January 19, 2012

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Sustainable Wooden Cards Named Most Eco-Friendly Alternative to Plastic Cards

Sweden: Sustainable Cards announced that an independent environmental research firm has verified that its wooden cards are the most sustainable product in the card industry.

"Most retailers and hoteliers don’t realize they now have an attractive, sustainable alternative to plastic cards," says Peo Akesson, founder and CEO of Sustainable Cards. "For instance, sustainable wood cards conform to international standards and they’re durable, reusable and work just like plastic cards. Research shows that switching from traditional plastic cards to sustainable wood cards can reduce carbon emissions by 50 percent," Akesson says.

The Jegrelius Institute recently conducted a comprehensive, three-part assessment of the environmental performance of Sustainable Cards’ wooden multi-functional cards compared to traditional petroleum-based plastic cards. The research included a product life cycle assessment, sustainability analysis and chemical assessment. "The overall research showed that the wooden cards manufactured by Sustainable Cards have a lower total environmental impact and are closer to a sustainable society than plastic cards," says Tomas Ostberg, research scientist of the Jegrelius Institute. According to Ostberg, there are several key factors that make the wooden cards a better choice for the environment. First, the raw materials come from a renewable resource rather than fossil sources and the wood is harvested from certified sustainably managed forests in Scandinavia. Second, the wood cards are produced with 30 percent less energy than plastic cards and approximately 30 percent of energy used comes from renewable resources and thereby resulting in 50 percent less carbon dioxide emissions. Third, the cards are manufactured with no hazardous chemicals or additive.

"Now, our card products and manufacturing process have been analyzed and tested by two independent environmental research firms, The Jegrelius Institute and Natural Capitalism Solutions. Their findings verify that our cards are significantly more sustainable than any other plastic hotel key card or plastic gift card available. Plus, the cards are so unique; no two cards are alike because they’re made from wood," Akesson says.

The patent-pending core of a Sustainable Card is made from Scandinavian grown birch veneer with a layer of transparent paper backer glued on both sides of the veneer. The card core is printed on or applied with a magnetic strip, barcode, signature or scratch panel and/or sealed with a layer of lacquer or a plant-based or petroleum-based plastic overlay.

Akesson says that the wooden cards have been used by retailers in the U.S.and Europe as well as for key cards for international conferences, special events and in hotels around the world and they continue to grow in popularity.

Back to top

17th Edition of Cards & Payments Asia 2012 Sets to Wow with Latest NFC And Contactless Payment Technology

Asia: The 17th edition, Cards & Payments Asia 2012, Asia’s largest smart technology exhibition is set to wow with a bigger and better event this year. It will showcase highly anticipated new technologies in Near Field Communication (NFC) and contactless payment together with the entire spectrum of smart technology initiatives. Key stakeholders from the telecommunications, government authorities and services, banking, hospitality, retail, healthcare, transport, aviation and logistics sectors will come together to reveal how the latest applications and product innovations can drive service, growth and business opportunities in their respective industries across Asia.

Singapore may be one of the first nations to see the widespread adoption of NFC as a payment mode. This is made possible via the S$40 million Call-for-Collaboration (CFC) initiative, allowing up to 20,000 retail points and taxis to be NFC-enabled by mid 2012. This initiative, by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and 7 companies, namely mobile operators M1, StarHub, SingTel, payment service providers Citibank, DBS and EZ-Link, as well as Gemalto, a digital security company, marks Asia’s first interoperable nationwide deployment of NFC mobile payment system. Along with the rest of the countries in the Asia-Pacific region which sees more than 9 countries like Thailand, Malaysia, India, China, South Korea and Sri Lanka making advances in NFC technology, experts believe that this tech savvy region could be the first adopters of NFC enabled mobile payment for their next mobility solutions.

Richard Ireland, Chief Executive, Terrapinn Asia Pacific said, "This year’s Cards & Payments Asia not only allows attendees to gain valuable insights on how to capitalise on the exponential growth of e-commerce and mobile commerce, but leverage on cutting-edge knowledge of multi-channel strategies for effective customer engagement, making it a must-attend event for all stakeholders seeking an edge over their competitions."

This three-day event expects to draw more than 8,000 attendees, over 200 international leading solution providers from Singapore, China, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Germany, Italy and many more. 7 concurrent conferences and pre- and post-workshops will feature renowed speakers from all over Asia and beyond. Co-located with Cards & Payments Asia 2012 are seven synergistic events: Prepaid Cards Asia, Near Field Communication (NFC) World Asia, Digital ID World Asia, RFID World Asia, Retail World Asia, Online Retail World Asia and Digital Signage World Asia.

