Well, here we are - ten years on from the biggest industry-wide investment since the introduction of the ATM and what have we got to show for the money spent on smart cards?
For starters I no longer lose change through the hole in my pocket; my wallet doesn't bulge with plastic; I don't have stores of money in various places on the Internet, in my mobile phone account and in my hand; I'm in control of my own information and the various services I access with my smart card recognise me, remember my preferences and deliver me the things I want when I want them.
This is beyond a doubt one of the most significant personal technology developments to hit Joe Public since the ZX80!
Let's take a typical business trip and see.
05:00 Central Standard Time (CST): Rise and shine!! The alarm clock in my Hilton hotel room has registered my preference from the MonCard in my wallet, for an early start. They've also delivered my breakfast - the US version of bacon, eggs over easy, orange juice and tea, not coffee, together with the Financial Times - just as my profile instructs.
05:45 CST: Check out. No queuing anymore. As a regular customer I charge the total to my AmEx corporate account on my MonCard, with the bill downloaded to the card.
06:00 CST: Off to the airport to get shot of the hire car. Straight into the Hertz No 1 Gold club lot, wave my MonCard and I've got the receipt downloaded so that I can reconcile my expenses when I get home.
06:15 CST: I've checked in at the American Airlines e-ticket machine using the OneWorld frequent flyer profile on my MonCard. Into the lounge for another cup of tea. Insert my MonCard in the Internet kiosk to check my e-mail. Much easier than booting up my laptop. My MonCard lets the access application know who I am, and I soon have all the network privileges I would have if I was in the office in London.
06:45 CST: Onto the plane - boarding is so much quicker now that the gate control is based on MiFare technology rather than the old ATB paper boarding passes. I don't even need a separate card as the boarding pass was downloaded to the MonCard at check-in.
10:00 Eastern Standard Time (EST): Off the plane in New York and into a cab. The taxi has one of the latest mobile Internet kiosks - 3G broadband wireless Internet has finally come of age - so I'll log on with my MonCard and use it to catch up on the e-mail.
11:00 EST: Pitch up at Megabank's Head Office. Pay the cab driver using the AmEx corporate account and get the receipt. No need to spell my name two or three times until the receptionist gets it right - I just proceed to the automatic registration desk where the kiosk pulls down my business card information from the MonCard, prints a visitor's badge and at the same time confirms with the CEO's schedule that I'm expected.
11:15 EST: Power up my laptop - No need for a password anymore. I simply insert my MonCard, confirm my identity using the fingerprint scanner (biometrics have long since taken over from PINs and passwords) and my applications and preferences are available to me.
11:30 EST: Presentation to Megabank's CEO on the potential for PA to help him develop his anynet banking strategy. This one's down to me - the MonCard gets a rest!!
13:00 EST: Quick lunch in a nearby Sbarro. Pay with the US Dollar Mondex e-cash facility on my MonCard. No more mucking about with loads of notes and coins anymore, I've stored the equivalent of £50 in various currencies in the pockets of my e-purse.
13:15 EST: Back in a taxi for JFK. Log on to my e-mail and send a couple of notes back to the UK. When I arrive at the airport, I use MonCard and AmEx to settle up with the taxi, then head into the terminal to find the British Airways check-in.
14:30 EST: Checked in and through to the lounge - the MonCard has come up trumps again and although no-one really has to wait in line anymore, it's still good to know my OneWorld privileges get me into the fast track for security screening.
15:30 EST: Onto the last flight back to the UK today. The MonCard had informed the cabin crew of my preferred drinks and movies, and I can sit back and choose from a personalized selection of films.
23:55 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT): Touchdown. The MonCard based passport sees me swiftly through Immigration.
00:20 GMT: The car's proximity sensor picks up the presence of my MonCard as I approach and automatically turns on welcoming lights, checks that the seat and steering wheel are where I want them, tunes the radio to my favorite talk show and sets the climate control to take account of the ambient temperature.
The barrier lifts as I head for the exit, having billed my AmEx account, given me a receipt and, more importantly, checked that the driving license on my MonCard is linked to the registration chip on my car. Although it smacks of "big brother" it's a great peace of mind to know that I have the choice to set something like this, which automatically confirms that I have the right to drive the car. Of course I can always switch this facility off, but I risk a higher insurance premium so it's alright with me.
01:00 GMT: Home again. The garage door lifts automatically as it senses my approaching MonCard. My MonCard identifies me to the house's security systems and all I need to do is look into the unobtrusive iris scanner by the door and the lock is opened. Then it's off to bed.
06:00 GMT: Never sleep very well after a transatlantic trip so might as well get on with the day, whilst the family still sleeps, I can catch up with my expenses. I don't have to remember what I did with the receipts. I simply insert the MonCard into the reader on my PC, open up the expenses application, hit the download button and each item is entered into the sheet complete with proper VAT allocation. I check it, digitally, sign it with the digital ID on my MonCard and e-mail it to the office.
So has the smart card improved my life over the years? Of course it has. As they evolved from single purpose to multi-application cards carrying personal details and financial applications as well, their utility greatly increased.
This sped the development of combination (contact and contactless) cards and led to a rapid adoption by the transport companies. Already used as a secure log-on credential for corporate networks, smart cards were soon being taken up by government agencies for passports and drivers' licenses. Health insurers adapted them for securely storage personal and clinical details.
We saw was a virtuous circle, with each new benefit driving more investment in the acceptance devices and increasing the number of people wanting to use a multi-function card. Of course it hasn't all been plain sailing. The technology has had to become more secure, as the card provides access to everything, but the parallel evolution of biometric technology has solved that problem.
What happens next? Perhaps we will see the widespread use of chip implants inside the body. Although some people say that goes too far, they said the same thing ten years ago when multi-application smart cards first appeared!
