Where will electronic purses be used?
As electronic purses become more widely available it is expected that they could be used in the following ways:
Transport.
On transport systems a card may not be used just for ticket payment but also may be used as a loyalty card. Premium rate train passengers may be given credits which could only be used in outlets owned by that group of companies. Such outlets could provide refreshments on board a train or shops selling audio entertainment.
Parking.
Local councils incur significant costs in emptying coins from parking meters. A possible system would be for a driver's electronic purse to hold the registration number of the car. The mode of operation would be for the driver to insert and then remove the card at the meter when parking the car; the meter would then display the number of the car and initiate the charging time. On departure the driver would again insert the card, and the parking charge would be subtracted from the electronic purse. Disabled drivers could be issued with special cards so that they do not have to pay for car parking.
In this scenario, the council might not be too worried about drivers who are unwilling to use an electronic purse. The loss of business could be interpreted as a success in persuading drivers to change to using public transport and thus reducing air pollution in town centres.
University campus card.
Universities often require students to carry identity cards which may also be used for access to car parks, library loans, access to laboratories and computer systems. The addition of electronic purse facilities is attractive to university administrators, and could lead to electronic money being the only acceptable form of payment on a campus.