New ‘Clip’ for Home Banking

InteliData Technologies Corp. on Tuesday launched MoneyClip, a small, floppy-disk-like device it says makes it easy for personal computers to read so-called smart cards and allows PC users to effectively turn their computers into automated teller machines.

The Herndon, Va.-based company hopes the product will lead to faster acceptance of smart cards and electronic commerce by consumers, who have lagged their foreign counterparts in adopting the newest banking technologies, InteliData President John Backus told a news conference.

A smart card--a plastic card embedded with a computer chip that stores information--can carry a cash value and have other uses, such as serving as identification.

A smart card can be inserted in MoneyClip, which resembles a standard 3.5-inch floppy disk. The device is then inserted into a PC’s disk drive, which reads information on the card.

The MoneyClip, small enough to fit in one’s pocket, can be carried and used in PCs in the home, office or at a remote location. It allows computer users to store new information on the cards without having to install a separate card reader on their PCs.

The card used with MoneyClip contains a digital certificate that identifies the user. The certificate is required for the user to pass through the firewall and access home banking and bill payment services.

Partner Home Financial Network Inc. provides software that lets users conduct home banking and other electronic commerce on the Internet. For example, a user would transfer $500 from a checking or savings account onto a smart card, in effect making the device like an automated teller machine at home.

MoneyClip has a retail price of $59.95.