By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

It’s not all about smart cards for Gemalto anymore. At one point, it was considered the largest smart card producer in the world. It still is, but that’s not what the French-based company wants to be known as. It’s now all about “digital security.”

Of course it became known as No. 1 because numbers one and two merged. Previously, there was Axalto and Gemplus, both companies located in France but with both hands stretched throughout the globe. When the two became Gemalto, the focus wasn’t so much on re-imaging the company as it was with concentrating on its strengths as well as keeping up with a rapidly changing market.

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

As interest in near field communication grows around the globe, so does the interest from transit agencies. The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) in San Francisco is an early adopter, examining the technology to see how it works in a transit environment.

“BART is, in essence, the first transit agency in the country to deploy NFC technology which will not only allow patrons to buy tickets, but also to purchase other things,” says James Fang, a member of BART’s board of directors. “I’m very excited about what this technology represents.”

TSA considers biometric ACIS program but airports are not convinced

By Zack Martin, Editor
The Transportation Security Administration wants airports across the country to use and issue an interoperable credential. If a flight attendant at Chicago O’Hare International Airport was on a crew flying in and out of Atlanta’s Hartsfield Airport the ID card and information stored on it would be able to be read at both locations while the attendant only had to register at one location.

The vetting process would also be standardized for all airports, said Chris Runde, with the Transportation Threat Assessment and Credentialing Office at the TSA. Runde gave a presentation on the proposed new Airport Credential Interoperability Specification (ACIS) at the Interagency Advisory Board meeting in Washington earlier in June.

But airports have yet to get on board with the idea of a standard ID. The American Association of Airport Executives has created the Biometric Airport Security Identification Consortium. The purpose of this group is to work with the TSA on biometric access control in airports. When the AAAE announced this group though, the organization also made it clear that they weren’t in favor of an interoperable credential.

Gonzaga University trials phone-based payments on campus and around town

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

College students can be ideal test subjects for new technology, particularly if it’s “cool.” While programs testing near field communication are cropping up worldwide, until now the use of cell phones as a payment mechanism has rarely included colleges. Even though one or two universities have started to use contactless tags attached to cell phones, until Gonzaga University jumped into NFC earlier this year, this technology wasn’t evident among collegians.

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

If contactless payments are to take off, then every card produced by credit card companies in the future needs to include a contactless chip. More importantly, consumers using the card need to be better educated on how to recognize the card and how to use it. Those were just a couple of tips delivered by an executive from a major takeout restaurant chain at the recent CTST show in Orlando.

One problem is that despite promotional efforts from the major credit card issuers about simply tapping a contactless card against a reader, more education is still needed--among consumers and store employees.

During the CTST show co-sponsored by the Smart Card Alliance and SourceMedia, Gavin Waugh, vice president and assistant treasurer for Arby's Restaurant Group, described his company's experiences with contactless cards. It wasn't pretty and shows that contactless technology has a long way to go before it comes close to equaling payments made the mag stripe way.

The company has implemented contactless at its 1,000 corporate-owned stores with 100% inside the restaurants, and just 80% installation at its drive-throughs. He said that some existing stores' drive through areas weren't conducive to having a contactless reader which could have caused longer lines. The company's franchise operations aren't required to implement contactless technology. While he did not present figures on the number of franchisees, he did say there was interest from them to implement contactless.

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

Another CTST is in the books, this time without the emphasis on CardTech/SecurTech, the name for previous shows. It was also the first time SourceMedia and the Smart Card Alliance jointly produced the show and, according to executives from both organizations, the new format was a success.

"Fantastic," is the way Randy Vanderhoof, Smart Card Alliance executive director, put it when asked his reaction to the show. "I personally am very pleased with how the event worked out. The conference program turned out to be a big hit with the audience. We generally got great reviews from attendees about the merger of the CTST conference and the Smart Card Alliance annual event." That SCA annual event is normally held in the fall. This year, the alliance will move its government-focused conference, which is usually held in the spring, to the fall.

Officially, the conference was listed as CTST The Americas 2008, to incorporate both North America and Latin America, where the Smart Card Alliance also has an organization.

By Zack Martin, Editor

More than 100 enrollment centers have been opened and 90,000 cards have been activated for the Transportation Worker Identification Credential. At some point this year ports also are supposed to start testing card and biometric readers for the TWIC, says Gena Alexa, identification solutions architect in the Federal Systems Group at Unisys Corp. Alexa made the comments during a session at the CTST Conference, May 13-15 in Orlando, Fla. Unisys has been contracted to handle the TWIC deployment at the Port of LA in California.

One of the main issues for port operators, especially container terminals, is that terminal operator personnel make up a small percentage of the actual people coming in and out of the facility, Alexa says. The rest of the people coming in and out are not directly known from day to day.

In the Los Angeles/Long Beach area there are approximately 20,000 longshoremen that serve both ports, she says. On a given day, a container terminal may need 200 or more longshoremen per shift. The 200 that arrive to work for each shift will come out of the 20,000 local longshoremen but the terminal doesn’t necessarily directly know them. The situation is similar for the thousands of truckers who deliver and pick up containers each day.

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Hong Kong-based Octopus Cards Limited ought to be feeling pretty good about itself. Not only has it revolutionized transit payments at home-Hong Kong-but its arms are starting to spread to other parts of the world.

New Passport Card introduces new technology, new set of issues

By Zack Martin, Editor

Another type of travel document has joined the fray: the Passport Card. The ID card is being touted as an alternative to the traditional passport book, but is an additional technology that customs and border officials will have to be prepared to read.