Back to top

FutureCard First MasterCard Display Credit Card in Romania

Romania: FutureCard in conjunction with Carpatica Bank, Sibiu, Romania together with its local partner (Supercard) and personalisator (Paynet) issued the first display card in Romania. With the rise in e-commerce transactions and increased demand for payment security, the innovative features of the new display card can meet the needs of consumers in Romania. MasterCard "SinoPac Display Card" cardholders can take advantage of a wide range of mobile financial services such as online transactions using 3D authentication security and non-predesignated account transfers.

Swiss-based security specialist NagraID Security was selected as the technology provider for the card body manufacturing.

How it works

The display card is the first interactive payment card on the market. The one-time password (OTP) security technology with two-factor authentication is the state of the art in security maintenance.

A cardholder can lightly tap a button on the credit card, and a six-digit screen in the top right corner will display the one-time dynamic password. The embedded technology also provides better security and convenience for the cardholder and eliminates the need to wait for a text message while doing a non-predesignated account transfer.

Supercard declaration:

"Supercard is very proud to be part of the project that brings the display card, the first interactive payment card, to the Romanian market. Our company, involved for over 10 years in the most prestigious projects based on cards, has always been dedicated to greeting the ever evolving technological needs of its customers and has made a real effort to not only meet, but surpass their expectations. We are truly looking forward to seeing the one-time password display cards on our local market."

Banca Carpatica declaration:

"We are excited to launch an innovative product adapted to the rising demands of our customers, the more so as we are the first Romanian bank who engage in such a project. The launch of this product is based on a policy adopted by Carpatica, and, more than that, a commitment to constantly adapt to new products and services trends, to the increasingly sophisticated consumer demands. E-Smart Debit MasterCard represents for us the transition to a new vision, that of transit services in the area bank online banking, an area with great potential for both banks and consumers," declares Georgiana Coanda, Executive Director of Retail Network at Banca Comerciala Carpatica.

Back to top

CPI Card Group's Canada Facility Receives ISO 9001:2008 Certification

Canada: CPI Card Group announced that their Concord, Ontario facility has received ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 9001:2008 certification for manufacturing and personalization of plastic cards. CPI's commitment to exceptional customer experience and continual improvement is evident by receipt of this certification.

"CPI's commitment to customer satisfaction has always been the driver for continual improvement of our business processes. This certification confirms that we are making the right choices in terms of providing state-of-the-art quality products to our customers," said Ricardo Santos, quality manager of CPI Canada.

The ISO 9001:2008 standard requires that CPI offer its customers a plastic card manufacturing and personalization experience that's extremely effective and efficient. The rigorous standards evaluate quality, customer care and continual improvement at every stage in the manufacturing and personalization process. The certification process reviews the entire business cycle beginning with order entry at customer service, moving through production, and continuing through the final step of shipping products to the customer. These strict standards require that CPI commit to, and continuously measure effectiveness of ongoing quality management system improvements, ensuring that their customers receive service and products that far exceed the traditional manufacturing experience.

Back to top

HID Global and Yale Locks Open Doors with Verizon Wireless Smartphones at 2012 CES

U.S.: At the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Verizon Wireless announced a collaboration with two ASSA ABLOY companies – HID Global and Yale Locks & Hardware – to demonstrate the benefits of smartphones carrying mobile keys. Demonstrations showed how Verizon Wireless smartphones, carrying ASSA ABLOY/HID Global Mobile Keys, can be used to open doors fitted with Yale Real LivingTM locks featuring Near-Field Communications (NFC) technology.

The Yale Real Living line is the company’s first lock family specifically designed to integrate seamlessly into the digital home. Yale expects to be the first U.S. brand to offer residential locks that can be unlocked directly using NFC-enabled mobile phones. The Yale Real Living line will be compatible with the ASSA ABLOY/HID Global Mobile Keys platform, a scalable, secure delivery infrastructure for distribution and management of mobile keys. The platform allows credentials to be distributed securely through NFC-enabled mobile phones as an alternative to mechanical keys and physical access cards. The CES demonstration will illustrate how an ASSA ABLOY/HID Global Mobile Key can be issued over the air to an NFC-enabled smartphone on the Verizon network and then used to open an NFC-enabled Yale Real Living lock.

