Target Dumps Not So Smart Cards
from the let's-try-this-again... dept
Lots of news is going around about how retailer Target is dropping the "smart cards" they've been offering with Visa for the past few years. Every few years, people make a big stink about smart cards in the US, and every time they don't go very far. While they've caught on in other places around the world, people wonder why the US sticks with dumb cards. Perhaps that's because the "smart cards" we're offering aren't very smart. They don't do much to take advantage of the so-called "smarts" - and what little they do isn't all that compelling to end users. Furthermore, there was the marketing issue where both AmEx and Visa spent all their marketing dollars telling people what smart cards look like ("oooh, look, it's got a chip!") and forgot to point out why that's useful to anyone.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
I can think of one advantage...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I had to get a smart card
Overall I like it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]