Editing Mondex (section)

==Operation==
As a stored-value system, Mondex cards were designed as an electronic replacement for cash - they always held a certain value, allowing offline transactions to be possible without needing a line of credit or communication with the credit company, like with a traditional credit card. This way they were able to be offered to a sector that wasn't catered by traditional forms of electronic payment.<ref name="roger">{{cite web |url=https://www.rogerclarke.com/EC/Mondex.html |title=The Mondex Value-Card Scheme - A Mid-Term Report |date=15 February 1996 |access-date=10 February 2025 }}</ref>

All value circulated between Mondex cards was issued by an 'originator' - in order to create Mondex value the originator (a part of the local Mondex franchise) would exchange cash with the Mondex partnering banks and provide them with an equal amount of Mondex electronic value, which could be later withdrawn by cardholders using the bank accounts associated to their cards.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://web.mit.edu/ecom/Spring1997/gr13/technology.html |title=Mondex Technology ~ Why Mondex Is Innovative? |access-date=10 February 2025 }}</ref>

===Transfers, card top-up and payments===
Mondex is an open-loop implementation of the electronic cash scheme - instead of transactions occurring only in one way, money can be transferred between any Mondex user.

A transfer of funds using the Mondex card (dubbed an 'electronic purse') operated through a Mondex-enabled device, and in principle occurred between 2 cards - whether it was 2 customers or a customer and a seller.<ref name="roger"/> 

Both would insert their cards into a device which would facilitate the transfer of funds and record the transaction onto the card.
The card's memory consisted of the last 10 transactions.<ref name="roger"/>

In order to top-up their cards, users could use an ATM, go to a bank branch, or visit several stores and businesses with compatible hardware.
Mondex cards that were issued by banks allowed cardholders to transfer funds to and from their personal bank account, which was linked directly to their card.<ref name="roger"/> 

Mondex cards could be used in any store or machine that supported it and had the necessary equipment. Depending on the country where the system was implemented, Mondex cards were accepted at a variety of businesses - supermarkets, department stores, public transport, taxis, car parks, vending machines, restaurants, cafés and many more. Some countries even allowed usage of the cards in lottery games.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.multos.com:80/library/pdf/02-10-00%20Norwegian%20Lottery%20CS.pdf |title=MULTOS Case Study - Post Office and State Lottery join forces to introduce Smart Card Technology in Norway |access-date=28 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040221043841if_/http://www.multos.com:80/library/pdf/02-10-00%20Norwegian%20Lottery%20CS.pdf |archive-date=21 February 2004 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===International use===
Mondex cards carried five 'electronic pockets', separate from one another, each containing money denominated in a different currency. This allowed transactions to be made using one of the 5 currencies loaded on the card. The currencies in the 'pockets' could be unloaded and replaced at any time.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cryptome.org/jya/mondex-chip.htm  |title=Mondex Unveils Roll-Out Technology Featuring Enhanced High Security Chip, Multi-Currency and Global Inter-Operability |newspaper=Business Wire |date=24 September 1997 |access-date=10 February 2025 }}</ref>

===Security features===
Mondex cards included a locking mechanism - a PIN would be chosen and inserted to lock the card, and before operating the card again (to view the latest transactions or transfer funds) the cardholder had to insert his PIN and unlock it.

The [[Z notation]] was used to prove security properties about Mondex, allowing it to achieve [[ITSEC]] level E6, ITSEC's highest granted security-level classification.<ref>Susan Stepney, David Cooper, and [[Jim Woodcock]], ''[http://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/~susan/bib/ss/z/prg126.pdf An Electronic Purse: Specification, Refinement, and Proof]''.[http://web.comlab.ox.ac.uk/oucl/publications/monos/prg-126.html Technical Monograph PRG-126], [[Programming Research Group]], [[Oxford University]], UK, 2000.</ref><ref>[[Jim Woodcock]], Susan Stepney, David Cooper, John Clark, and Jeremy Jacob, [https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00165-007-0060-5 The certification of the Mondex electronic purse to ITSEC Level E6], ''[[Formal Aspects of Computing]]'', Volume 20, Number 1, pages 5–19, January 2008.</ref>