The Mobile Keys platform enabled by the NFC technology has already been introduced to the hospitality industry by Yale’s and HID Global’s parent company, ASSA ABLOY. Verizon Wireless also recently collaborated with HID Global on the first pilot of NFC smartphones carrying HID Global’s mobile keys for access control at a university.

Back to top

Gemalto Inks Contract for Supply of New Civil Identity Cards

Oman: Lt. Gen Hassan bin Mohsen Al Shuraiqi, inspector general of police and customs, signed a contract to supply the new civil identity card for Oman citizens and residents with Gemalto.

The contract was signed at the General Command of Police in Al Qurum on the 3rd of January.

According to the contract the company will provide the civil identity card and the accessories necessary for issuing them, and provide also the card reader software.

The contract comes as part of the plans of Royal Oman Police (ROP) to move to new generation of civil identity cards, which will be easier and safer for both citizens and residents living in the Sultanate. It will also guarantee the security and safety of data.

The new cards are also characterized by a number of technical features, for example they have a double memory size in comparison with the currently used ones. This allows the download of more service application on the integrated chip, in addition to the already existing applications like electronic encryption program to attest government and private online applications. It would also facilitate health file programs which ROP plans to put on the cards in coordination with the Health Ministry and Information Technology Authority (ITA).

Among the new security features of these cards are an electronic signature, in addition to fingerprint biometrics for higher data security.

Back to top

Mediterranean Smart Cards Company Receives PCI DSS Certification for Third Consecutive Year
(Originally appeared in Ameinfo.com)

Africa: Mediterranean Smart Cards Company (MSCC), Africa's leading electronic payment processing company, recently announced that its Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) Compliance certification has been renewed.

This marks the third consecutive year that MSCC has been granted the PCI DSS compliance certification, confirming the company's dedication to maintaining a secure smart cards processing network in line with international standards. PCI DSS compliance is required by all merchants and service providers that store, process or transmit cardholder data and applies to all payment channels, including retail, mail/telephone orders and e-commerce.

The compliance certificate classified MSCC as "Level 1 Service Provider" for offering a wide range of services including; authorization, switching, payment gateway, clearing and settlement, issuance processing, processing Magnetic-Stripe transactions and providing 3D secure access control server.

The certification was granted to MSCC by Trustwave, an accredited assessment body authorized by PCI Security Standards Council. The latter is an open global forum, launched in 2006, and is responsible for the development, management, education and awareness of the PCI Security Standards, including the Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) requirements.

"We are proud to have been able to once again prove our commitment to maintaining state-of-the-art, secure processing network for our clients across the continent," said Hoda Shoukry, MSCC CEO. "At MSCC we realize that offering the world's most advanced processing services comes with the responsibility of protecting the consumer data of our clients. In this regard, MSCC is continually working to develop its security techniques and systems by implementing international best practices. In the past few years, MSCC has seen major expansion across Africa and the international validation of our secure processing network, not only fosters our credibility, but also helps us grow further to provide the most efficient, secure and accurate smart card processing services throughout the continent."

MSCC was initially certified in 2008. Through its membership to the PCI organization, MSCC has access to the latest payment card security standards from the Council, is able to provide feedback on the standards and become part of a growing community. In an era of increasingly sophisticated attacks on systems, adhering to the PCI DSS represents an entity's best protection against data criminals. By adhering to PCI DSS standards and serving as a participating organization, MSCC is adding its voice to the process.

Back to top

Spanish Bank Plans to Turn Barcelona into Contactless-Payment City
(Originally appeared in Nfctime.com by Dan Balaban)

Spain: Large Spanish retail bank La Caixa will begin rolling out one million contactless cards along with more than 15,000 point-of-sale terminals and 500 contactless ATMs in Barcelona this month. The rollout in Spain’s second largest city could lead to a nationwide deployment of contactless cards and terminals by the bank within three years and support La Caixa’s plans to eventually launch NFC-based mobile payment.

A bank spokeswoman confirmed to NFC Times reported statements by CaixaBank general director Antonio Massanell that the bank would spend about €9 million (US $11.5 million) to roll out contactless cards, POS terminals and ATMs in Barcelona and up to €40 million more through around 2015 for a nationwide contactless rollout. NFC Times earlier reported the bank's contactless rollout plans. The cards and terminals will support a Visa payWave application.

