National ID programs have had a big week, as the Nigerian National Identity Managment Commission (NIMC) rolled out a pilot program of 13 million national identity smart cards that have electronic payment capability. The NIMC partnered with MasterCard on the project, which is the largest electronic payment system in Nigeria, and most financially inclusive in […]

The Federal Reserve recently published an article about the United States’ impending transition to EMV cards, saying that the U.S. may not have enough of a structure in place to reap the benefits of EMV’s capability to fight fraud. In this article, senior economist Richard Sullivan with the Federal Reserve Bank in Kansas City looks at […]

By Al Vrancart, Founder Emeritus and Industry Advisor, International Card Manufacturers Association With the card manufacturing industry constantly evolving, there are particular areas of the industry that offer the most growth potential in 2013. These trends will directly affect how card manufacturers and personalizers conduct business today and will shape the future of the industry. […]

The smart card industry is dominated by three major players — Gemalto, Oberthur and Giesecke & Devrient (G&D)— with each jockeying for peak position to capture the market. A recent report from Frost & Sullivan reveals the current state of the market and the moves being made by its top competitors. Gemalto, who is widely […]

Contactless payment card shipments are shipping at the fastest rate since the technology was first introduced, the Smart Payment Association announced at the Cartes North America conference. More than 975 million cards were shipped in 2012, with the largest climb in the Asia Pacific region. China’s migration to chip-based payment cards influenced the region’s 24% […]

Quatro Card Technology, a Canada-based full-line card manufacturer, has purchased the Atlantic Zeiser CHIPLINE high-speed RFID and smart card contactless personalization system to provide high-volume personalization of contactless RFID and smart cards, and to address the fast-growing EMV market. CHIPLINE combines electrical and drop-on-demand graphical personalization in one fully integrated system, rather than requiring separate […]

Canadian service provider TELUS has announced that it will use Gemalto’s UpTeq NFC SIM cards to store multiple credentials in their mobile phone SIMs. A Europay MasterCard Visa (EMV) compliant technology, the SIMs will enable customers to make secure payments, participate in loyalty programs, validate transit passes and redeem coupons using the secure credentials. The […]

Morpho, a high-technology company of Safran, is the supplying one of the first Colombian MasterCard Maestro PayPass debit cards to Latin American financial conglomerate The Bancolombia Group. Morpho is providing a full set of consulting, integration, personalization and production services through its teams located in Bogotá, Cali and Medellin to support Bancolombia’s strategy to roll […]

To help accelerate the introduction of new payment solutions around the world and continue migration from cash to electronic payments, Visa has launched its new Visa Ready Partner Program. The program is geared toward companies such as mobile device manufacturers, technology partners and mobile network operators to help them understand the complexities of payments and […]

E-security solutions provider, Cryptomathic has published a white paper to explain and to promote the understanding of the certificates, keys and security processed involved when managing EMV implementations. Entitled “EMV Key Management – Explained,” the Cryptomathic white paper provides an overview of the cryptographic processes involved when issuing and managing payment card and mobile applications […]