Limited Use Proximity Integrated Circuit Cards

by Dr. Brad Paulson, Thor Engineering, ICMA Standards Representative

At present, a final draft of a new standard for limited use, proximity-integrated circuit cards is out for public review. It is expected to pass public review and be published this fall as an ANSI/INCITS standard.

The contactless proximity technology focus in the United States is on high volume of low value transactions, such as transportation and vending markets. Currently, these markets are supported by magnetic stripe technology, often applied to paper or thin cardboard substrates. However, as program integrators develop these systems, the need for higher speed, lower cost terminals is driving the market to consider contactless card technologies.

Financial markets in the United States are driving the use of integrated circuits in chip cards. Unfortunately, current applicable international standards were developed for credit cards containing contactless integrated circuits, and include definitions for:

1. physical dimensions the same as credit cards (ISO/IEC 7810)

2. physical characteristics, such as tear resistance, again the same as credit cards (ISO/IEC 7810)

3. rigid security protocols (ISO/IEC 14443)

4. large data storage size (ISO/IEC 14443)

5. many data records (ISO/IEC 14443)

These characteristics are not required for limited use card applications. The complexity required to meet the current standards limits the manufacture of reducing the cost of the integrated circuit chips. Furthermore, compliance with the existing card standards will not allow the flexibility of using substrates such as paper or modifying the card dimensions, such as thickness, to further reduce card material or production costs. In response to these concerns, the industry requested the Contactless IC Cards Subgroup (B10.5) of the InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS) to review and update the applicable standards.

To enable development of reduced cost contactless chip cards for limited use applications, a more streamlined standard was required. The new standard defines only the necessary functions required for limited use applications. The reduced functionality of the integrated circuit reduces the complexity and cost of the chips and the associated cards. More economical cards will allow installation of transaction systems with higher speeds, while reducing the overall cost of the systems implementation.

To avoid confusing the requirements of a limited use card with those necessary to implement credit card programs, the draft of a new standard was developed and presented for review, rather than adding another part to or modification of any pre-existing standard. A new ANSI standard is expected to be published after the ongoing public review. The U.S. delegation has already submitted the present ANSI draft to the International Standards Organization (SC17/WG8) for review as an ISO standard.