Contactless company to benefit from new board member’s deep industry ties

In the spring of 2007, one of the most influential names in security shocked the industry when he announced that he was leaving the company that he had helped build. As the year came to a close, he resurfaced announcing that he would join the board of directors of a small, entrepreneurial competitor to his former employer.

Company takes pride in its 155-year history, as well as its bright future

By Andy Williams Contributing Editor

G&D prides itself on being the world’s number two producer of smart cards. But G&D is about more than just smart cards. For one, its genealogy dates back to 1852 when two men first created the company. For another, it prints banknotes, a lot of them for a lot of countries throughout the world. And for many, like the Federal Reserve in the U.S., it delivers the systems used to count and sort those banknotes and to weed out counterfeits.

NFC technology is sound, the interface is good, the partnerships have been formed, but … Will consumers use it?

By Ryan Kline, Contributing Editor

The widely talked about London launch of contactless payment devices is only a little over half of a year in, but London is making news again with its Near Field Communications (NFC) trial. Started in November 2007, major players in the telecommunications, banking and transit markets have come together to test NFC payments in both transit and retail environments.

Leading manufacturers offer new models to address changing needs of campus and corporate card issuers

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

A few years ago, demand among smaller organizations was limited for card printers that could print quality images on IDs with embedded technologies (e.g. smart cards, contactless cards, prox cards). But a lot has changed in just a few years with new regulations and growing demands for ever-greater security. Now, printer manufacturers are trying to keep pace, offering lower end models that can produce high quality images on embedded technology cards at a lesser price.

Major printer manufacturers including Datacard, Digital ID, Evolis, Fargo, and Magicard are all addressing this new sector with high function, high value models.

Contactless technology is nothing new for China. From the Great Wall to transit, contactless has been around for the past few years and, coupled with RFID usage (such as tags, etc.), makes the country–for now--the largest RFID smart card technology market in the world. That market is growing as the country gears up for next year's Summer Olympics.

By Ryan Kline, Contributing Editor

If a matrix barcode is not your thing, maybe a Mobot is more to your liking. From the end user perspective, QR Codes and Mobots work similarly – the user snaps a photo of the Mobot using a camera phone and the captured image is sent via the web to retrieve some special offer, product info, or initiate some type of transaction. But the Mobot isn’t a barcode but a realistic image with visual meaning for the user.

Barclaycard secures major advantage via exclusive deal with transit's Oyster Card

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

In London, MasterCard and Visa are in the midst of the world's largest contactless card launch to date but a smaller roll-out may have Londoners more excited as it involves their popular Oyster card. The Oyster card, which they use to ride the rails and buses, has been combined with a contactless and EMV-compliant credit card.

The bigger rollout, nicknamed the London Launch, has both credit card giants already rolling out cards in London that, by the end of 2008, are expected to blanket the UK. The contactless portion of the cards will handle payments of £10 or less.

By Robert M Fee, General Manager BU North America, LEGIC Identsystems

Establishing a corporate contactless smart card program can be a daunting task when considered in its entirety. While the physical security team might drive the project, the end result can easily turn into a corporate-wide, all-in-one credential that provides many departments with a tool to reduce costs, improve efficiencies, and eliminate waste. Best of all, it is also increasing security for environments that require both physical and logical access.

However, true convergence covers more than just IT and Physical access. It impacts the organization at all levels and in all departments. With this fact in mind, an enterprise-wide vision should guide your corporate ID program. The following article offers an overview of some key attributes that have helped launch successful contactless smart card programs.

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

With a series of significant acquisitions, HID Global has been expanding its access control empire. Earlier this year, the company combined some of these new resources and capabilities – specifically those from AccessID and Synercard – in a new company called HID Identity. The new entity’s mission is to offer a comprehensive set of solutions for the deployment of contact and contactless smart card-based identity credentials.

MasterCard, Visa, and Amex cards replace the ticket in high-profile public transportation trials

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

A new way of riding the rails and roads–or rather paying for those trips–may be in the wind at two transit agencies across the country from each other. Both involve contactless payments, but what sets these initiatives apart from contactless fare collection programs around the country and world is the use of branded payment cards (e.g. MasterCard, Visa, American Express).

Most transit agencies–or their vendor of choice–issue their own cards, process their own transactions, and handle their own settlement. But what if this effort was handled by traditional payment card issuers and processors? That is the question that transit managers in New York and Utah set out to answer.

With the emergence of contactless cards and a couple of transit trials testing the use of this new payment medium in lieu of transit passes, the Smart Card Alliance's Transportation Council released a white paper in October, 2006, exploring this new payment method.

Identification, NFC, contactless and Japan will all be major focal points during the 22nd edition of CARTES, coming your way Nov. 15-17 in Paris at the Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre near Roissy Charles de Gaulle international airport.

One of the major changes this year, according to CARTES Communication Director Hélène Tsounguy, is the coming of age of CARTES' IDentification, which has been somewhat of a CARTES stepchild since its introduction in 2005. Then, it was an area dedicated to secure technologies. This year, it "takes its independence as a true exhibition near CARTES," she said.

New ownership brings new capital, capacity, and expansion

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

CPI Card Group is ready for prime time. Not that it hasn't been all along, but thanks to extensive investments in equipment and personnel, the Colorado-based card manufacturer is getting ready for an "exploding" card market, whether contact or contactless. And prime time or not, it also now has a new owner.

