Card Technology articles from May 2004

Card Technology archives from May 2004

The Envelope, Please.
May 1, 2004... It looks easy when the movie stars do it, slitting the seal on an envelope and announcing the Oscar winner. But it takes a lot of work to decide whose name belongs on an award, at least when it's an award for breaking new ground with smart card...

EMV Still On Track, Says Visa EU Chief.(EMV international payment transaction standard)
May 1, 2004... By the end of the year, a "majority" of payment cards and terminals will comply with EMV, the international standard for chip-based payment transactions, says Hans van der Velde, president of Visa International's European Union region. ...

The Rise and Fall of Cards and Card Fraud: (Year-end 2003 figures for Visa EU*, in millions, with % change from 2002).(part 1 of 2)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
May 1, 2004... (part 1 of 2) Total % change Debit % change Cards 229.4 8.4 131.2 6.4 No. of transactions** 12,300 9.7 9,300 9.5 ...

Card Technology Calendar.(Calendar)
May 1, 2004... June 1-3, 2004: 7th International Fair of Smart Cards, China 2004-Beijing Organized by CCID Exposition Co. Ltd. For more information, contact CCID at: Telephone: +86 10 6845 1873 Fax: +86 10 6845 5499 E-mail:...

Chips Are In Short Supply.(computer chips)
May 1, 2004... Supplies of silicon for subscriber identity module and other smart cards are tightening, and the scent of shortage is in the air, says one major semiconductor supplier. This could lead to higher prices and longer lead times. The budding...

Regional News.(Smart cards)
May 1, 2004... North America Consultant Predicts Big Growth For Contactless Chips: U.S.-based Dreifus Associates Ltd. projects fourfold growth in the worldwide sales of contactless smart card chips by 2008. Analyst Ivo Zlatinov says 622 million...

Unicom Sees An Opening To Outflank Its Big Rival.(Unicom)
May 1, 2004... Given the cutthroat price competition that characterizes the low end of the massive Chinese mobile market, it's not surprising Yu Yingtao and his colleagues at No. 2 network operator China Unicom are focusing on their higher-end CDMA business....

China Unicom At A Glance.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Customers (as of March 31) Headquarters: Beijing GSM: 75.7 million CDMA: 21.6 million Mobile Market Share: 34% 2003 Cellular Revenue: 59.7 billion RMB ($7.2 billion), 39.8% from 2002 ARPU GSM: 56.3 RMB ($6.81)...

Czech Republic Offers Clues To T-Mobile's SIM Strategy.(security identity module)
May 1, 2004... T-Mobile Czech Republic has issued more than 600,000 of its groundbreaking "Universal" SIM cards, which the operator introduced last August. The card, which the operator directly promotes and sells to consumers, offers room for larger...

SIM Briefs.(Semiconductor)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Chinese SIM Supplier To Get Infusion of WesternCapital A U.S. venture capital firm is planning a major investment in Chinese smart card and chip supplier Datang Microelectronics Technolo- gy, which promises to make Datang an even greater...

Operators Eye Mobile Banking And E-Ticketing.
May 1, 2004... A survey of 25 SIM card managers with GSM operators shows most think mobile banking and electronic ticketing are the most "commercially attractive" of potential SIM-based services Just over 44% of respondents chose SIM-based banking as most...

Changes At The Border: The U.S. government may extend the deadline for Visa Waiver nations to begin issuing electronic passports. But it will start collecting biometrics from most travelers entering the country later this year. What do these steps mean for passport issuers and travelers?
May 1, 2004... With the deadline for Visa Waiver countries to add microchips and biometrics to passports a scant six months away, U.S. government officials have asked Congress for a two-year extension. In the meantime, U.S. border guards will begin collecting...

ID Focus Briefs.(Smart Card readers for Access Control.)
May 1, 2004... Germany-based Omnikey AG, part of Sweden's Assa Abloy Identification Technology Group, has introduced the CardMan 3121 smart card reader with a USB interface and the CardMan 4040 PCMCIA smart card reader for laptops, handheld computers and...

China Opens Its Doors To Foreign Issuers.
May 1, 2004... Foreign companies have poured half a trillion dollars into China over the past decade, helping to fuel an economic boom and create a growing middle class. Now Western issuers are moving to introduce their credit cards to these often young and...

