability to go waving it around and spending all your money? Of course there's the obligatory what happens when someone works out how to "hack" mobile phone equipment and steal the details....

 

[Perp]

There are undoubtedly all sorts of technical, privacy, and security considerations that have to be addressed. I just love the concept, and have faith that the world has enough geeks to sort out all the "details"

I'm biased, as I'm hopeless with cheques and pieces of paper, but great at internet banking and email. I scan all our correspondence, statements, receipts, etc - all the inbound paper - and shred it all after backing up (on 3 different servers). Bank notes are about the only pieces of paper that I find I need to keep, and I can't wait to get rid of those, too!

 

[Witzl]

They just rolled them out here in brisbane - GO cards. But half the bloody time the machines don't read the cards properly or there's a fault.

Ahh, the good old "Made In Australia" pitfall.

At work we were assisting an aussie company tender for a similar project for Sydney's Citirail by supplying them with some of the components in their product tender..... and MY GOD were the "engineers" retarded (i doubt these guys even knew what a screwdriver was). In their system, each gate could only manage to scan one card every 5 seconds.... how was that ever going to be enough in central station in sydney???
Needless to say the tender failed, and citirail has all but given up on the project.

I just wish our government would allow overseas companies to tender for such essential and mission critical equipment/infrastructure such as this.
I bet if ze germans build the system up in brisvegas it would be working more efficiently than a perpetual motion device.

 

[regrow]

What happens when you lose your wallet or have your bag stolen?

The thief could wipe you out in no time.

Surely there would be a limit to each transaction or a daily transaction limit to allow you time to relise you have lost the said wallet or bag and notify whoever and have the card thingy cancelled?

Regards

Regrow

 

[vincenzo]

A thief doesn't need to physically steal anything, just walk past you!
Or walk through a crowd for an early retirement, if the thief manages to get away with it.

 

[Perp]

What happens when you lose your wallet or have your bag stolen?

The thief could wipe you out in no time.

I believe the "swipe only" is only for small purchases, eg under $5 or $10. For anything larger, you need a PIN, just like with an ATM or credit card. And of course there'd have to be an easy way to disable it.

Yes, there are many security issues that will have to be addressed, but there are ways to manage them, and we have to remember that there's no such thing as a risk-free system. Paper currency, when lost, is completely irretrievable. Very few bank accounts have passbooks anymore - we trust the banks to record how much cash we've got on their computers. We go to work all week trusting that our employer will transfer the money they owe us to our bank account. We accept all these "risks" because we're accustomed to them.

It's part of our nature to overestimate unfamiliar risks.

 

[cava]

Hmm, everyone with a trackable mobile phone! So that they know where you are at all hours of the day and night?

Why mess around with this when they can just implant a chip in your arm or forehead? Oops, just remembered that this is what the bible says will happen in the book of relevations.

On a serious note, how comfortable would you feel if we went to a cashless society, and someone on the otherside of the world decided that you were persona non gratis, terrorist, owed taxes or unpaid parking fines etc, and decided to stop your account?

Give me cold hard cash any day over an electronic credit/debit system.

 

[Aaron Sice]

fo' shizzle dude - if we can't implant them by force or make a nation ID card work, then make it trendy so people will embrace it themselves.

then we'll sell the chips and ID cards as a convenience device - sell it as "more secure" or "safer" or "give up your liberty for safety" rhetoric we see every day.

kudos.

 

[Glucose]

Give me cold hard cash any day over an electronic credit/debit system.

Absolutely agree with you. You can't beat real money.

Some of the scenarios suggested sound like the thin edge of the wedge, and not so thin at that.

An anonymous card that you can put credit on and then swipe for small purchases would be okay, but anything in your mobile that can be used to identify you raises all sorts of privacy issues etc. Remember the to- do a few years ago when the issuing of an "identity card" was raised? Australians didn't like the idea.

Imagine a baby, just born, being issued with a number "This is your mobile phone number for life and it will enable "US" to keep track of you and know everything about what you do and where you go for you will use it FOR EVERYTHING. Have a great day."

 

[Perp]

I can't get worked up about privacy, I'm afraid. I've had children and breastfed for nearly four years - I have no privacy remaining.

I just don't think other people are that interested in what I'm doing or where I'm going.

 

[Aaron Sice]

you should see what's under the Hay St mall in Perth then, Tracey. it ain't domed like that for drainage....