A made-up word best describes the company's current situation. With extensive investments, the company is currently at what Bob Clarke, the company's vice president of sales and marketing, calls "over capacatized. We figure if we build it, we'll be able to deliver." When that will happen isn't known, but when it does, CPI Card Group will be ready.

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

A time tested business adage suggests that one key to success is to give customers a choice. That is one of the driving principles behind Ireland-based SmartCentric’s latest move, adding support for the iCLASS contactless smart card to its campus card system through one of the best known contactless solutions providers, HID Global.

SmartCentric recently announced the addition of iCLASS to SmartCentric’s SmartCity platform with expected availability later this year.

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

Fargo Electronics’ merger with HID Global last year was just the beginning of what officials at both companies see as a bright future for the secure card identity systems company. Fargo Electronics’ new president, David Sullivan, fresh from a stint in Europe, wants to grow the company, not only in the U.S. but internationally. The fact that HID Global turned to a person with more than a few years’ experience in the international market certainly foreshadows this move.

Understanding why NFC is more than contactless, Bluetooth, or RFID ...

Certainly among the hottest of topics in the ID world today is Near Field Communication (NFC), an exciting and relatively new technology. While it has become a household term in most identification-centric circles, a significant gap in understanding of its technical operations and capabilities remains. Ask a number of people to define NFC, and you are likely to get responses like: ‘It’s a way to make payments with your mobile phone’ … ‘It’s contactless but it can go in a other devices’ … ‘Its like Bluetooth but it is in a card.” While each of these descriptions are accurate to a degree, they fail to capture the true understanding of what sets NFC apart from other technologies.

With trials occurring at a fevered pace, NFC is being tested for real world use

USA: Cellular South and Kyocera Wireless conduct NFC payment trial of “Wireless Wallet” with consumers in Memphis, TN and Jackson, MS. End date: August 2007.

The Netherlands: Roda Stadium trials NFC phones for football ticketing and payment with KPN, Philips, Bell ID, SmartPoint. Dates: Aug 2005-May 2006

Taiwan: MasterCard, Taipei Fubon Bank, Taiwan Mobile, and Vivotech deploy NFC pilot in Taiwan for payment and couponing via smart posters. Start date: February 2007.

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

Every time you turn around you see an NFC pilot program cropping up somewhere in the world. What you haven’t seen are many full-scale commercial rollouts. In fact, those could be counted on one hand. Sure, near field communication technology is still relatively new – but in a world where new innovations quickly become yesterday’s news, could NFC be starting to show its age?

Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

Whether in the form of a football, a brand logo, or a keychain-ready miniaturization, different card shapes are battling the traditional 'CR80' or 'ID1' format for market share. Even watches, cell phones, and key fobs are joining in the game. But as long as ATM machines and many mag strip readers are geared for only one card shape, the common 3.370" x 2.125" rectangular form factor will continue to maintain its unimaginative grip on card users.

StoLPaN group includes heavy hitters tech, finance, and education

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

Europe is looking to get a head start on creating an NFC ecosystem, thanks to the recently announced creation of a new consortium with the unlikely acronym, StoLPaN. It stands for Store Logistics and Payment with NFC and includes a pan-European consortium of companies, universities and user groups seeking to develop an open architecture for the development, deployment and use of NFC-enabled applications in mobile handsets. It is co-funded by the European Commission and Information Society Technologies (IST) program.

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

A transit card named after a character in a folk song has to carry with it a coolness factor. And, since the Kingston Trio made the song famous way back in 1959, why not have the group on hand when the card is first announced? And so it was when the CharlieCard, a contactless transit card for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, made its first appearance late last year, its name the result of a survey taken by the Boston Globe.

Near field communication is still, technically, in its infancy, but it’s gaining a good head of steam as illustrated by this year’s edition of CardTech / SecurTech event. The show is being held May 15-17 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Bill Rutledge, CTST program director, projects a 15% increase in attendance over 2006 figures for the SourceMedia Conferences and Exhibitions event.

Why go? "There's a lot going on in security and on the payment side," said Mr. Rutledge. "For people in the payments industry, there's a lot to be aware of. On the security side, the big effort now is on protecting data and managing identity."

Mary K. McMunn, former Chief, ICAO Specifications and Guidance Material Section

This article reviews briefly the work ICAO has been doing over the past nine years to specify how to make use of biometric technology to enhance the security of travel documents and to facilitate inspection of international travelers at border control points.

The Convention on International Civil Aviation and Annex 9 (Facilitation) together provide a framework of obligations of member States and Standards and Recommended Practices pertaining to the immigration and customs inspection and clearance of persons in airports. In this context ICAO, since 1980, has been publishing specifications for standard formats for machine readable passports, visas and official travel documents. Document 9303, Machine Readable Travel Documents, is now a suite with three parts. Part 1 (Volume 1 and 2), Machine Readable Passports, was published in its sixth edition in September 2006.

Access, attendance tracking, lunch programs drive the implementation provided by Scholarchip

Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

Colleges have been using campus card ID systems for years. But with increasing security concerns, similar products are moving into public schools. One example: Philadelphia, Penn.’s school system where high school students at 60 schools have been provided a contactless ID card needed to gain admission to school property, track attendance, and, in some cases, buy lunch in the cafeteria.

In its eleventh year, the Sesames Awards has become a key part of the industry’s leading event, the annual CARTES smart card and identification conference. Sesames honors innovations and application achievements within the chip card industry. As 2006 was coming to a close, an international panel of judges active in the industry selected the individual recipients from 203 companies that applied for the ten Awards.

Convenience continues to be redefined when it comes to contactless payments. The latest innovation: Using wireless readers/terminals to take–and pay for-concession orders at a group of Broadway theaters in New York City.

