Smart Cards Smart cards probably offer the easiest method for using local money in retail outlets. In addition, local money is better suited to smart card application than is conventional money. In fact, it is likely that local money will be the medium through which smart cards gain general public acceptance. Retailers are similarly reluctant to offer a service that few customers want, particularly when the setup costs are substantial. The difficulty is to develop an effective match between a segment of the public and the participating retailers.
Customers are unlikely to patronise a retailer just for that reason.
Price, service, location and other factors will take precedence. However, a group of retailers accepting local money will be specifically attractive to the community of local money users, as the abililty to pay in local is a very strong incentive to buy from a particular shop or restaurant. It will much easier to build a smart card system into such a network. In Swindon, UK, in 1995, the Mondex smart card will be launched with considerable energy and no little expense. The strategy there is to work in a relatively small community and ensure that almost all business is supporting the card, so that the convenience of using the card will be easier to establish.