Electronic purses: (which) way to go?

The article below, which was written in 2000, showed that initial expectations about consumer uptake and retailer acceptance of e-purses were unrealistic. The article concluded that 'the initial euphoria ha[d] faded away and, at best, ha[d] turned into cautious optimism'. Today, things look even bleaker. In Europe several schemes have simply been discontinued and only a handful are doing reasonably well, particularly in the Benelux (see Van Hove, L., 'What Future for Electronic Purses?', forthcoming in Lammer, T. (ed.), Handbuch E-Money, E-Payment & M-Payment, Springer Verlag, 2006).

My original article noted that experts who still believed in e-purses saw two major ways in which the new payment instrument could eventually be brought to the top of consumers' wallets. The two magic formulae put forward were 'multi-application' and 'electronic commerce'. Today, it can safely be stated that the Internet is unlikely to save e-purses. However, the first formula might still do the trick. For example, in Hong Kong retail usage of the Octopus transit card is growing steadily. And transit operators around the word are following in Octopus' tracks. In Europe, London's Oyster card is the case to watch. Starting in January 2006, Transport for London will extend the use of the card to low-value purchases at retail stores in the capital.