Sandbar Concessions is one of the leading in-theater refreshment services companies on Broadway. The company is concessionaire for The Nederlander Organization, which serves the Brooks Atkinson, Gershwin, Lunt-Fontanne, Marquis, Minskoff, Nederlander, Neil Simon and Richard Rodgers theaters. It is also the first refreshment service company to accept Visa credit, debit and, now, contactless payments.

Change could open floodgates for contactless and other payment cards in vending, transit, unattended locations

By Chris Corum, Editor

Regulation E, the rule outlining consumer rights with regard to electronic financial transactions, can make things tough on new payment offerings – but many argue that is its mission. Electronic payment providers have to make a slew of disclosures, they have to guarantee against fraudulent usage, they have to provide periodic statements, and they have to provide receipts for transactions. But this receipt requirement may be loosening. The Federal Reserve (Fed) is considering a change that would exempt transactions under $15 from the need to provide a receipt. Big deal you say? Read on.

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

When PricewaterhouseCoopers went from 13 different buildings down to one at its Zurich, Switzerland office, many of its 1,200 employees were using different ID cards providing only limited uses. So why not switch to one multi-function card?

That's what the company went searching for. "We've always tried to look for state-of-the art systems and we found this card," explains Corina Gerber, facility management, senior manager, for PricewaterhouseCoopers Switzerland (PwC).

How a car looks and performs (and of course, its cost) will still be the major criteria in the auto purchasing decision. But the "coolness" factor may be entering the equation thanks to RFID and Near Field Communication (NFC) technology that's eliminating the need for a key and offering up other technological wonders.

Smart keys have been around since the end of the last century, but with improvements in RFID and the new kid on the block, NFC, more sophisticated technology is making the driving experience, well, more enjoyable.

In the Toyota Avalon, for instance, an on-board sensor recognizes a signal from the smart key, allowing the driver to start the engine by pushing a switch. If he waves the smart key near the trunk, it opens. And, of course, it unlocks the car as the driver approaches. Ditto for the American-produced Corvette and Cadillac XLR.

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

NFC may still be an industry buzzword despite numerous pilots and at least one commercial implementation in Germany. But, according to NFC pundits from NXP and Nokia, that's the plan. Get the industry involved and John Q. Public will follow.

Acquisition brings personalization to HID to “complete the identity management equation”

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

HID Global's president and CEO, Denis Hébert, calls it "completing the equation." That's one way of looking at the company's recent purchase of Fargo Electronics because it now gives the company a firmer hold on the complete credential management process, from creation to issuance.

Asked about the importance of this acquisition, Mr. Hébert said, “One of the key factors in our decision to make the acquisition was Fargo’s ability to complete our offerings in supplying credentials and ID devices to customers overall. It's one thing to manufacture them and another thing to personalize them.”

Some of the contactless world’s best new products were on display at the HID Partner conference in San Diego in October. On display were at least thirty contactless offerings from companies around the world. HID Connect, the company established to help partners of HID Global in their efforts to bring supporting products to market, held their iNNOVATION awards competition. Winners included products that enable wireless physical access control, converge physical and logical access, identify a vehicle and its driver at long range, and facilitate easy creation of contactless applications and products.

Austrian-made LAKS watches: An idea whose time has come?

By Chris Corum, Executive Editor

An Austrian watchmaker may not be the guy one would expect to find impacting the identity and payment card markets, but Lucas Alexander Karl Scheybal is not your typical watchmaker. At his company, LAKS, he designs precision timepieces that do more than just keep time. Recently added to his line of mp3 and flash drive watches are models that enable contactless payments, employee access and ID, and even a version that accepts a SIM card and connects via USB to a computer.

Private equity deal worth more than US$8 billion establishes the ‘new’ chipmaker

By Andy Willliams, Contributing Editor

The best one-line description of the recent announcement about the sale of Philips Semiconductors to a private investment group? Business as usual. Everything that has come out of the sale announcement so far has indicated that the only thing different is the name, NXP, which, according to the company's marketers, is a play off "Next Experience."

Hertz trials new smart card in France to identify driver, unlock door, and start engine

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

You arrive at the airport, check on your rental car’s location, and wave a card near the reader inside the windshield and the car unlocks. Tell the onboard computer attached to the car's rearview mirror that you have a valid driver license, and you're off. No standing in line, no contact with any rental agency official. If you are a member of Hertz #1 Club in Nice France, you might be renting cars this way already.

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

After a long flight, you arrive extremely tired at your hotel to find a line of people queued up at the front desk. Then you remember that you are an NFC user … you bypass the front desk and go straight to your room because you already know your room number and the key … in your cell phone.

This is already a reality – at least in pilot-form – in select European hotels and it's going to be introduced to American audiences soon. The solution is one more exciting capability of Near Field Communications (NFC) ... in this iteration an NFC-enabled phone communicates with contactless door locks that are NFC-compatible.

By Marisa Torrieri, Contributing Editor

International Biometric Association is meeting with the Transportation Security Administration in the hopes of convincing the federal agency to include contactless readers as part of its new credentialing and security system for ports and maritime workers.

Smart cards containing the contactless technology were tested during a yearlong “Prototype Phase” of the Transportation Worker Identification Credentials (TWIC) initiative. IBIA believes that the test was a success and proved that the contactless reader was the right way to go. If TSA specifies a new reader approach that wasn’t tested, such as using contact readers, then the reader portion of prototype test would have been an effort that International Biometric Industry Association Chairman Walter Hamilton calls a waste of time, money, and resources.

