Card Briefs: Atlanta Transit to Sell Stored-Value Cards

NationsBank Corp., one of three banks participating in the Visa Cash stored-value card experiment during the Olympics this summer, said it reached an exclusive agreement with the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority to sell Visa Cash cards in 21 rail stations.

The cards will be sold through card dispensing machines in stations and at five "ride stores." The cards will be usable at any station in designated Visa Cash turnstiles.

All three banks in the Visa Cash pilot - the others are Wachovia Corp. and First Union Corp. - have reached agreements with the transit authority to accept their cards.

In related news, NationsBank selected Giesecke & Devrient America Inc., a German-owned card manufacturer, to be its lead supplier of smart cards for the Visa Cash pilot, which is tied to the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta.

The smart cards, to be sold with stored values of up to $100, will be reloadable and disposable.

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