By VC Kumar, manager of Government ID, Texas Instruments RFID Systems Most industry veterans associate closed-loop RFID systems, where tagged objects do not leave a single organization’s control, with niche, supply chain-related applications. As of late, however, companies and governments around the globe are opening up to closed-loop secure contactless applications for micropayment, loyalty and […]

By Catherine J. Tilton, Vice President, Standards and Emerging Technology, Daon Despite recent financial downturns, government biometrics projects continue to move forward, albeit with typical government delays, but that is nothing new. And while biometric companies come and go and merge, are they mainstream yet? We now see biometrics offered in consumer products such as […]

Sagem Orga has announced the availability of an NFC Single Wire Protocol enabled SIM card, developed in close cooperation with Orange, a telecommunications operators. This card has been customized for Orange’s specific needs. Sagem Orga and Orange cooperated in a 15-month project to create a solution that will enable Orange customers to use contactless technology. […]

A bid request by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority for the design of its new contactless smart card fare payment system has attracted interest from vendors as far away as France, Spain, Germany, China, Korea and Turkey. More than 80 interested parties visited SEPTA this week for two days of station and facility tours that […]

The NFC Forum, a non-profit industry association advocating the use of Near Field Communication technology, announced that INSIDE Contactless has become a sponsor member and joined its board of directors. Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd. also joined as Principal Member. In addition, organizations from across all segments of the NFC global ecosystem have joined as […]

By Randy Vanderhoof, executive director, Smart Card Alliance Looking into the future of the North American smart card market in 2009 and 2010, I see no signs for concern, with the possible exception that the current recession could be far worse than previous economic downturns. Having been professionally engaged in the smart card industry since […]

Even though there were nearly 800 million credit and debit cards in circulation in Japan at the end of 2007, making it one of the top countries in payment card penetration, usage of these cards is quite low. A new report from Maynard, Mass.-based Mercator Advisory Group shows that Japan is still a cash-centric society, […]

GlobalPlatform released an HTTP remote application management framework. This new technology represents GlobalPlatform’s first advancement towards Internet connectivity as it offers an application provider with the ability to issue commands using the HTTP Internet communication protocol. This latest amendment (Amendment B) to GlobalPlatform Card Specification v2.2 aims to align GlobalPlatform smart card technology with Web […]

Visa is moving ahead with its plans to link some financial applications to Google’s Android operating system, according to American Banker. Initially, it would enable customers to manage their credit and debit cards with their mobile phones. Even though the Visa Mobile for Android application lacks payment capabilities, it does indicate that the credit card […]

Merchant’s Academy, the newest of the UK’s privately-sponsored academies, and American University in Cairo, Egypt, have chosen Spanish solutions security provider Salto to control access to their campus buildings. The Merchant’s Academy, which opened in September, has installed an integrated solution that can provide full access control of all perimeter doors and internal areas and […]