The bank has a total of 10.5 million cards on issue and is also a major acquirer in Spain, with 130,000 POS terminals at merchant locations. Its network of 8,000 ATMs is the country's largest.

La Caixa began its contactless rollout in the Balearic Islands last year, and as of September had issued 60,000 contactless cards and equipped 5,000 POS terminals, the bank said.

"This contactless technology will also prepare La Caixa for handling mobile payments when new NFC terminals become widely available," the bank said in its release. The contactless POS terminals will be able to accept both contactless cards and applications stored on NFC phones.

Two other Spanish banks, BBVA and Bankia, this week also reportedly said they would start to roll out contactless technology supporting Visa payWave in Spain’s capital city, Madrid.

The rollouts, despite Spain’s economic woes, could underpin NFC commercial launches in 2012. Telefónica, Spain’s largest mobile operator, has expressed particular interest in NFC and said last month it planned to launch NFC in its European markets starting in early 2012.

La Caixa has been involved in at least two NFC trials with Telefónica, including a large mobile-payment pilot involving 1,500 customers in the resort city of Sitges, outside of Barcelona.

The bank said it planned to complete the rollout of cards in Barcelona during the second quarter and would finish deploying the 500 ATMs in the city by the end of 2012. La Caixa said it is the first bank in the world to develop ATMs with built-in contactless readers, which enable customers to make faster withdrawals. It installed a few of the machines last year.

Back to top

Concerns Mount Over New Canadian Biometric Programs
(Originally appeared in Thirdfactor.com)

Canada: Privacy advocates in Canada have been raising concerns over the risk involved in two new biometric programs from the government that result in the sharing of private biometric data with other countries’ governments and possibly private corporations, according to an Embassy Magazine article.

The new programs are modeled after similar programs around the world that collect biometric data, such as fingerprints from immigrants traveling to the country, those traveling with fraudulent documents, wanted criminals and suspected terrorists.

Click here for more information.

Back to top

Visa: Year of Olympics will be Watershed for Contactless Payments
(Originally appeared in computing.co.uk by Stuart Sumner)

U.K.: This year will be a watershed for contactless payments, with the London 2012 Olympics acting as a showcase for the technology, according to a senior technologist at Visa.

Speaking at BT's Olympics themed event Race to the Line, which took place earlier this week, Colin Grannell, executive vice president of partnership marketing at Visa, provided details of the technology to be deployed around the Olympic venues to enable contactless payments to be made.

"We're placing around 3,000 of the latest payment devices enabling contactless transactions around Olympic venues."

"We're using London 2012 to showcase the technology and demonstrate how quickly we can process payments."

He added that contactless technology will become more commonplace this year, with other firms also increasingly enabling it as a method of payment.

"This will be the year in which contactless payment takes off. There will be 350 Coca-Cola vending machines around Olympic venues taking contactless payment."

"In addition, all London buses will take contactless payment in time for the Olympics, with the London Underground accepting the technology later in the year."

Fast food chain McDonald's introduced contactless payment technology into its UK restaurants in May last year, but admitted at the time that it expected the service to be used only rarely at first.

However, contactless is not the only payment technology expected to reach a tipping point this year.

According to Grannell, near-field communications (NFC), in which smartphones or other devices can transact when in proximity to a payment endpoint, will also see increasing use.

"We expect the London 2012 Olympics to be the first showcase of near-field communications payments with smartphones."

"Samsung has the official Olympics payment NFC app, which is processed by Visa. Other suppliers can use an alternative app, it just won't be Olympics branded." On the security of these transaction methods, Grannell was confident that Visa already has the correct procedures in place.

"Anti-fraud measures will be important during the Games. Every UK transaction will be chip and pin. We take fraud extremely seriously as a matter of course, so we're not expecting to do anything differently for the Games."

Back to top

Counting the Billions: India Starts to Empower its People
(Originally appeared in Independent.co.uk)

India: Shambhu Sharma had arrived with nothing that could prove who he was. He had no passport, no ration book, no voter identity card or anything similar. Four years ago, he said, he was pick-pocketed and everything was taken. As India goes about trying to provide a unique identity number to each of its citizens, it is people like Sharma who provide officials with some of the most testing challenges. The government's scheme accepts 17 separate forms of photo identification and 32 as proof of address, but sometimes there are individuals such as Sharma who genuinely have nothing.

