The death of the plastic card has been discussed for some time. In the last year this refrain has become more frequent as mobile devices become more powerful, talk of mobile wallets increases and the handset is touted as a viable identity credential. With near field communication on the horizon, card manufacturers are understandably concerned […]

2012 is meant to be “the year of the contactless payment,” however a number of industry analysts believe that the technology is failing and, in turn, costing the consumer money, according to This is Money. Reports estimate that the cost of developing, installing and maintaining contactless terminals will be left for the consumers to deal […]

EMV is the future of payments but MasterCard doesn’t want to stop there, says Colin McGrath, vice president of development in U.S. Markets at the payments company. “We very much see this path and this evolution as really about enabling the next generation of payments,” McGrath tells Regarding ID’s Gina Jordan. “It’s about providing a […]

MULTOS technology providers saw a record breaking 2011 with over 100 million chips being delivered to customers in just one year, bringing the current MULTOS issuance total to well in excess of 300 million cards, reports MAOSCO Ltd., the Secretariat of The MULTOS Consortium. MULTOS products are deployed for EMV migration, government ID and embedded […]

There’s recently been a lot of talk about EMV in the U.S. When will it be viable? Will merchants make the change? One of the least discussed, but just as important is “how do we get people to start using it,” according to MobileWaytoPay.com. The comfort level of users will play a major role in […]

GlobalPlatform announced that it will align its Compliance Program for validating secure elements with the mobile payments certification structure of EMVCo, the EMV standards body owned by American Express, JCB, MasterCard and Visa. Launched in 2011, GlobalPlatform’s Compliance Program confirms that a secure element will perform as outlined in the GlobalPlatform Specifications. According to GP, […]

VeriFone introduced the VX 680 terminal to Spanish merchants, enabling full contactless and NFC acceptance – designed to bring new levels of convenience to their customers. The announcement coincides with contactless trials and initiatives from card issuers and banks to drive consumer adoption of ‘wave and pay’ in Spanish cities. Spanish merchants will be able […]

Oberthur Technologies has announced that its EMV sector has experienced large growth leading up to the transition to EMV in the U.S, shipping more than 2.5 million EMV cards to U.S. banks and credit unions in 2011. In the last six months, Oberthur has doubled its active American EMV programs, bringing the total to 15 […]

FiTeq announced the launch an approved EMV payment applet in conjunction with the FiTeq Energizer Stripe, ensuring dynamic authentication whether the card is used at EMV terminals or legacy magnetic stripe terminals. FiTeq’s cards appear much like conventional credit/debit cards, but are battery powered and embedded with FiTeq’s Energizer Stripe. The solution enables a unique […]

Financial Software & Systems (FSS) announced a new program – Smart Start – which aims to enable U.S. card issuers to implement smart card technology into their operations in less than four months. The Smart Start program is a full-function EMV/smart chip life cycle management system which manages the issuance and administration required for smart […]