China and Its Card Market at a Glance.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Population 1.3 billion Per-Capita Income $1,100 GDP Growth, 2003 9.1% Cards (millions) Credit* 3 Debit* 600 Card-Accepting Merchant Locations*...

Kowalski's Big Bet On Contactless: Jacek Kowalski didn't just believe in the future of contactless smart cards, he bet his career on it and built a company that's now tapping this fast-growing market. That combination of foresight and determination is what makes Kowalski Card Technology's Visionary of the Year.
May 1, 2004... Colleagues were aghast when Jacek Kowalski, then 35, announced in late 1994 he was leaving a top job at fast-growing smart card manufacturer Gemplus to create his own company focused on contactless chip card technology. "I was thinking of...

Jacek Kowalski.(Brief Article)(Biography)
May 1, 2004... Age: 44 Born: Warsaw, Poland Lives: Aix-en-Provence, France Position: Founder and CEO, Inside Contactless, a designer of contactless chips for smart cards, labels and tags Previous: Led chip design group, Experience at Gemplus...

Inside Contactless At A Glance.
May 1, 2004... Headquarters: Aix-en-Provence, France Other offices: Wilmington, Del., USA and Shanghai, China Invested capital: $31 million ($26m Euros) Main business: Fabless designer of contactless chips for smart cards, readers and tags. ...

Bend It, Flex It-Smart Film Can Take It, Say Vendors.
May 1, 2004... Innovation Co-Winners: smartFilm/Inside Contactless; EAP smartcard Finalists: MasterCard PayPass Sharp 1MB chip With tighter border security becoming more critical with each passing terrorist attack, passport agencies...

EAP Smartcard Seeks To Bolster WLAN Security.
May 1, 2004... Leave it to the French to find a way to involve smart cards in one of the biggest trends in network computing of the past few years-wireless LANs. WLAN, or Wi-Fi as it's more popularly known, allows portable computer users wireless access...

PayPass Taps Potential For Chip Payment in the U.S.
May 1, 2004... PayPass allows credit account-holders to pay with a tap of their contactless cards, key fobs, mobile phones or other form factors. It is an attempt to combine the convenience of the ExxonMobil SpeedPass, which more than 6 million consumers use...

Sharp Pioneers The Big Chip.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Japan's Smart Microelectronics boasts that its 1-megabyte flash memory chip is the first such chip used in an actual smart card rollout. Besides high memory capacity, the chip offers such features as contact and contactless interfaces...

Smart Cards Help Spain's Engineers Limit Paper.(CICCP)
May 1, 2004... Integration Winner: CICCP's U-Sign Finalists: Department of Navy Biometrics Visa Vale Pedagio Digital signatures have long been touted as a powerful tool that can reduce handling of paper documents. A pioneering project...

U.S. Navy Floats Biometric Access Control.
May 1, 2004... In a test launched last spring at the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 400 individuals are using hand geometry or a fingerprint to identify themselves to gain entry to restricted areas. The project uses contactless smart card chips...

Visa Fuels Up Prepaid Highway Toll Cards In Brazil.
May 1, 2004... In March 2001, the Brazilian government began requiring carriers, shippers and independent truckers to use vouchers to pay tolls on Brazil's federal and state highways. In an effort to streamline toll payment for trucking companies, Visa...

Hong Kong's Smart ID Card.
May 1, 2004... Innovation Winner: Hong Kong Smart Identity Card Finalists: Department of Defense Common Access Card, Taiwan Health Card The Hong Kong Immigration Department began issuing a multiapplication smart card ID to its...

Defense Dept. Ramps Up Its Common Access Card.
May 1, 2004... In what is one of the largest and most complex smart card rollouts in the world, the U.S. Department of Defense has issued over 4 million Common Access Cards to its military and civilian employees and contractors. The department is issuing...

Taiwan Prescribes A Smart Health Card.
May 1, 2004... The Taiwan National Health Insurance Card has been issued to 24 million Taiwanese citizens in one of the world's most sophisticated health card projects. The initiative seems likely to serve as a roadmap for other countries looking to upgrade...