"It creates many problems for me. I cannot open a bank account, or buy rail tickets or a gas cylinder connection. It means I have to get one on the black market," sighed Sharma, who works for an non-governmental organisation. "I cannot even buy a Sim card."

The task being undertaken by the authorities is enormous. India's population currently stands at about 1.2 billion and is growing all the time. By 2030, it is predicted the country will have overtaken its Asian neighbour, China, and that its population will have reached more than 1.53 billion.

Click here for more information.

Back to top

Delhi Metro to have Automatic Refilling Facility of Smart Cards
(Originally appeared in Expressindia.com)

India: New Delhi Metro commuters will no longer have to stand in queues to recharge their travel smart cards. The Delhi Metro is now planning to install automatic fare collection (AFC) gates that will have a provision to recharge smart cards and later withdraw the amount from the card holder’s bank account, officials said.

The Metro smart cards will be linked to the card holder’s bank account and through electronic clearance system (ECS) the amount will be deducted from the account. "We are in the process of procuring AFC gates, which will have the capacity to automatically top up smart cards through the bank accounts of card holders. Through this facility, when the balance of a smart card goes down to the minimum amount, the AFC gates will add predefined amount into the card automatically. Later, the amount will be collected from the card holder’s bank account by the Metro fare collection system," said a Delhi Metro spokesperson.

"This system will not only reduce cash transactions at the ticket counters but also help the commuters avoid long queues to get their cards recharged."

The Delhi Metro is also developing technology through which commuters will be able to recharge their smart cards through various modes such as net banking, credit cards and debit cards. For this, new Add Value Machines are being procured to be installed at the stations.

"We are currently working on the finalisation of the technologies which will be used for this facility. It will be made available will be made available to the commuters in another seven to eight months," the spokesperson said.

"Delhi Metro was the first Metro rail in the world to introduce Contact-less Smart Tokens (CST) and Contact-less Smart Cards (CSC) in place of paper tickets to travel in the Metro. The average life of a CSC/CST is 50,000 electronic transactions or 6-7 years."

As of now, tokens and smart cards can be purchased or recharged only by paying cash at the specified counters, machines or customer care centers at metro stations.

According to official estimates, more than 61 lakh metro smart cards are in circulation currently. About 12,000 such cards and about 6.5 lakh tokens are being sold each day. Officials said the smart cards have been very popular in Delhi Metro as commuters get a 10 percent discount on fares on use of the smart cards.

Back to top

London Transit Commission to Seek Smart-card Proposals
(Originally appeared in Metronews.ca)

U.K.: Officials expect to put out a request for proposals next month, asking companies to weigh-in on the cost and details of implementing a smart-card system.

Kelly Paleczny, director of finance and administration at the LTC, said the first phase of the new system could be ready to go as early as this fall.

"We expecting it to be a rollout that will probably take a while," Paleczny said. "It’s not something where we’re going to flip a switch and it’s done."

The smart cards would work like debit cards or reloadable gift cards. Riders who pay monthly wouldn’t have to get a new pass each month, and single-fare riders wouldn’t be left fumbling around in their pockets for tickets.

The cards—expected to work when waived at an electronic reader instead of swiped—also could track transfers.

There are a lot of options for how the system would work and many things won’t be finalized until a company is hired to manage the project, Paleczny said. But, there’s a very real possibility that the system will allow people to load smart cards from the comfort of their home computers.

The first phase of the rollout is expected to focus on monthly pass holders, since they are already accustomed to carrying a transit card in their wallets, Paleczny said. People who use traditional tickets are expected to be brought on board after that with some overlap between the new and old systems.

The smart cards are expected to cost $347,900 a year to operate, according to an LTC report given this summer.

Those costs are expected to be offset by savings in a variety of areas, including ticket/transfer printing, ticket fraud and fare-box maintenance.

Back to top

PayPal Not Banking on NFC Technology
(Originally appeared in Thestreet.com by Olivia Oran)

U.S.A.: While tech giants like Google, Sprint and Verizon are banking on a future where consumers pay for goods with a swipe of their smartphone, eBay's payments arm PayPal is a bit more skeptical.

"The jury is out on NFC," said PayPal's vice president of mobile David Marcus, referring to so-called near field communication technology which allows consumers to wirelessly transmit their credit or debit card information to merchants through their mobile devices. "It's not like we hate NFC and if it takes off we'll be on it, but we're not dependent on NFC's success to succeed offline and that's a very differentiated approach."