13.56 MHz contactless cards improve flexibility and security for access control


By Chris Corum, Executive Editor

Contactless technology facilitates multiple applications and services from a single card, but Erik Larsen, Product Manager of Identity Solutions for Lenel Systems International, stresses that another advantage is equally crucial for card issuers. “Contactless lets you take control of - and secure - the data on your cards,” he says, “something proximity technology just doesn’t do.”

New fare collection card launches to speed commuters through MARTA system

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

Nearly six years in the making, the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) is beginning to phase in a contactless fare program to replace its existing magnetic ticketing and token-based system. What's more, it's the first U.S. system to deploy limited use smart card paper tickets.

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

After two-plus years of pilots in various parts of the U.S., each of the big three credit card providers rolled out their own contactless payment version last year. So, after a year in operation how are things going?

Actually, since the pat answer from all three is "very well, better than expected, etc." the better question would be, what's next? A lot, as it turns out, from different form factors, including watches, to use of mobile phones as a payment medium, to tapping and going your way through the New York Metro turnstile.

By Marisa Torrieri, Contributing Editor

With a long workday behind him, Mr. Government Worker leaves the building, heading for the massive parking lot. He passes a gentleman (Mr. Man), but little does Mr. Government Worker know that beneath the stranger’s briefcase hides an RFID Reader with an antenna short enough to remain out of sight but long enough to communicate with a FIPS 201 PIV Card. Mr. Man captures the ‘free-read’ ID number from the card and now can in essence replay this information to the access control reader at the entry door to the building to gain access.

A preposterous scenario? Not really, says Walt Augustinowicz, founder of Identity Stronghold, though others disagree.

But don’t Bend (the Smart Card) Like Beckham

By David Wyld, Contributing Editor

When you think of British soccer, what images come to mind? In all likelihood, images of David Beckham artfully bending the ball into the goal and of rowdy English fans. What is increasingly being noticed is that soccer – or football – clubs in the United Kingdom are at the forefront of harnessing contactless card technology to the benefit of both teams and their loyal fans. Indeed, football clubs in the UK are fast transforming the notion of what it means to be a “season ticket holder,” as tickets are falling by the wayside in favor of smart cards. These contactless solutions are fast becoming the global benchmark for creating customer loyalty and bringing a form of yield management to the stadium.

LEGIC provides robust suite of payment and security applications for students in Chur, Switzerland

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

While many U.S. colleges and universities have been hesitant to delve into the contactless world, European and Asian campuses have taken the opposite approach. So it is with the University of Technology and Economics (HTW Chur) in Chur, Switzerland. The college opted for a contactless campus card system based on chips supplied by LEGIC Identsystems Ltd., also based in Switzerland. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of 13.56 MHz contactless smart card technology, including ISO 15693 and ISO 14443 compliant read/write chip sets, security modules, and transponder chips.

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

A couple of years ago Wells Fargo's Peter Ho was in Hong Kong when he picked up an Octopus card, a rechargeable contactless stored value smart card used for electronic payment. "I said 'wow, wouldn't that be cool if we could do something like that in the U.S.?' " Zip ahead to 2006 and Mr. Ho's dream is about to become a reality. Wells Fargo is soon to become the first bank in the western United States to enter the contactless card arena.

New bill takes a "common sense" approach to RFID vs. Privacy issue

By Marisa Torrieri, Contributing Writer

A new “common sense” RFID bill that encourages the use of RFID technology in state government IDs, while addressing privacy concerns of citizens and organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union, is gaining traction in California.

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

Even with a commercial rollout a short time ago for NFC-enabled phones, Philips continues to tweak the new technology. A study the company conducted late last year raised a couple of issues which will probably find their way into newer NFC iterations, although one of the findings had to do with the readers, not near field communication.

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

NFC is making a name for itself. After a number of high-profile trials last year and early this year, what is being heralded by many as the first commercial rollout of the near field communication technology launched recently with bus passengers in Hanau, Germany.

Why Germany? "There was no deeper reason in choosing Germany than that we had good contacts with Nokia," said Holger Kunkat, program manager for mobile secure NFC solutions with Philips Semiconductors.

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor, AVISIAN Publications

The Smart Card Alliance has seen some good days and some really bad ones. Following 9-11 and the mini-recession that terrorist attack caused, the Alliance's lost nearly one-half its membership -- falling from 160 to 86 organizations. Now, it has made its way back to nearly pre 9-11 membership numbers and, if 2005 is any indication, even better days are ahead for the alliance.

(This article originally appeared in a 2005 issue of RFIDOperations)

By Rhea Wessel, Contributing Editor, RFIDOperations

COLOGNE, Germany—The world’s most popular sporting event will be RFID-enabled. The 2006 World Cup soccer tournament will feature RFID-based electronic admission tickets at the games’ 12 German venues.

World Cup organizers announced last year that they wanted to install the admission control system by the end of 2004. It’s not in place yet, so while the initiative appears to be behind schedule, at least one of the 12 stadiums in the tournament—Cologne’s 1. FC Köln Rhein Energie Stadion—has taken matters into its own hands to be ready for the start of play.

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor, AVISIAN Publications

A company specializing in contactless cards and readers and a university that's synonymous with technology advances are meeting the privacy and security fears surrounding RFID head-on.

HID Corp. started with a forum last December on RFID legislation pending in California then joined up with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to create a public forum to discuss RFID and public policy. Additionally they will jointly explore new uses of RFID for personal identification that can enhance privacy and security. They also will be producing a web site to inform industry, government, and the general public about RFID.

