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A similar initiative was announced in 2002 called Visa Direct, and launched by Sweden's Foreningssparbanken. Spain's BBVA and la Caixa was also mentioned as launch partners in the Finextra article on November 15th, 2002. I would be interested in understanding how the new system differs from Visa Direct, and why it would become a success now.

Good question re location for contactless. I know supermarket chains are keen to speed up the check-out process. Secondly, contactless may also add some value in self-service check-out lanes.

However, the novelty of contactless for marketing purposes might be as important as speedy check-out.

Hi Denis,

Actually, I had not noticed. The missing logo is sort of an omen, isn't it? Times are changing fast for national schemes!

Complete agree with your article. I find it absolutely incredible that Microsoft has released products that are not backwards compatible.

But it seems to fit with the Microsoft philosophy. Having purchased a new computer with the Vista operating system and MS Office recently, I am baffled by the number of bugs and the (s)low performance of the system. Although there are quite a number of interesting new features (once you get used to the new interface and can find what you're searching for!), it is not enough to compensate for an incredible number of idiot bugs.

If they built cars like Microsoft build computer software, I believe we might have the solution to traffic congestion and CO2 emissions, as cars wouldn't even be able to leave the garage before breaking down.

When is Microsoft releasing the required patches to provide a stable, bug-free Vista/MS Office suite?