A GLIMPSE INTO THE FUTURE OF MONEY, AS CITI SEES IT Known inside Citicorp as the Electronic Money System, the bank's version of electronic currency for cyberspace is the result of four years of mostly top-secret toil by technical wizards who report to Colin Crook, the New York money-center's top technology officer. Still in a prototype stage and probably years away from full-scale operation, the Electronic Money System is described as fully equivalent to cash, but hardware and software reside on secure processing environment. At a recent demonstration, one of six laptops was programmed to contain the functions of two banks, with icons representing tellers, security, and other features. The other terminals were set up to display "electronic wallets" that individuals can use to withdraw money from the virtual bank, exchange money with each other, and perform a variety of sophisticated transactions. For example, a customer on one laptop can transfer $100 and 50 British pounds from his bank account to his electronic wallet. The cash then exists in digital form on the individual's computer hardware. "Our system does not depend on any network mechanism for security," said project manager Sholom Rosen. "The security is between the two devices. They have their own cryptography and security." Bank officials said they intend to apply the technology first in wholesale functions, with retail use still far in the future. -- American Banker, 2/23/96 --- Dr. Dimitri Vulis Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps