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CREDIT CARD THAT TELLS YOU WHEN YOU'RE DRUNK IN CHARGE

A credit card that tells you “Don’t spend any more, you’re drunk” is being developed by Tesco³ for those whose thrift is being addled by alcohol.

When breathed on, the card will change colour to show different levels of alcohol intake. Its use as a sobriety test in Tesco supermarkets may reduce the stores’ takings. But the chain is hoping that its scope as a do-it-yourself breathalyser will lead more people to apply for it.

Research into the device, which follows a survey of drunken overspending by the public, aims to add a hi-tech breathalyser-style band to the rear of cards. A spokesman for Tesco Personal Finance said: “We know the technology is there but it is a case of adapting it for a credit card. If breathing on it turns it red, then it’s time for people to put the card back in their pocket. We have a team working on idea. We have to make sure it is safe and the security on the cards is not compromised.”

The survey claims to have found that one third of a sample of 3,000 people spoke of having been so drunk that they had no recall of how they used credit cards on nights out. The survey tells of:

• A Leeds businessman who tried to impress his boss by asking at dinner for a bottle of “the best wine in the building”. It cost him £300.

• A lover on St Valentine’s Day who bought a drink for a crowded bar, for £190.

• A Birmingham bridegroom who lost £500 on his credit card on three rounds of roulette in a casino.

THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE, Oct. 18, 2002