Even ATMs, presently facilitating the use of cash by making it easily available, may help the move away from cash. Prepayment cards store value on magnetic, electronic, or optical media, often in appearance much like a credit card. When used, e.g. in a pay phone, the accepting device erases the proper portion of the value. Prepayment cards have substantial use in Japan. Some are being used on college campuses and Sprint has begun issuing them for long-distance phone calls.
Smart cards are in a sense an extension of the prepayment cards.
Like the prepayment cards, they can store value for future use, but they also include an internal microchip based processing capability. Smart cards have been little used in the United States, but are common in Europe. Economic hurdles may limit the develop ment of systems which are technically feasible. The cost of paper handling and getting authorizations accompanying the ac ceptance of credit and debit cards has been such a barrier in the past, especially for moderate size transactions. The development of low cost point of sale terminals has been eliminating the need for this paper handling since it makes possible the exclusively electronic handling of the transaction.