Electronic ID & Cashless Trading

Magnetic Cards and Smart Cards

During much of the 20th century man still traded using coins, just like the Romans! But the 1980's saw the early forms of cashless or electronic trading with the introduction of magnetic-stripe cards. This period saw the development of debit-based transactions using Electronic Funds Transfer (at) Point of Sale (EFTPOS). Even then it was foreseen that smartcards (cards with an embedded chip) would replace the simple magnetic-stripe card, and today 'chip and PIN' cards are widespread. Today, EFTPOS has taken over from cheque and cash payments.

Biometrics

Cards can be lost or stolen and a way of avoiding this is to link a person's identity to their physical characteristics (Biometrics). A favoured technique is fingerprint identification, but other biometric techniques are facial recognition, hand recognition, and iris recognition. Biometric iris recognition is becoming widespread and measures the physical iris patterns unique to a person. Biometric techniques are being introduced at airports. Whilst the International Biometrics Group envisage biometric revenue to be $5.7 billion by 2010, biometric techniques are not 100% accurate. Clearly, a method of identifying each person by number, possibly backed up by biometrics, seems less prone to error.

Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID)

RFID is widely available (see for example VeriChip) and it is all around us. It is found in supermarkets, general retailers, electronic road tolls, and in your pet dog. The devices are small (the size of a grain of rice) and contain silicon chips and antennas to enable them to receive and respond to a radio-frequency query from an RFID transceiver. A scanner energises the chip, which then returns a radio signal containing the item's ID number. This number is then fed to a computer database. Clearly, an extremely attractive trading system would be to number and tag each individual and then detect their number remotely. It is claimed for example that this would reduce financial fraud since ATM transactions would only be possible if a person was physically present.

The Mark

Some humans already have the RFID implant (see Implanted Humans), where it is being used as an access mechanism instead of swipe cards. Similar technology can be in the form of a GPS trackable implant, and Japanese authorities have decided to tag school children as the best way to protect them!. The RFID tag is also being marketed as a patient protection mechanism (from infants to elderly people). Clearly, there is only a short technological step to the 'mark' of Revelation. The Bible predicts electronic trading (although the ID appears to be on the individual rather than in the individual):

"And he causes all ... to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead ... and no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark. " ( Rev 13.16,17 )

The Implications for YOU

Despite the claimed advantages, each of us has to ask where this technology is leading. Clearly, it is leading to the ultimate financial control mechanism of Revelation 13 and Bible prophecy warns against accepting the 'mark':

"If anyone ... receives a mark ... he will also drink of the wine of the wrath of God ..." ( Rev 14.9,10 )

The point in time at which the mark will be introduced is not clear from prophecy, and it is possible that believers in Jesus Christ will not have to take the mark. Either way, the rapid technological advance and the imminance of the mark also points to the imminant end of the age and the return of Jesus Christ.

Put your trust in Jesus and not in the mark!
See Steps You Must Take