Although the card is a direct substitute for cash, it can be made more secure than cash. The owner can encode it with a PIN number which locks the cash value, and thus makes the card useless for anyone else. The complaint Mondex has consistently promoted its product as privacy friendly, anonymous, and cash-like. These are important selling points of the Mondex product, because many people value their financial privacy, and would support a technology that offers secure and anonymous transactions. However, I dispute the claims made by Mondex, and will set out below evidence that I believe will show that Mondex has set out intentionally to deceive the public.
Transactions using the cards are neither anonymous nor are they privacy friendly.
In everyday use Mondex transactions are anonymous, just like cash. The customer's narrative would contain the names of the retailers - letting them know where they have used their card. Only a cardholder will have access to the statement entries on their card which detail transactions. A cardholder will be able to lock their card and prevent unauthorised access. Here, Mondex has made the case for privacy, setting out in very specific terms the way the data will be restricted.