The Telegraph reports from Calcutta on the Indian government's plans to introduce smart cards for drivers' licenses and vehicle registrations.

The smart card, very handy in shape and size, made of a special type of plastic with a computer chip, will have all the details of the vehicle and the owner. Besides, there will be details of tax dues, certificate of fitness and insurance and pollution clearance. Punching the card in a master computer, to be installed in the PVD office, will display all the details of a vehicle on the computer screen. Similarly, the driving licence cards will contain the details of the holder, apart from its validity period.

Kathy Kristof reports in this morning's Los Angeles Times on payday lenders.

The payday lending industry, virtually nonexistent a decade ago, accounts for roughly $25 billion annually in loans, according to a recent study. More than 90% of payday loans are made to repeat borrowers such as Monti, whose short-term cash crisis was only worsened by the quick fix.

The article goes on to say:

The typical annual effective percentage rates on payday loans range from 391% to 443%, according to a study (PDF) released last month by the Center for Responsible Lending. Payday lenders get around state usury laws by characterizing the cost as a fee rather than an interest rate.

The Bangkok Post reports on government action in Thailand to ensure that smart card production happens locally in Thailand and doesn't rely on imports.

The Science and Technology Ministry will request cabinet approval for one billion baht to enable Thailand to produce smart cards instead of relying on imports. ``I would not like to let the project slip away because this is a job Thai people can do,'' Minister Chetta Thanajaro said on Friday, when he visited Thai Microelectronics Centre (TMEC), a state agency which could produce microchips to be imbedded in the cards.

David Lazarus reports in the San Francisco Chronicle on credit card debt in the US.

Meanwhile, the nation's credit card debt has soared to $735 billion, or almost $7,000 per household. Of this sum, the American Bankers Association said that a record 4.09 percent of card payments were past due in the third quarter of 2003, up from 4.04 percent in the previous three months. The association said this reflects a rising number of unemployed people using their plastic to get by.

A closer look at the Federal Reserve's latest monthly release of consumer credit outstanding shows that growth in revolving credit has been essentially flat for the last couple of months and, in fact, declined slightly in November (the most recent reporting period).