Payment Systems: sQuid opens new front in battle against cash
North Lanarkshire in Scotland is the latest area to adopt the combination benefits entitlement card and an electronic purse.
North Lanarkshire has some 85,000 National Entitlement Card holders: this is simply a trendy, supposedly "inclusive" name for a benefits card. But, as a smart card, new functions are easily added and existing card holders will be able to have the sQuid payment service added. It will be a standard feature on new cards.
The concept is similar to Malaysia's MyCard, a national identity card with MEPS (the local banks' payment system) allowing the card to be used as an electronic wallet for making small purchases. Malaysia's card, however, does not integrate with the Touch N Go travel card system.
In Singapore, EzLink is also an electronic purse, used for travel, but has no national identity connotations.
The sQuid card, then, is a combination of several systems including contactless payment which, the company and the North Lanarkshire council say will aid the elderly who will not need to carry a bundle of cards to claim benefits, use concessionary public services such as buses and libraries and to make small purchases in retailers.
It's the retailer part of the equation which has historically proved problematic for smart cards: only VISA and MasterCard have been able to make significant inroads into the retail arena. Mondex, by far the originator in much of the electronic wallet concept, has failed to make much headway even though it has for some years been a wholly-owned subsidiary of MasterCard.
Despite its exceptionally annoying name, sQuid is already in use in Dumfries and Galloway.
Download PDF version of this page