How would that work? Would it have stored value like an Oyster card and you'd tap in or out; or would you insert it in the card slot on a ticket vending machine to obtain a priv rate ticket?
I imagine you could have something similar with priv rates. Most TOCs already provide smart (ITSO) cards that work on their own network gatelines, and some do multiple (for example GTR, Southeastern under the same owning group). But if there's incompatibility between barriers it presents a problem.
They are ITSO cards.
There wouldn't be any benefit that I can see. It's already possible to issue a Priv season to smartcard, I believe, but for anything else it still just a ticket. What staff need is a means of buying a ticket without having to go to a ticket office and an ITSO card isn't the answer to that.
Yes this is something that needs to be resolved. I am always honest and look for a guard/TM on board if I cannot buy beforehand for whatever reason (no ticket office normally if I've bought a single going outward), but quite often there's some issue and they can't get it to work. Whereas a ticket machine, perhaps if your had a specific ID number that allowed you to access priv tickets on a TVM and a security code of sorts to prevent fraud would be ideal.