tim (back at home) wrote:
It failed for the same reason(s) that micro payments uisng mobiles
fails. The operators want 40-50p per transaction in fees and
noone is going to accept a payment method for a 30p bar of
chocolate that charges them 40p to accept.

It hasn't failed in either Germany or the Netherlands. 40-50p is
outrageous, mind, given that neither a credit nor a debit card
transaction for 30p would cost anything like that much to process, even
at the outrageous prices charged for such transactions at present.

While I don't know for certain, I expect the Geldkarte and Chipknip
have had so much success because both banks and retailers wanted it -
no online authorisation, and no handling of cash. It may even be one
reason why Nederlandse Spoorwegen doesn't accept credit cards.

That said, a chip-based version issued by the banks (rather than
Oyster) would have the advantage that just about every retailer of a
significant size has a terminal, as do most cashpoints, so you could
implement it more or less exclusively using software.

Neil