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October 30, 2003 |
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Welcome to the October edition of ACTion
News. Our newsletter is distributed each
month in order to keep you up to date with
events in the advanced card industry. This
complimentary service is provided by ACT
Canada; "building an informed marketplace".
It is also available in the Resource Centre
of our web site. Please feel free to forward
this to your colleagues.
If you would prefer to receive this newsletter
in plain text please send your request to
andrea(AT)actcda.com.
This newsletter has been
sponsored by ACT
Canada's 2003 Partner:
A Coinamatic Company
IN THIS ISSUE:
1. Editorial Comment
2. EasyPark signs with
Mint Inc. to offer
customers wireless payment
options
3. New U.S. GSM Operator
Chooses Axalto For
SIM Cards
4. Biometrics Are Coming
To Canada, Minister
Says
5. ActivCard Receives EEMA
Award For Excellence
In Secure E-Business
6. ICMA Announces Results
Of 5th Annual Card
Manufacturing Global Market
Survey
7. Everton Scores With
Retail Logic
8. Public Transit Smart
Cards May Be Catalyst
For Cross-Industry Payment
Opportunities
9. InsideID The Identification
Solutions
Mega Show
ACT CANADA WOULD LIKE TO THANK OUR NEW & RENEWING MEMBERS:
GENERAL:
Bank of Montreal ~ member since 1990
ASSOCIATE:
Ficanex Services Limited Partnership
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1. EDITORIAL COMMENT
Source: Catherine Johnston, President &
CEO, ACT Canada (10/27) |
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Rarely a day goes by without receiving invitations
to meetings, conferences, webinars or "networking"
opportunities. Even if your budget would
accommodate them all, your schedule won't.
We all struggle to pick those that will give
us at least one significant thing to help
our plans succeed.
In the past month,
I've attended two
such
events. The first
was Citizenship and
Immigration
Canada's forum on
"Biometrics;
Implications
and Applications
for Citizenship and
Immigration."
This was an opportunity
to learn how Canadians
feel about biometrics
and government ID
and
to hear from other
countries already
employing
the technology. It
was also an opportunity
to network and hear
a broad range of
opinions
on the topic. By
the end of the 2
days, it
was apparent that
we could craft a
made-in-Canada
solution for secure
ID, or wait and have
the international
community choose
one for
us.
The second event
was ACT Canada's
"Breaking
through Card Barriers".
I learned a
lot over the two
days. For the first
time
I heard that the
Project Management
Office
for the UK EMV conversion
had actually built
a business case for
credit card issuing
monolines,
something we have
not yet done in North
America.
I learned how retailers,
governments and
other stakeholders
were engaged in that
project
and I could see how
much time and money
could
be saved here if
we could leverage
the knowledge
that resides in that
PMO.
For the first time
I heard about the
national
ID policy being moved
forward at both the
federal and provincial
government levels
and can see where
cards will come to
play.
I heard about 17
major card implementations
around the world
and how those issuers
dealt
with the obstacles
that we will have
to face.
I learned more about
the plans for transportation
and telecommunications
in this country.
It
was very valuable
to hear that you
can get
consumers to reward
you for moving to
smart
cards. Add to that
the networking and
opportunity
to see hardware solutions
that are available
to support today
and tomorrow's applications.
It was a very informative
and valuable event.
Many of you are now planning your budget
for next year. It will continue to be a challenge
to pick events and memberships, but I strongly
encourage you to support the organizations
that are fully committed to helping the market
and industry grow. If you would like budget
information for next year's ACT Canada events,
please contact Melissa Slade at Melissa(AT)actcda.com.
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2. EASYPARK SIGNS WITH MINT TO OFFER CUSTOMERS
WIRELESS PAYMENT OPTIONS
Source: Mint Inc. (10/29) |
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Mint Inc., a Canadian firm providing wireless
payment services, has signed a deal to provide
Pay-Mint wireless parking payment options
to all 30 EasyPark lots in downtown Vancouver,
BC. Rollout for the Pay-Mint service begins
in early 2004.