Critics point to a variety of obstacles for NFC, including tepid demand from retailers who remain wary about purchasing specialized hardware needed for the technology to work. There's also a lack of NFC-enabled handsets on the market. While Sprint announced this week at CES new phones from Samsung and LG that will allow tap-and-go payments, other carriers and device makers haven't yet taken the plunge.

Isis—a payments network formed in 2010 between AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile—has only started trials this year while adoption of the Google Wallet mobile payment software has been hampered due to limited handset availability.

"I really think that it's a lot of complication and headache for very little added value," Marcus said. "And by the time it reaches maturity other technologies will actually be prevalent."

Rather than relying on NFC, PayPal uses a "wallet in the cloud" approach which enables customers to pay for goods directly from their PayPal account by punching in their mobile phone number and PIN. Merchants don't have to purchase new hardware for the technology to work, while no mobile app or new handset is required for shoppers.

PayPal's approach seems to have paid off. The company announced this week it had reached $4 billion in transaction volume during 2011, up from earlier estimates of $1.5 billion and up dramatically from $750 million in 2010.

Going forward, Marcus envisions the growth of decentralized shopping experiences. A good example of this can be found at Apple stores where consumers scan the barcodes from the products they're looking to buy and check out themselves using their smartphones' camera app without the need for a sales clerk.

Back to top

Increased Airport Security Opens up Contracting Opportunities
(Originally appeared in Washingtonpost.com by Marjorie Censer)

Global: Since the Department of Homeland Security was founded and traveler security ramped up, local contractors have found new opportunities in biometric technology used for airport screenings and at border crossings.

Now, some of these firms are expanding the work they have while looking outside the United States for more opportunities.

Take Accenture, which bases its federal business in Reston. Last month, the company received a 13-month, $71 million contract to expand its work on the identity management system central to the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology, or US-VISIT, program.

The program has two parts: a database that pairs an individual’s travel history with his or her immigration status, and a system for processing photos and fingerprints of travelers entering the United States so customs officers can verify their identity.

Accenture manages the biometric processing system, part of a contract that began in 2004. Tom Greiner, Accenture’s program manager for US-VISIT, said the company recently won funding to broaden that effort, including a pilot program to test the accuracy of systems that identify people by the iris in their eye. Accenture is also being asked to make it easier for other federal agencies to use the database and to expand the system to take 10 fingerprints instead of just two.

Reston-based 3M Cogent provides the fingerprint technology used in the US-VISIT program, said Jim Jasinski, an executive vice president at 3M Cogent.

The company worked in border security before the Department of Homeland Security was established, but he said the advent of the agency created more contracting opportunities.

Unisys, which bases its federal business in Reston, is upgrading Los Angeles’s airport infrastructure as part of an effort that would eventually lead to using biometrics to identify airport workers. The company is tracking contracts in the United States and in foreign countries that would rely on biometrics such as iris or facial scans. "Clearly that is a fairly rapidly growing security space for us—both in the federal sector and in the commercial sector," said Andre Eaddy, director of cybersecurity portfolio solutions for Unisys’s federal systems unit. "We’re seeing interest worldwide."

So far, DHS contract spending has not grown as significantly as that of the Pentagon, said David J. Berteau, director of the international security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. But DHS’s interest created "a much bigger market" for biometrics, Berteau said.

It has also given U.S. companies a leg up overseas. Accenture, for instance, won a spot on a program in India enrolling all of the country’s citizens in a national ID program that captures irises and fingerprints, while Unisys has won biometric work in Mexico and Australia.

In Mexico, the company’s local subsidiary has been tasked with creating a database with iris, fingerprint and facial biometric data on as many as 110 million Mexican citizens.

Jasinski said the U.S. market remains the largest single market but that international opportunities collectively are growing at a faster pace.

Back to top

Bank of America May Abandon Certain U.S. Markets
(Originally appeared in Pymnts.com)

U.S.: Last fall, Bank of America announced 30,000 job cuts amid continued economic instability. Now, the Wall Street Journal reports the FI is considering widespread branch closures and even retreating all together from certain regions around the country should the financial crisis worsen. Such action by BoA would result in another round of extensive job cuts.

"We are a less risky, smaller, better capitalized, and more streamlined company since Brian [Moynihan] became CEO," a BoA spokesman said, according to CompliancEX. "The progress we have made has not been done without challenges and setbacks, but…we believe will deliver long-term value for shareholders."

