Every now and then I re-visit this bit of computing/finance/social history that I was a part of.
In 1995 – before contactless, before chip and PIN – my home town of Swindon in the UK trialed “Mondex”! Electronic cash on a card!
Unlike normal debit cards, which just prove who you are so that you bank can take action for you, Mondex was MONEY!
You actually transferred money to the card and the value was on the chip itself.