Exporting Mondex
Mondex had first been conceived and piloted in the UK, but the target market was always a global one. A
pilot had been initiated in July of 1995 in San Francisco where Wells Fargo employees used Mondex cards in
22 local retail outlets. Later that fall, Canada's two largest banks joined Bell Canada in announcing their
intention to run a one-year pilot in Guelph, Ontario starting late in the second half of 1996. Another pilot was
rolled out in Hong Kong in October, 1996 involving 400 merchants and Hong Kong’s leading banks.
Another pilot was initiated in bank cafeterias in Christchurch, New Zealand. In the UK, NatWest in October of
1996, rolled out the NatWest University Card, a variation of the Mondex Card, to 11,000 members of the
University of Exeter community. Midland bank announced at the same time a similar program with the
University of York, involving 1,600 first year students.
It was becoming increasingly clear that the Mondex proposition varied considerably from market to market. In
Canada the seamless interoperability for customers traveling or doing business across the border was a
strong selling point. Australia bankers seemed to value more the potential for lowering internal operating
costs, and improving customer service. North American participants seemed keen on its use within the
emerging data highway. Maintaining a global brand and interoperabiilty within the constraints of local
requirements presented a big challenge.