New wallet gets credit for tracking cards

    The humble billfold has gone high-tech -- and it could save you the anxiety of replacing lost charge cards, ATM cards and identification.
    A California inventor's "beeping wallet" emits a signal when you remove a card and keeps beeping until you put it back.
    That means no more credit cards left on restaurant tables or store checkout stands, said Chris Richards, sales manager for BeepingWallet.com in Agoura Hills, California.
    The company said thousands of the wallets have been sold since June.
    "Response has been great," Richards said. "We get e-mails from people who say their spouse has lost four credit cards in the past year. They're really interested in our product."
    The patented wallet -- which runs on a replaceable watch battery -- is the invention of David Kopel, a 48-year-old California scientist who dreamed it up after his wife left her charge card at a store.
    The battery powers an electric circuit that is broken when a card is removed, prompting the beep. To function properly, all slots in the wallet must be filled with a card or one of the cardboard blanks supplied by BeepingWallet.com. The wallets won't harm magnetic strips.
   
    The leather wallets come in 10 styles at prices ranging from $14 to $35. They are available directly from BeepingWallet.com at the company's Website at www.beepingwallet.com.