A Stronger U.S. Voice For Smart Cards.(Smart Card Alliance)(Brief Article)

At a time when smart cards finally seem to be catching on in the United States, the two U.S. trade groups for smart cards have merged. The new organization, the Smart Card Alliance, aims to speak more loudly to promote chip cards while it works to clear away obstacles to smart card adoption.

The New York-based Alliance was born from the merger this year of the Smart Card Industry Association, which primarily included technology vendors, and the Smart Card Forum, which included card issuers as well as many SCIA members.

"They were good organizations but they weren't particularly heard in the marketplace," says Bill Randle, an executive vice president of …