The End Of Anonymous Money?

[Matthew Gaylor]

Euro bank notes to embed RFID chips by 2005
By Junko Yoshida, EE Times
Dec 19, 2001 (5:14 AM)
URL: <http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20011219S0016>

SAN MATEO, Calif. - The European Central Bank is working with 
technology partners on a hush-hush project to embed radio frequency 
identification tags into the very fibers of euro bank notes by 2005, 
EE Times has learned. Intended to foil counterfeiters, the project is 
developing as Europe prepares for a massive changeover to the euro, 
and would create an instant mass market for RFID chips, which have 
long sought profitable application.

The banking community and chip suppliers say the integration of an 
RFID antenna and chip on a bank note is technically possible, but no 
bank notes in the world today employ such a technology. Critics say 
it's unclear if the technology can be implemented at a cost that can 
justify the effort, and question whether it is robust enough to 
survive the rough-and-tumble life span of paper money.

A spokesman for the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt, Germany 
confirmed the existence of a project, but was careful not to comment 
on its technologies. At least two European semiconductor makers 
contacted by EE Times, Philips Semiconductors and Infineon 
Technologies, acknowledged their awareness of the ECB project but 
said they are under strict nondisclosure agreements.

The euro will become "the most common currency in the world" at 
midnight on Jan. 1, when 12 nations embrace it, according to Ingo 
Susemihl, vice president and general manager of RFID group at 
Infineon. The ECB and criminal investigators in Europe are already on 
high alert, worried not only about counterfeiting of a currency most 
people haven't seen, but also of a possible increase in money 
laundering, given the euro's broad cross-border reach.

[...]

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