(FORTUNE Magazine) – Lately the French have seemed determined to be as well known for their electronic technology as for their cuisine. A committee representing French banks has decided to provide 12 million of the country's bank cardholders with cards containing tiny electronic components. Carte Bleue, Visa International's French affiliate, has been test-marketing the carte a memoire, or smart card, since last spring. The French government telecommunications service, has issued 30,000 experimental cards for making telephone calls. Memory cards were invented over a decade ago and have piqued the interest of financial institutions ever since (FORTUNE, August 8, 1983). But it took years to get them to a point where they were considered commercially feasible. One of the card's main advantages is security. ''We became interested in the card because we believe it is a significant device for fraud reduction and a good way to keep customers from spending over the limit the bank has authorized,'' says Jean-Marie Avadian, director of card systems for Societe Generale, France's fourth largest bank. The card's chip contains a number the user must enter on a keypad during each transaction. Bankers hope the cards, which can be used to charge purchases or draw money from a bank account, will reduce a fraud problem estimated at $800 million worldwide. Other smart cards can carry a patient's medical history. U.S. bank card issuers have been moving more slowly in making their products ''smart.'' Visa says the cards are technically feasible but isn't sure they make market sense. MasterCard has ordered 50,000 of the French cards for a test in Baltimore and northern Virginia later this year and will run a test in Palm Beach of a similar card made by Japan's Casio.