BoA, Wells Fargo and J.P. Morgan Chase are the only banks with branches spanning coast-to-coast. But BoA’s share price plummeted 55 percent last year, and J.P. Morgan surpassed the FI as the nation’s largest bank by assets, reports CompliancEX. The spokesman noted that BoA had dumped billions in noncore businesses and assets.

BoA has already implied that it will close 750 of its 5,700 branches over the next few years, reports CompliancEX. The news site points out that approximately $60 billion of BoA’s estimated $1 trillion in deposits come from 310 geographic areas that have populations of under 500,000.

Back to top

Tips for 2012: Top EMV Ignition Strategies and Mobile Security Solutions
(Originally appeared in Pymnts.com by Margaret Weichert)

U.S.: Although discussions of mobile payment security have long focused on security at the physical POS, the real story for mobile security in 2012 will be how to better secure the hundreds of billions of dollars of financial transactions that are already taking place via mobile handsets. Mobile banking is well-established as a mature category, as consumers have become increasingly comfortable checking balances, transferring money and paying bills via mobile handsets. Both SMS and smartphone-based online banking solutions might benefit from added security measures, as the sheer volumes of financial information now moving through mobile channels will become an irresistible target for hackers and fraudsters.

Moreover, with players like PayPal leading the way with more than $3.5 billion in mobile commerce volume in 2011, vulnerabilities in mobile apps, OS, etc., will undoubtedly come under attack. New forms of two-factor authentication are being touted by security companies, but face the typical adoption challenges by consumers looking for convenience and simplicity. Until major security vulnerabilities are exposed, most consumers are unlikely to look proactively for new security solutions. Banks and merchants, however, who bear some of the liability for security challenges, may in fact start to look at new security solutions, particularly if they employ, low-cost, consumer-friendly software implementations (vs. more expensive and cumbersome physical-token solutions).

Click here for more information.

Back to top

Visa Emphasizing that New Cards will Not Need Offline PINs
(Originally appeared in Cutimes.com by David Morrison)

U.S.: Visa USA has made some recommendations for how to implement the shift from magnetic stripe payment cards to those which use a chip for authentication and seems primarily concerned with explaining that the new chip cards will not need associated personal identification numbers.

"One thing that’s clear from the questions is that there’s a lot of confusion around the myth that EMV means 'chip-and-PIN.' It doesn’t in many countries, including the U.S.," Stephanie Ericksen, head of Authentication Product Integration for Visa Inc., wrote in an online entry about the recommendations.

"That’s because, in the U.S., we can rely on online processing where transactions are transmitted in real-time to the issuer for approval. With that in place, there’s no need for the offline authentication that was the genesis of chip-and-PIN," Ericksen wrote.

The card brand announced it was prepared to start supporting the use of chips in payment cards in the U.S. in August 2011.

The difference between an online and offline PIN is that an online PIN is not stored on the card. Once the cardholder enters the PIN at the point-of-sale terminal, the PIN is encrypted by the PIN pad and sent online to the host for validation, similar to how PIN debit transactions are authorized.

In an offline PIN situation, the offline PIN is stored securely on the chip card and during a transaction, when the cardholder enters the PIN, the POS terminal sends the PIN to the chip card for verification. The cardholder verification therefore takes place within the chip card.

Back to top

Global Credit Cards Circulation to Reach 2.7 Billion by 2015, According to a New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc.
(Originally appeared in Nfctimes.com by Dan Balaban)

Global: Nothing was more daunting for the global credit cards market than the recent financial crisis which drove it into darkness for almost two years, beginning 2008. Although overall consumer spending shrank during the recession, the bigger problem to confront issuers was piling up of enormous amounts of bad debts. Customers could not make minimum payments due to continued unemployment leading to major losses for credit card companies and issuers. However, as global economies set into a state of recovery, more optimism is being witnessed in the approach of credit card issuers. Issuers are playing their cards safely and are being choosy about customers, eyeing only prime consumers, who spend more and who boast of stellar payment records. Innovation continues to be the key for finding success in the credit card market place where players compete fiercely for customers.

Innovation in terms of offers, technological advancements and an attitude of always being alert and technically ready for leveraging new opportunities coming along go a long way in assuring continued success for credit card issuers. Some of the technological advancements that could shape the future of the industry, and which players in the market place are aggressively pursuing, are multifunction cards, contact less payments and mobile payments.

