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Funds are stored on the card and loaded from a kiosk.



Something similar existed in Belgium from 1995 to 2014 for small payments, called Proton [0].

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_(bank_card)


Also Chipnik in NL, discontinued several years ago. Too fiddly, nobody worries about privacy any longer.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipknip


And Danmønt in Denmark, 1991-2005.

I think Sweden had one called Kash or something like that.


In Germany, there's GeldKarte. Still relatively widely supported on public transportation ticket machines and cigarettes vending machines, so they can be used offline.

I found it awesome to use with at-home recharging (with an appropriate card terminal) and use on trains. Often, the ticket machine would refuse coins or not have change. Electronic payment to the rescue! :)

Unfortunately, its fate is already sealed with basically all banks having announced their withdrawal from the system.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geldkarte




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