Mondex

Mondex was a smart card electronic cash system, implemented as a stored-value card and owned by Mastercard.

Pioneered by two bankers from NatWest in 1990, it was spun-off to a separate consortium later on, then sold to Mastercard.

Mondex allowed users to use its electronic card as they would with cash, enabling peer-to-peer offline transfers between cards, which did not need any authorization, via Mondex ATMs, computer card readers, personal 'wallets' and specialized telephones. This offline nature of the system and other unique features made Mondex stand out from leading competitors at the time, such as Visa Cash, which was a closed system and was much closer in concept to a traditional payment cards' transactional operation.^[1]

Mondex also allowed for a full-card locking mechanism, usage with multiple currencies within a single card, and a certain degree of user anonymity. Mondex cards were at some point common place in many universities at a certain point as they were mostly trialed there, and were also issued as dual-application cards - like combo credit cards, ID cards, and loyalty membership cards.

The system was introduced around the world in more than a dozen nations, with various differing implementations. Despite continuous investment from Mastercard, the Mondex scheme did not seem to catch on worldwide and the last place where it operated, Taiwan, had its cards disabled in 31 May 2008, being succeeded by a similar but more technologically advanced system, named Mastercard Cash, which utilized contactless operation, culminating in the TaiwanMoney Card.

The Mondex scheme was a forerunner in the cashless society that is common today via mobile payment, digital wallets, and contactless payment, and was far ahead of its time.^[2]