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor, AVISIAN Publishing

With the Olympics coming to China in two years, the country is in the middle of upgrading many of its programs and much of its infrastructure, including access control, transit systems, and more. This -- coupled with ongoing demands that occur as the world’s most populous country rapidly modernizes – has the worldwide smart card industry scrambling to grab a piece of this potentially huge market opportunity.

For a couple of years, it looked as if SecurTech was going to overtake the CardTech portion of the annual conference in terms of numbers of participants, but with last year's rollout of contactless payments by the big three card issuers, the pendulum is swinging the other way.

"It used to be we were split 50-50, now we're 70% financial, 30% security," said Bill Rutledge, program manager for SourceMedia which is producing the 16th annual CardTech/SecurTech Conference May 2-4 at the Moscone Center, San Francisco, Calif.

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor, AVISIAN Publishing

Bankcard issuers wanting to set themselves apart from others may opt for a different form factor than the same old, standard credit card. Axalto's new SmartFob is a surefire differentiator … and that is certainly one of the reasons it grabbed last year's Sesames Award from CARTES for best new hardware.

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor, AVISIAN Publications

Global systems operator Thales is more than just a transit/transport integrator utilizing smart cards. Lots more. Try aircraft carriers, global positioning systems, air traffic control, contactless payments, passports, unmanned aircraft, and ... well, the list goes on. Even Louvre security has a spot on Thales' menu of services.

Tests include newly-issued documents from New Zealand and Australia

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor, AVISIAN Publications

Global electronic passport usage moved ahead as trials got underway in San Francisco in January, following similar tests at Los Angeles International Airport last year. This latest multi-country test -- involving New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and the U.S. --revolves around a contactless chip-enabled passport that is expected to increase security for those entering the U.S. while speeding up entry procedures. Participants include citizens of Australia and New Zealand who have already been issued the new e-Passports, as well as Singapore Airlines crewmembers and U.S. diplomatic e-Passport holders.

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor, AVISIAN Publishing

Being small can have its advantages. Ventura County California’s smart card-equipped transit system serves just 15,000 riders daily. And even with six independent operators for its bus lines, the county can still reconcile how much each operator is to receive in transit fares each day. It can also deliver, in real time, a very accurate bus schedule via displays at each bus stop or on the Internet so riders know where their bus is at any point in time.

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

It has been four years and one failed startup in the making, but Houston commuters may soon use a contactless smart card as their transit ticket … offering convenience and speed over their existing magnetic stripe-based cards.

Fans and Foes of SB 768 still trying to work on a compromise in latest version

By Marisa Torrieri, Contributing Editor

The California RFID bill hailed by privacy advocates but feared by the tech industry is undergoing major revisions as both sides try to work out differences before the end of the legislative session in August, when the bill would expire.

A company that once used its RFID technology to make Star Wars-licensed toys talk, is now going after a market it believes looms larger than Darth Vadar ... Disposable smart tickets for public transportation.

"I have done a lot of evangelizing" about low-cost smart tickets, admitted Trevor Crotch-Harvey, senior vice president for United Kingdom-based Innovision Research and Technology, developer of a chip tailor-made for such tickets.

Forget fingerprints. A Toronto, Ontario company wants the whole hand involved. And it's not talking palm prints. It wants to identify the blood vessels in your hand.

Identica Corp. has linked its Universal Controller with a hand vascular scanner manufactured by a Korean company. The result is a biometric access control mechanism solution that it claims is accurate, fast, and non-intrusive for users.

By Rhea Wessel, Contributing Editor

Joe Banker rides this city’s subway every morning from his apartment outside of the city to his office high rise. Each month, he pays roughly €100 ($128) for his transport ticket. This month, however, he was sent to London on short notice for two weeks. Banker has grossly overpaid for riding the rails.

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

Near field communication, or in this case what INSIDE Contactless calls an enhanced NFC version, is getting a hefty workout in France. The latest announcement came from Axalto, which in conjunction with a French mobile phone company and one of the world's largest public transport operators, is spearheading a pilot program that allows riders to wave their phone at a contactless reader to gain entry to the transit system.

Some 200 mobile phone users in Caen, in the northwestern part of France, are learning first hand what Near Field Communications (NFC) technology is all about. Want to buy something? Wave your cell phone. Want to use a car park? Hold your cell phone up to the reader. Want information on a tourist site? Hold your cell phone...well, you get the idea. As the Caen trial illustrates, the cell phone is becoming the “Swiss Army Knife” of the modern world.

By Marisa Torrieri
Contributing Editor, AVISIAN Publications

Can RFID save a dying patient, who can’t express herself to doctors?

If you’re scratching your head, consider this scenario: A woman with diabetes skips her insulin, and lands in the hospital with a case of hyperglycemia that rendered her unconscious. Without intervention, her condition may worsen into a state called “ketoacidosis” – a life-threatening illness. But let’s say she’s tagged with RFID and the hospital’s medical staff is equipped with a reader that can pick up her medical history in one wave.

By Marisa Torrieri
Contributing Editor, AVISIAN Publications

Those waiting for the ‘California Gold Rush’ to RFID and contactless-enabled ID cards will have to cross their fingers and sit tight. Come January 1, a new bill barring wireless identification technology in government-issued IDs, authored by California Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) will hit the state’s legislative floor. Should the bill pass, it would place a three-year moratorium on the use of RFID (and related technologies such as contactless smart cards) in driver licenses, K-12 ID cards, library cards, and health cards. Additionally, it would require costly and according to some, less-than-necessary, security additions to all cards.

