Multiple applications on one card bode well for the technology’s future

by Andy Williams, Associate Editor, Avisian Publications

It’s an interesting time for contactless smart card technology. The payment cards are in the hands of consumers but now it’s a matter of getting them to use them.

The next year may be tough in terms of numbers but there also may be some important developments as more readers are deployed and different form factors released. Beyond that it’s a matter of adding additional functionality to the card.

Last year was a good one for some supplying the payment cards technology. “We saw a market growth in issuance and demand in 2008,” says Charles Walton, executive vice president for payments for INSIDE Contactless. “For INSIDE, it was a good year, as we shipped 65 million chips for Visa- and MasterCard-branded cards” with about 90% going to North America. In the U.S. the company has shipped 110 million chips since 2005, he adds. 

UK’s Department of Transport is considering implementing a nationwide Oyster-style smart card ticketing system that could see the end of paper tickets. Mobile phones and bank cards could also be included in the proposed system.

The department this week released a consultation document seeking comments on the development of its future smart ticketing strategy for public transport in England. It is looking at introducing a new ticketing system over the next five to ten years that would allow riders to travel anywhere in the UK on any mode of transport using smart ticketing.

According to Silicon.com, this consultation “marks a major step in the creation of a nationwide, electronic ticketing system.”

Read more here.  

The NFC Forum, a non-profit industry association set up to advance the use of NFC technology, will be conducting a one-day Spotlight Session for Developers Sept. 4 at the Lasaretti Hotelli-Ravintolaat in Oulu, Finland.

The Spotlight Session takes place during the NFC Forum all-members meeting in Oulu, Finland, Aug. 31-Sept. 6. During the week-long event, representatives from the 140 NFC Forum member organizations converge to advance initiatives focused on bringing NFC-enabled products and services to market. 

Hong Kong-based Advanced Card Systems Ltd., a top supplier of PC-linked smart card readers in the Asia Pacific region, has launched a new reader that supports the EZ-Online system, allowing ez-link card users to manage their cards at home.

EZ-Link was formed by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) of Singapore seven years ago to manage Singapore’s contactless stored value smart card system that has been mainly used for payments on public buses and Mass Rapid Transit trains.

The reader, the ACR122, is one of the first NFC readers supporting ISO14443 A&B Mifare and FeliCa cards. The reader allows for a smooth transition from existing to new ez-link cards and is also ready for future mobile NFC applications. In addition, the ACR122 is CCID compliant (chip/smart card interface devices).  

With 600 million unique ID cards, 50 million e-passports, 100 million health cards, 50 million transport and ticketing cards and 50 million banking cards likely to be issued over the next seven years in India, it’s no wonder one NXP Semiconductors official called the country “a bundle of latent opportunity.”

Speaking at the Identification Summit 2009 hosted by the company Thursday, officials said they expect a huge demand from the government, banking and transit sectors for its NFC and contactless products. NXP’s contactless e-government chip has been used in 62 of the 71 countries where the e-passport scheme has been implemented, according to Claus Hansen, NXP’s Asia-Pacific senior director.

Read more here.  

Chip maker INSIDE Contactless and Cryptography Research (CRI) have signed an agreement regarding the use of CRI’s patented countermeasures that protect against a specific semiconductor attack known as differential power analysis (DPA). The countermeasures add security to tamper-resistant chips, such as INSIDE’s MicroPass and other secure semiconductor products. 

Nice is scheduled to become the third French city to deploy NFC technology next year in partnership with the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, bus and tram operator Véolia Transport and mobile operators Orange, Bouygues Telecom and SFR. Caen and Strasbourg are already offering NFC capabilities.

Some 3000 Nice residents next spring will use NFC-compliant mobile phones to pay for public transportation and to receive information on routes and times. Other NFC-based services are expected to be available at local museums, cultural events and on the campus of the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis.

Read more here and here.