Card Briefs: Post Offices Taking Part In Mondex Card Test

LONDON - Mondex smart cards will be accepted at post office counters when the program is tested in Swindon, England, later this year.

Tim Jones, the National Westminster Bank official who is chief executive of the Mondex program, said the participation of 20 to 30 post offices goes a long way toward making the cards as widely accepted as cash.

Mondex is promoting itself as an automated alternative to cash, with value stored in the chips of cards and transferable among cards, electronic wallets, telephones, point of sale terminals, and other devices.

Mondex U.K., a joint venture of Natwest Bank and Midland Bank working with British Telecom and other technology suppliers, expects to have 1,000 merchants and 40,000 cardholders participating in the trial beginning in July.

While the participating post offices will still be taking cash and checks, "Mondex will give (customers) an additional option, and it will be interesting to see how they respond," said Richard Dykes, a post office managing director.