National Irish Bank has announced a new multi-application Mondex electronic cash smartcard called CITRUS which will be introduced in Blanchardstown Shopping Centre in Dublin at Easter time. Almost 80 per cent of retailers at Blanchardstown, including Dunnes Stores, Bewleys and Boots have already signed up to the project, which represents a £6 million (€7.6 million) investment by the National Australia Group. The card will be the first of its kind here.

One feature of the smartcard will be the facility to load electronic cash from home. Cardholders will have the option of purchasing a pocket-sized home-load device which will attach to their phone. There will also be cashless ATM points at a number of sites around the shopping centre.