From: skaplin@skypoint.com (Samuel Kaplin)
Date: Mon, 2 Jan 95 01:02:15 PST
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Anonymous payment scheme
Message-ID: <qbx1lKjqRC$2075yn@skypoint.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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This idea just popped into my head, just as I was about to fall asleep.
Being the idiot that I am, I had to get up to write it down. This idea has
probably been presented before...but I haven't seen it here yet.

Let's suppose myself and 10,000 of my closest friends form the First
National Cypherpunk Bank and Trust. We go through all of the hassles in
order to be the issuer of a Master Card or Visa. Now instead of having a
credit line, it is set up as a debit card. The card's limit is how ever
much you have prepaid the bank in advance. Once you have hit your prepaid
amount the card no longer gets approved. Now because everything is prepaid,
there is no risk to me, so I'll put any name you want on the card. The
questions I have are:

Is this legal in the U.S.?

If so, is anyone doing it?

If it's not legal in the U.S., is it legal anyplace else.

If this is a gray area, why wouldn't this scheme work?

If this scheme was set up, it appears to me that the infrastructure for
anonymous payments/netcash is already in place. Of course the issuer would
get a healthy fee for issuing the card...but then again, there truly is
no such thing as a free lunch. As my 10,000 friends and I have no plans to
set this up, feel free to pick it apart at will. (which I'm sure it will
be)

Sam

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