Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has selected NXP Semiconductors for its SmartMX2 microcontroller to increase the security and performance of its banking cards. The new cards will have dual interface capabilities that enable both contact and contactless payments.

NXP’s SmartMX2 delivers enhanced user convenience and speed of transactions that allow banks to offer multiple applications all on a single card, with additional supporting for public transport ticketing, physical access or government ID.

In addition to banking or credit cards, SmartMX technology is used in eGovernment applications such as ePassports, citizen cards, electronic health cards and electronic ID cards, plus in public transport smart cards and in NFC-enabled mobile devices.

ICBC plans to introduce its new cards in 2013 in a bid to improve security and reduce fraud rate.