Beneficiaries of the Philippine’s Social Security System (SSS) will soon be issued new United Multipurpose Identification (UMID) cards equipped with contactless chips, according to Sunstar.com. The UMID cards, which feature a magnetic stripe in addition to the chip, are designed to facilitate secure transactions over the SSS and combat fraud, agency officials said. In addition […]

ABI Research has released a new report predicting one billion contactless payment cards, EMV dual interface or otherwise, will ship globally in 2016. The estimation marks a nearly six-fold increase from the 170 million contactless cards shipped in 2010. Furthermore, the report predicts that smart card shipments will overtake mag-stripe card shipments by 2015, although […]

Raiffeisen Banking Group Austria (RBG) has announced that it will introduce contactless credit cards in Austria. Starting in August, RBG will begin issuing MasterCard PayPass-enabled contactless cards, which can be used to tap and pay at contactless terminals throughout the country – no PIN or signature required. According to RGB, the technology has already been […]

Allied Irish Banks (AIB) has announced that it will begin providing customers with contactless Visa debit cards in the second half of 2012. Intended to replace the current Laser/Maestro cards, the new Visa cards will enable customers to make contactless payments of up to €15 by simply tapping their card against a reader. AIB says […]

Fremont Bank, one of the largest full-service community bank in Northern California, has announced that it will begin issuing contactless debit cards. According to Fremont Bank, the new debit cards will use STAR CertiFlash, a chip application developed by First Data’s STAR Network that uses one-time card number technology to advance security at the point […]

EFT Source, a provider of turn­key card production and management solutions, partnered with Evolis to develop Card@Once, a new product for financial institutions to easily and more affordably issue cards instantly. Card@Once enables banks and credit unions to provide debit, pre­paid or reloadable cards to customer’s on­site within seconds. Card@Once has successfully undergone an independent, […]

Absa, the largest consumer bank in South Africa, has concluded a nine-month pilot of contactless payment technology and says it will soon roll out contactless tap-and-go cards to customers, according to ITWeb. Absa’s cards will be available as prepaid or debit, and can be used to tap and pay for goods at retailers as well […]

Bank of Ireland (BoI) has announced plans to introduce contactless Visa debit cards to its customers later this year, according to Independent.ie. The new cards will enabled customers to simply tap and pay for items up to €15 without having to sign or enter a PIN. In order to promote the new cards, the bank […]

Attendees of this year’s Oppikoppi Music Festival in South Africa will be able to make contactless payments using Standard Bank’s Mimoney NFC technology, according to Moneyweb.co.za. The bank will issue festival-goers “Oppikoppi cards,” which can be preloaded with money for tap and go payments at vendors on festival grounds. Users can load credit onto the […]

Gemalto has announced that Intesa Sanpaolo is launching a new prepaid contactless card for tourists in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Italy’s unification. Equipped with MasterCard PayPass technology, the EMV-compliant Carta Esperienza Italia 150 will be offered to more than 11 million customers in Turin and other cultural capitals, enabling contactless payments in shops […]