California is not the only state considering RFID-type legislation, but the other states tend to hold the focus to RFID, rather than adopting California’s broad inclusion of contactless smart cards or any wireless ID token. Six separate states have proposed legislation that can be described as Right to Know style regulation, requiring disclosure for tagged consumer products. Texas is considering a limitation on the use of RFID for identification of students by school districts. And finally, not to be outdone ... South Dakota is considering a bill to make it unlawful to require a person to be implanted with an RFID tag.

One of the leading suppliers of security technology, ASSA ABLOY Identification Technology Group (ITG) has taken a proactive step to protect the privacy of a worldwide community of RFID end users. In September the company published its “corporate principles and practices” regarding RFID and privacy.

By Geoff MacGillivray, Semiconductor Insights

The use of RFID and contactless smart card technology is exploding and devices (e.g. tags, tokens, cards) all require embedded memory arrays that suit the needs of the application. All of these devices require non-volatile memory, memory capable of retaining information in the absence of power and some of these devices require volatile memory, which is used to store temporary data. The requirements for these forms of memory vary among the different types of contactless devices. The memory type and size has a significant impact on the cost and performance of the device and manufacturers must make appropriate selections. The following article explores the memory needs of various contactless technologies and describes the embedded memory array types used in these devices.

By Heather Klein and John O’Malley, Giesecke & Devrient

Imagine a scenario where Joe Smith is leaving his house in the morning to head to work, grabbing his mobile phone as he heads out the door. Joe starts down the street, calling the office to check messages, and ducks into the local coffee shop. While still on his voice call, Joe pays for his morning java by waving his phone over the contactless point of service reader at the counter. The funds are deducted from the electronic purse stored on his (U)SIM card in his mobile phone. Moments later, Joe receives a text message indicating a low balance on his e-purse and reminding him to replenish his account. Joe searches the menu on his phone and, directly from his handset, checks the balance in his bank account and transfers funds to replenish his e-purse. He also quickly checks the train schedule and his stock portfolio from his handset’s menu.

Designed to link electronic devices, Near Field Communication technology could end up turning the cell phone into a “Swiss Army Knife.” Some of the first projects out of the gate link NFC-capable phones to contactless payment and ticketing solutions while others allow users to download music from a poster advertising a hit band.

Recently, AVISIAN Publication’s Execuive Editor Chris Corum, spoke with Scott Rau, Senior VP of Payments, JPMorgan Chase Card Services Division, about the launch of the ‘blink’ contactless payment card. Mr. Rau has been involved in advanced payments for nearly two decades, from both the manufacturing and issuing side. He led the financial cards division within Gemplus and worked in emerging payments with Fleet, CoreStates, the MAC Network, and others. In his current role with JPMorgan Chase, he is helping to lead the blink team as it helps redefine Chase as a retail brand.

The 2005 third quarter has been a good one for Israel-based On Track Innovations. In August the company received a new five-year contract renewal for its Easy Park program in Israel. Then, a month later came the announcement that it had been chosen by Frost & Sullivan as its Company of the Year.

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is set to roll out a smart card-based fare system. What's unique about the program is that it will take the fare system direct from paper tickets and tokens to the smart card. "Most transit agencies use mag stripe cards (before migrating to smart cards), but not so with Los Angeles," said Mark Kroncke, director of business development for the western region for Cubic Transportation Systems, the company developing the Los Angeles fare payment system. "L.A. is going from tokens and paper tickets right to smart cards.”

By Dee Ann Kuhn, Contributing Editor

This fall an even greater number of consumers will be able to tap and go with their PayPass cards thanks to an ongoing expansion of merchants signing on to implement the MasterCard-trademarked contactless card technology. Meijer Stores, a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based grocery store chain announced in August that it would be the first supermarket to offer PayPass at all of its 171 locations. Meijer’s plans follow Oakbrook, Ill.-based McDonald Corp.’s announcement that the fast-food giant plans to expand PayPass acceptance across all of its restaurants that accept credit cards here in the U.S. by year end.

Oyster, Transport for London's popular transit fare payment card, is about ready for a new benefit for its more than two million users. They'll soon be able to use their contactless card to make small purchases–coffee, newspapers, milk–at participating retailers. TfL in July released what it calls its shortlist of seven companies or consortia bidding on what could be a very lucrative contract.

By Dee Ann Kuhn, Contributing Editor

It has a catchy name, it’s convenient to use and, most importantly, it offers card members peace of mind. That’s what JPMorgan Chase is banking on in promoting its Chase with “blink” contactless credit card. Chase introduced the card in June in an effort to be the first to pave the way for a national switch to smart cards in the U.S. To date, Chase has issued two million blink cards to Visa and MasterCard credit cardholders in Colorado and Georgia and it’s continually adding new merchant locations to the 400-plus initially slated for the rollout.

New offering promises to lower card acceptance fees and empower retailers

“We had two prerequisites – installation within hours and return on investment within months,” said CEO Tom Bartz when announcing Accelitec’s new contactless payment solution. These are lofty goals for any payment system, but particularly for one that can enable credit, e-check/ACH, and stored value payments via a single contactless token.

The Smart Card Alliance Transportation Council held a web briefing held in late July to discuss projects it was embarking upon to facilitate the use of contactless smart card technology in the transit sector.

The council was created in combination with the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). Its interim co-chairs are Greg Garback, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, and Mike Dinning, U.S. Department of Transportation/Volpe Center. The co-chairs were joined at the briefing by representatives from several transit and payment companies that are council members.

