Electronic credit card stores many accounts

By Edward C. Baig
USA Today

Is your wallet bulging from carrying too many credit cards?

Here is a sneak peek at a new technology designed to lighten your load.

Last week at Demo, a conference where new technologies are unveiled, a San Francisco company called PrivaSys demonstrated a battery-powered electronic credit card with an internal chip capable of holding, say, an American Express, MasterCard and Visa — plus your debit cards, gas cards and all other accounts — on a single piece of plastic identical in size and shape to your other cards. Of course, PrivaSys is quick to point out that a whole lot of complicated industry association issues must be dealt with before each of the various financial institutions could appear on such a card.

(PrivaSys has struck a deal with First Data, the largest credit-card processor.) Merchants, by the way, need not change point-of-sale magnetic stripe terminals.

For security purposes, whenever a consumer wants to conduct a transaction, he or she punches in a PIN directly on the card's built-in keypad, generating a code unique to the sale. The plastic includes a 10- to 16-digit readout for displaying credit card information and to let folks select the appropriate charge account to use at the store — you push arrow keys on the keypad to scroll through the list of accounts held on the card.

The cards also will be able to store "loyalty" account info, allowing instant coupons and other rewards, perhaps a free soft drink in a fast-food restaurant or an upgrade to first class when seats are available. An icon on the card's readout may light up when you earn such an award.