[Note: Silently crossposted [bcc] to another list due to content fitting both places.]
On Sun, 26 Jun 2005, Dave Warren wrote: > How much would it cost to put photos on all ATM + credit cards? That > would significantly reduce stolen-card theft, and while it's not their > biggest challenge, it's a *huge* "business" with no overhead, and very > little risk. > > If Cost co can do it, and the $96/year park in my neighbourhood can > issue 4 photo-ID cards to each household (plus maintain the park all in > that $96 annual fee), surely banks could manage to make it work. > > Not only that, but they could pass the cost on to the end user and sell > it as a service -- I'd pay a bit extra simply because there are a number > of stores that always ID me, and I'd rather not bother digging out my > gov't ID, plus the fraud prevention aspect. There was a local bank in New York City that did this in the early 1970s - I can't remember the name now (they ended up being borged into Chemical bank ["Comical Bank" for you Mark Simone fans:-)]. The tellers were all on the 2nd floor, and they interacted with the customers via two way TV and vacuum transport. When you opened an account, you received a photo ID card that associated you with the account: all in person banking had to be done with this photoID and two way [taped] TV system. If you wanted a third party [wife, kid, lawyer, etc.] to have access to an account, you'd bring em in and get an ID for it (no charge). In the 70s this was considered wildly intrusive, as opposed to wildly secure, and the bank went bust on the back of it's "feature". I suspect today it would have a much warmer reception. Especially by the Fedz. -- Yours, J.A. Terranson [EMAIL PROTECTED] 0xBD4A95BF "Never belong to any party, always oppose privileged classes and public plunderers, never lack sympathy with the poor, always remain devoted to the public welfare, never be satisfied with merely printing news, always be drastically independent, never be afraid to attack wrong, whether by predatory plutocracy or predatory poverty." Joseph Pulitzer 1907 Speech