This announcement
is quick on the heels
of
another made last
week (October 21,
2003),
when Mint signed
a deal with Robbins
Parking
of Vancouver Island.
These agreements
come
just weeks after
Mint's licensed technology
was formally unveiled
to the Canadian parking
industry, a $7 billion
a year market, at
the Canadian Parking
Association convention
held in early October.
Mint's technology
has been operating
in Europe for five
years.
"Parking authorities,
operators and
property managers
are all very interested
and receptive to
our licensed technology
because it not only
has appeal for their
end users - parking
customers - but works
to alleviate some
of their own internal
issues
such as increasing
productivity, reducing
fraud, increasing
cash flow and security,"
says Frank Maduri,
President of Mint
Inc.
With Pay-Mint, consumers
are able to pay
for parking using
their mobile phone,
or
any wireless device.
This allows for greater
security, since no
cash needs to be
carried,
and improved record
keeping because customers
can access a fully
itemized statement
of
parking charges on
their on-line Mint
account.
How Pay-Mint Works:
Customers will first
register themselves,
their cell phone
number and payment
method
for the Pay-Mint
service at the Mint
web
site. Once a car
is parked on a lot
that
offers Mint wireless
payment options,
consumers
call the posted telephone
number from their
mobile phone to start
their transaction.
The call identifies
the customer as a
Mint
subscriber. When
customers leave their
parking
spot, they call the
number again to end
their
parking session.
The money to pay
the operator
comes from the account
that the customer
has registered -
their credit card
or their
bank account. Finally,
an SMS message is
sent confirming the
transaction and customers
can review their
transactions on a
web site.
While parked, a Pay-Mint
Parking sticker
identifies the car's
owner as a Mint subscriber
to parking enforcement
staff. The parking
patroller can also
verify that you are
logged
into Pay-Mint Parking
with a mobile telephone
or other wireless
device (PDA).
The Mint Inc. platform
connects a customers
profile with the
merchant, in this
case the
parking operator,
to enable the payment
for
goods or services
using a cellular
phone.
Currently the payment
method the customer
includes in their
profile is a credit
card.
In future, other
payment methods or
card
products will be
included as options
for
customers to choose.
Mint Inc. is working
with a number of
card issuers and
card processors
to bring these payment
methods to market.
Mint Inc. is a member of ACT Canada. For
more information please visit their web site
at http://www.mintinc.ca | |
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3. NEW U.S. GSM OPERATOR CHOOSES AXALTO FOR
SIM CARDS
Source: CardTechnology (10/16) |
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One of several U.S. mobile phone networks
converting to GSM technology has selected
Axalto (formerly Schlumberger) to supply
the miniature smart cards known as subscriber
identity module (SIM) cards for its GSM handsets.
Dobson Cellular will begin offering GSM services
to consumers next month, according to Warren
HenryVP of Dobson Communications Corp. By
the middle or end of 2004, Henry says the
company will only be offering GSM services
to new customers. He says Dobson Cellular
serves 1.6 million subscribers in 16 states,
but that existing subscribers will not be
required to switch from the TDMA phones they
now use to GSM handsets. Axalto says Dobson
is buying Simera SIM cards with Java Card
software and a wireless Internet browser
that will allow the operator to offer such
services as games, Internet banking, customized
news feeds and location-based services. Dobson
joins such larger U.S. TDMA networks as AT&T
and Cingular Wireless in making the switch
from TDMA, which has fallen behind the two
leading digital cellular technologies, GSM
and CDMA. CDMA does not require a SIM card
in the handset, although some CDMA operators
in Asia have begun issuing SIM cards to customers,
who then can switch handsets easily by just
popping the SIM card out of one phone and
putting it into another.
Axalto is a member
of ACT Canada. For
more
information please
visit their web site
at
http://www.axalto.com. |
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4. BIOMETRICS ARE COMING TO CANADA, MINISTER
SAYS
Source: CardTechnology (10/09) |
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The Canadian government is exploring the
use of biometric identifiers on a variety
of ID cards and documents, according to Denis
Coderre, minister of Citizenship and Immigration.
