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03/05/2004: Technologica Technologica

Chameleon Card Changes Stripes
By Mark Baard, Wired

pv-card-out_f (40k image)

Your next wallet may be 8 mm thick and contain the only card you'll ever need.

Chameleon Network, in Concord, Massachusetts, plans to replace the stacks of credit, bank and customer-loyalty cards burdening modern consumers with a single, rewritable Chameleon Card, which works just like an ordinary card with a magnetic strip.

First-time users of the Pocket Vault will read their old credit cards with the device, which stores their information internally and backs it up to an online or local database in case the Pocket Vault is lost or stolen. Each credit card stored on the Pocket Vault is then represented by an icon on the device's touch-screen display.

The Pocket Vault also prompts its owners to place their fingerprints on the device's reader pad to create a biometric profile.

To use the Chameleon Card for a credit card transaction, a shopper taps the logo on the Pocket Vault's display representing the credit card account he wants to use. Seconds later, the Pocket Vault spits out the shopper's Chameleon Card, with the selected credit card account number, expiration date and logo imprinted on its flexible display, and its transducer reconfigured to work in the store's or bank's magnetic card reader.

Interesting idea. At first glance it speaks to the conspiracy theorist in me. After some reflection though it would seem to be more secure then a wallet or credit card.