India’s Ministry of External Affairs is set to launch biometric passports in 2013 to comply with other countries’ requirements to incorporate biometrics into the identification documents, reports The Times of India. The passports currently being issued do not contain any biometric features, but the ministry is installing the required technology to create them. It hopes […]

PSCU, a St. Petersburg, Fla.-based provider of financial services to credit unions, is releasing the first VISA Prepaid EMV cards in the U.S. this year. It will issue the cards through several PSCU credit unions later this summer. EMV technology is making its way into the U.S. market. PSCU’s issuance of the prepaid EMV cards […]

The banking industry has been increasingly growing its use of green banking initiatives, such as paperless statements. However, instant card issuance can also be another way banks can be more environmentally friendly–and cut down on fraud and identity theft at the same time. As posted on Datacard Edge’s blog, mailing debit cards to account holders […]

The Auckland Council is looking to standardize the technology used to track and manage library book stocks across its thirty three libraries and collection centers using RFID technology, according to Computerworld. The council currently issues more than 10 million books every year. Transferring books and managing stock across regional boundaries becomes difficult due to conflicting […]

Encap, a provider of authentication technology, released a study that compares the cost of authentication methods for enterprises. It reveals that large companies could halve the total cost of ownership of authentication technology used by employees for secure access to enterprise services and applications via private and enterprise owned networks. An enterprise with around 3,000 […]

NatWest, one of the UK’s largest banks, has announced that it will trial NFC payments using its TouchPay mobile app and Wireless Dynamics’ iCarte accessory for the iPhone. Some 1,000 NatWest customers will be provided with a free NFC-enabled iCarte case for their iPhone 4 or 4S smart phone. After attaching the iCarte case, the […]

Awareness of NFC mobile payments is on the rise in the UK, according to YouGov’s new Mobile Wallet tracking study. Over a third (36%) of the UK population is now aware of “contactless technology in mobile payments,” while 12% are aware of the existence of NFC technology. However, despite the recent launches of Barclay’s Pingit, […]

Google is now shipping 1 million NFC-enabled Android devices each week, according to Hugo Barra, Google’s director of Android product management. Barra revealed the figure during his keynote address at Google I/O, the company’s annual developer-focused conference held in San Francisco. By Tech Crunch’s reckoning, this means that nearly 15% of the 400 million Android […]

Deutsche Telekom and MasterCard have announced a partnership to enable Deutsche Telekom’s 93 million mobile customers across Europe to make NFC mobile payments. The first consumer roll out will take place in Poland later this year, followed by Germany. The trial will initially involve mobile phone tags and cards, then move on to a mobile […]

Interac Association announced that TD Canada Trust is now issuing bank cards with Interac Flash functionality. Interac Flash is an enhancement of Interac Debit and Canada’s first contactless point-of-sale debit payment option, which gives cardholders the choice of paying for smaller value items by simply holding the card up to a supported contactless reader. This […]