"One thing is certain, the biometric
train has left the station," Coderre
said yesterday at a forum on biometrics he
had convened. "We have to ask ourselves:
where do we want to sit on that train? Status
quo is unacceptable." The forum brought
together more than 100 invited experts to
discuss how biometrics, digitized representations
of such physical characteristics as fingerprints
or irises, could prevent document counterfeiting
and reduce identity theft. Coderre says Canada
will eventually incorporate biometrics onto
such documents as ID cards for legal residents
and the Citizenship card issued to foreign-born
individuals who become Canadian citizens.
Other possible uses include storing biometric
data on a smart card chip embedded in a passport,
which has been designated as a feature of
future passports by the International Civil
Aviation Organization. Biometrics may also
be used on an ID card planned for airport
workers, a joint frequent traveler program
with the United States called Nexus and on
the driver's license of the province of Manitoba.
Ministry sources say they expect a mandate
to begin work on ID documents carrying biometrics
within a month. (By René Bastien, reporting
from Ottawa.)
Note: Catherine Johnston,
President &
CEO of ACT Canada
participated in the
forum.
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5. ACTIVCARD DIGITAL SIGNATURE & SMART
CARD-BASED ID SOLUTION RECEIVES EEMA AWARD
FOR EXCELLENCE IN SECURE ELECTRONIC BUSINESS
Source: ActivCard (10/09) |
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ActivCard announced that EEMA (the independent
European association for e-Business) has
honored ActivCard with its 2003 Award for
Excellence in Secure Electronic Business.
The award recognizes the Spanish Ministry
of Public Works', Colegio de Ingenieros de
Caminos, Canales y Puertos (CICCP), implementation
of the ActivCard Gold™ multi-application
smart card-based authentication and digital
signature software solution.
"This
is precisely
the kind of project
that deserves
acclaim,"
commented EEMA's
chairman David
Goodman. "The
ActivCard
- CICCP project
combines innovation,
pioneering
technology
and demonstrable
business benefits
that exemplify
the spirit
of the EEMA Award
for Excellence
in Secure Electronic
Business.
Furthermore,
implementing
secure cryptographic
applications
with the portability
of a smart
card, addresses
a critical
need in the engineering
sector by providing
support for
multiple
computing platforms
and a widely
dispersed
membership."
CICCP sought
to provide
its member engineers
with an efficient
and secure
electronic signature
solution to
expedite the
plan review and
approval process
for public
works projects
throughout
the 19 provinces
of Spain. The
organization
chose ActivCard
to secure the
foundation
of their smart
card-based ID card
and business
process improvement
project.
The 20,000
CICCP engineers
will be issued
a photo ID
smart card
in the form of a membership
badge that
consolidates
their identity credentials
and stores
their individual
digital certificate
private keys.
"Our CICCP
engineers handle
over 20
million plan
review cycles
per year, and
the previous
system of paper-based
signing
of blueprints
had proven
to be cumbersome
and time consuming.
A single bridge
construction
project, for
instance, would
typically require
12 copies of
the plans and
8000 pages that
needed a separate
signature and
physical
stamp from
the CICCP-certified
engineer,"
stated Emilio
Marin, CTO
of CICCP. "With
ActivCard client
software, our
users simply
insert their
smart card
into a reader and
the approval
process is
documented instead
via an x.509
certificate-based
digital signature
embedded with
Adobe PDF documents
and condensed
into one CD
or DVD. We
have also dramatically
reduced the
space required
to physically
store project
plans, and
anticipate that
our initial
technology
investment will result
in a savings
of over $90
million in the first
year alone."
ActivCard is a member of ACT Canada. For
more information please visit their web site
at http://www.activcard.com.