Payment through phones is forecast to rise as a major trend over the coming years with rising popularity of smart phones. Wiggling out of the financial crisis, the market place has become more competitive than ever with players competing ever so fiercely for customers. Another factor making the market more intense is the fact that even though the negative impact of the crisis has almost come to an end, the borrowing power of credit card holders continues to be subdued mainly because of poor individual credit scores and tighter lending standards. However, even during the time of such an intense competition, customers are at the receiving end as interest rates continue to shoot upwards. The only respite here is for the first year of the account, credit card issuers are prohibited from making any hikes, as per the newly implemented regulations.

Over the next few years, accelerated growth is expected in the credit card markets of the emerging nations, driven by low penetration levels and rising middle class population and their household incomes. Most of these markets also exhibited resilience to the financial crisis of the recent years mainly because penetration levels were quite low to have any major impact. In the U.S., the CARD Act of 2009 seems to have had a mixed impact on the overall credit card industry. The caps imposed on late fees led to a drastic decline in credit card late fees. However, although the Act was successful in achieving its goal of making the credit card holder more aware of the cost of credit and protecting him against the unruly practices of issuing companies, the customer had to pay the price. On account of this forced transparency, the market in the US is now barely open for consumers with lower incomes and those with poor credit scorings. American Express, J.P.Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Citibank are the leading credit card issuers in the U.S.

The research report titled "Credit Cards Issuing: A Global Outlook" announced by Global Industry Analysts, Inc., provides a collection of statistical anecdotes, market briefs, and concise summaries of research findings. The report offers a bird’s eye view of the world credit card issuing market and identifies major trends, issues, challenges and growth drivers. Market discussions in the report are punctuated with a number of fact-rich market data tables. Also included is an indexed, easy-to-refer, fact-finder directory listing the addresses, and contact details of credit card issuers worldwide.

Back to top

Aconite and Paymobile Partner for EMV Prepaid Card Issuance Program Management in Canada
(Originally appeared in Smartcardtrends.com)

Canada: Aconite announced an agreement with Paymobile Inc., that provides for a complete outsource solution for EMV open loop prepaid issuance.

Paymobile’s prepaid programs, using Aconite’s smart card prepaid and application management platforms, will enable issuers to quickly move to EMV prepaid card products. The issuer is also ‘future proofed’, as this solution provides the ability to issue and manage multiple applications such as benefits payments, public transport ticketing and other specialized prepaid card products.

Aconite is a leading provider of software and consulting services for managing business applications on chips in smart cards, tokens and mobile phones. Paymobile is a Canadian technology company providing businesses and government with complete program management services for a wide range of open loop prepaid and virtual card accounts.

Paymobile’s use of Aconite’s Prepaid Value Manager provides world-class EMV open loop prepaid card issuance program management services to Paymobile issuer clients. Aconite Prepaid Value Manager supports the issuance, available balance and shadow/sub account management of an overall, EMV based prepaid/pre-authorized processing environment. Aconite Prepaid Value Manager supports smart prepaid products that can be used with both online and/or offline terminals; in contact and/or contactless mode, and closed or open-loop schemes.

Mike Vasalenak, Aconite’s regional director for Canada, said, "We are very excited to be working with Paymobile in the Canadian market as our two companies can together offer unique capabilities in smart prepaid services to Canadian issuers." "This partnership also reinforces Aconite’s commitment to the Canadian market," added Patrick Regester, Aconite’s executive vice president sales and marketing.

President and CEO of Paymobile, Gino Porco, commented, "EMV is a progression which we believe will soon totally replace magnetic stripe cards. We are excited about the opportunity to partner with Aconite, which will provide us a meaningful advantage in delivering value and security to our existing and future clients in the prepaid space. Aconite's expertise coupled with Paymobile's card management systems and mobile technology will catapult us beyond what's currently available in today's marketplace and for years to come."

Back to top

The preceding is the Industry News Distribution service of ICMA, the International Card Manufacturers Association. All recipients of this e-mail have been registered based on a request from a representative at your company. Receiving this daily e-mail is a benefit provided to ICMA members only.

PLEASE NOTE: Articles in the ICMA Industry News are compiled from various industry news sources. The ICMA staff does not verify or endorse the claims contained in these articles, or guarantee the accuracy of the information presented. We reserve the right to edit the contents for brevity, spelling errors and typos; however we will not change the true content of any text. 

For questions or comments about this service, or to unsubscribe, e-mail eroe@icma.com.