The latest ammunition in the continuing struggle to keep secure areas secure may come in the form of a small handheld biometric reader that can identify a fingerprint or read a bar code off a truck, license tag, or ID card. With contact and contactless capability, the new reader from the Canadian company, Labcal, can also serve as a backup system if the main server goes down.

American Express' rollout of its ExpressPay contactless technology virtually guarantees it a sizeable customer base. That is because the new payment method will be ‘appearing’ on a card that's already in the hands of thousands of users -- the successful Amex Blue.

Automatic vehicle identification (AVI) technology can be used to track and authorize automobiles as they enter and exit parking facilities. A Dutch company called NedapAVI has added to this the ability to also identify the driver of the vehicle via the same system. Making this even more innovative, they can do it all using the person’s existing proximity and prox/contactless identification badge as the key.

By Chris Corum, ContactlessNews Executive Editor

The state that found OJ and MJ 'safe' to return to the streets may well find RF so dangerous that they lock it up just as the rest of the world begins reaping its massive benefits. There is some progress, however, as some softening of the reactionary language was included via recent amendments. But, the fact that it was amended at all, suggests that it is still receiving serious consideration. The bill seeks to ban the use of contactless and RFID technology in government-issued IDs and though it has at least two more hurdles to clear to become law, many observers including the bill's author remain optimistic.

By Lauren Lowrey, Contributing Editor

The advent of a new technology often results in a backlash from opponents (or cautious skeptics) fearing (or prudently evaluating) malicious utilization (or unintended repercussions). Such is certainly the case with contactless and RFID technologies. A poignant example of this came in February when a California Senator proposed a bill barring the use of contactless or RFID technology in state-issued identity documents. Senate Bill 682, called the Identity Information Protection Act of 2005, was passed by the Senate and has been sent to the Assembly (the second legislative “house” in the California) for consideration.

Do you use prox or contactless cards for access control and wish you could use them for other applications as well? You are not alone -- thousands of corporations, campuses, and agencies are in the same boat. But a Chicago-based company, RF Ideas, may have a solution in their line of programmable devices that read and write data between cards and PCs.

As our editorial team traverses the country and even the oceans discussing contactless payments, two questions are heard more than any other … (1) Can contactless technology transcend the early hype and establish itself as a viable payment tool? And (2) Where the heck is Visa? AVISIAN Publication's Executive Editor, Chris Corum, sat down with Patrick Gautier, Senior Vice President of New Product Development at Visa USA, to ask him these and other questions.

By John Edwards

As the largest bicycle supplier in the United States and maker of some of the world’s best known models, there was no hiding from Wal-Mart’s RFID edict.

And even though Pacific Cycle had no experience with RFID and Ed Matthews, the Wisconsin company’s director of information systems, possessed only a passing knowledge of the technology, all that had to change—fast. “I was both intrigued to be able to use this emerging technology as well as a little upset that we were being forced into something,” Matthews says. “Wal-Mart is our largest customer, so that definitely pushed things to the forefront.”

By Lauren Lowrey, Contributing Editor

Don’t let the flying owl or the acronymic name fool you into thinking this new initiative isn’t soaring. WISE, Women in Security Electronics, is the newest non-profit organization to hit the security industry, and it’s headed by five prominent women in the industry.

Knowing the industry needed a one-of-a-kind organization promoting women in security, these women teamed up to create an organization focused on creating environments to help women succeed, to train a higher caliber of women, and to recognize companies succeeding in these endeavors.

Reprinted with the permission of the Smart Card Alliance

Many applications are now using radio frequency (RF) chip technology to automatically identify objects or people. These applications range from tracking animals and tagging goods for inventory control to enabling fast payment and securely identifying people. While these applications all use radio waves to communicate information, the RF chip technology used for each is quite different, addressing the application's unique storage, range and security requirements. As a general definition, radio frequency identification (RFID) tag technology is used in applications that identify or track objects and contactless smart card technology is used in applications that identify people or store financial or personal information.

By Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

Using single sign-on, roaming access, and a sonar sensor device, the University of Colorado Hospital can meet not only HIPAA privacy requirements, but give its nurses and doctors faster access and more flexibility in dealing with their patients' records and actual treatment.

This is thanks to a system set up by HealthCast, based in Boise, Idaho, utilizing proximity readers and sonar technology from RF IDeas, located near Chicago, Illinois. The Colorado medical facility is using 21st century technology that also works with its legacy systems without requiring changes to them, said HealthCast's Trip O'Donnell, vice president of business development.

MasterCard's expansion in South Korea with its OneSMART PayPass signifies the credit card giant's roll out of not only its new payment technology, but also a new role in cell phone payment processes. This will mean more benefits for the company's 14.78 million MasterCard-branded cardholders in Korea.

House considers active tags for Congressmen and staff
By Peter A. Buxbaum, Contributing Editor, RFIDOperations

This article originally appeared in a 2005 issue of RFIDOperations.

WASHINGTON D.C.—The State Department is moving ahead with plans to add RFID chips to American passports.

As the sophistication of intrepid forgers grows, especially in today’s heightened homeland security atmosphere, the RFID-enabled passport program “will ensure that the person carrying the passport is the person to whom the passport was issued,” said Frank Moss, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Passport Services. It will prevent the forging of passports or the insertion of a new photograph in a genuine passport, he added.

What: Contactless/RFID Technology TechPavilion
When: Wednesday, April 13, 2005 12:00 - 1:30 P.M.
Where: Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, Nevada

It is sure to draw quite a