AMSTERDAM -- A new Dutch law not only bans all forms of tobacco advertising in the Netherlands but also threatens the future of this tobacco-happy country's ubiquitous cigarette vending machines.
Under the law, which goes into effect Jan. 1, proprietors of cigarette vending machines who want to keep them operational must ensure that minors (in this case, kids under 16) can't use them to buy tobacco.
That's a tricky task in the Netherlands, where 22,000 cigarette vending machines are located everywhere from streets to snack bars to cafes, and where young people are free to roam unsupervised.
At the moment, the only thing preventing Dutch minors from buying cigarettes from the machines is a cartoon sticker.
The problem of policing cigarette vending machines in the United States is largely averted by laws that only allow the machines to be placed in locations that require proof of age to enter (such as bars and nightclubs).
So now a Dutch banking organization called Interpay, together with the local branch of British American Tobacco (whose brands include Dunhill and Lucky Strike), has stepped up to the plate by introducing the AgeKey, an electronic chip that gets implanted onto a tobacco user's ATM or debit card. Through an arrangement with the Dutch post office, the would-be-smoker can show up at the post office with his or her existing bank card, present a proof of age ID, and have the chip added on the spot.
The process takes less than a minute, and leaves no ostensible sign that the card has been encoded. This deliberate omission aims to discourage nosy parents or insurance companies. The AgeKey only registers a yes/no indication of whether the card holder is of age, and contains no actual date of birth info.
Customers will still be able to buy tobacco from the machines using cash or coins, provided they insert the AgeKey-encrypted card beforehand, which electronically "unlatches" the machine. A curious downside is that tourists visiting the Netherlands will no longer be able to buy from the machines (unless they can be bothered to sign up for the AgeKey).
The motives behind this innovation were not purely altruistic. The installation and maintenance of the vending machines is a profitable niche business, and their proprietors would be especially loath to see the machines disappear after just having spent roughly $350 a pop modifying them to accept the Euro currency last year.
Though almost every Dutch resident already has some form of smart-card functionality built into his or her existing bank card, use of similar card services (particularly e-cash) has not caught on as expected.
In specific situations, though, smart-card technologies are proving uniquely useful. Parking meters that don't require cash, for example, are less likely to be robbed, and also make things easier for drivers lacking small change. Several thousand "smart" parking meters have already been installed throughout the Netherlands.
Applications like these have made Europeans more accustomed to using smart cards in daily life, according to Clare Hirst of Gartner.
Prepaid public phone cards, she said, have been a fixture for years, and in 2001 accounted for $1.1 billion of the $1.3 billion market for memory-based smart card applications in Europe.
And most credit card companies, too, are now moving toward the smart card model (away from the magnetic strip) to combat high fraud rates. In Europe, she said, MasterCard and Visa will be shifting many fraud-related costs to the banks starting in 2005, which has motivated them to begin introducing the smart cards.
Even if the AgeKey flops, all might not be lost for the vending machine proprietors.
Teddy van de Burg, a British American Tobacco spokeswoman, said the AgeKey could potentially be adapted as a more general "forbidden fruit card" for the purchase of alcohol or videos.
Indeed, with vending machines now selling everything from art to underwear, the possibilities are boundless.