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6. ICMA ANNOUNCES RESULTS OF 5th ANNUAL CARD
MANUFACTURING GLOBAL MARKET SURVEY
Source: ICMA (10/07) |
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The International Card Manufacturers Association
(ICMA) announced the results of its Fifth
Annual Card Manufacturing Global Market Survey.
The Survey, measuring results for 2002, revealed
for the fifth consecutive year that while
the North American region leads the world
in the total number of cards manufactured,
Europe continues to be the most lucrative
market.
The Survey measured the numbers of cards
manufactured and market volumes. Major findings
revealed that in 2002, approximately 10.7
billion cards were manufactured, a 10.3%
growth rate over 2001 when 9.7 billion cards
were manufactured. The global card market
measured in U.S. dollars increased slightly
from $4.7 billion in 2001 to $4.8 billion
in 2002-resulting from the impact of severe
price pressures.
The regions surveyed were North America,
Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and MEA
(Middle East/Africa). The products surveyed
were plastic cards of all thicknesses, including
traditional cards with and without magnetic
stripe, and chip cards that include contact,
contactless and combi-cards for diverse applications
such as financial hologram cards, ID cards,
phone cards, access cards and more.
The Survey also analyzed other geographic
and card-specific statistics including:
Geographic Findings
·-The North American unit card market remains
first in 2002 with 52.2% share, however,
the North American dollar card market remains
in third position for 2002 at $636 million-an
increase from the 2001 figures of $577 million,
but again lagging in chip card growth.
·-Although Europe continues to be the leader
in the dollar card market, for the first
time, figures have declined from the previous
year due to price compression. The $2.043
billion European dollar card market in 2001
has decreased to $1.840 in 2002. However,
the European dollar card market is three
times the size of the North American market
(compared to 4 times the size in 2001) and
is driven by chip cards, which continue to
be a mature product in the European region.
The European unit card market remains second
with 21.2% share, a decline from 2001 figures
of 22.5.
·-Asia Pacific is third with 18.3% share,
with a market of $1.620 billion, an increase
from the 2001 figure of $1.347 billion.
The Survey also unveiled assumptions for
the card manufacturing industry in the coming
year. Surveyors believe that:
·-Continued price pressure will lower average
unit selling prices attributed to global
deflation and industry overcapacity.
·-The global dollar market will grow as higher
priced microprocessor chip cards continue
to penetrate and gain share over lower priced
traditional cards.
·-The financial hologram market should exhibit
strong growth throughout 2002 as it continues
to convert to chip cards.
·-Non-secure cards will also exhibit continued
robust growth that will be attributed to
gift cards and loyalty programs.
·-Asia/Pacific market will continue at more
than a 20% growth rate as China adapts to
plastic cards.
ICMA is a member of ACT Canada. For more
information, including details on obtaining
a copy of this survey, please visit their
web site at http://www.icma.com. |
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7. EVERTON SCORES WITH RETAIL LOGIC
Source: Retail Logic (10/14) |
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Almost half of England's 20 Premiership football
clubs rely on Retail Logic card payment software.
Currently enjoying its 125th anniversary
season, Everton is one of the world's most
celebrated football clubs, with 28,000 season
ticket holders - up from 23,000 last year
- and supporters around the globe numbered
in seven figures. Apart from merchandise
sales from the club's Megastore, the facilities
at Goodison Park are put to good use for
meetings, weddings, cabarets and even funerals.
"We are now working very closely with
Retail Logic to implement the new on-line
transaction security features devised by
the banks, along with Chip & PIN in our
retail store," says Everton's IT Manager
Steve Etheridge.
As a first step against online card fraud,
Card Security Code (CSC) checking was introduced
and Etheridge says a substantial number of
fraudulent transactions have been eliminated
as a result: "We now have to look at
the expense of adopting more sophisticated
fraud prevention such as Verified by Visa,
because fraud will always move to the weakest
point."
Everton installed Retail Logic's Solve/SE
authorisation software across its ticketing,
catering and retail operations. The club
then introduced an eCommerce website, hosted
internally. EFT was a key part of this project
and Retail Logic assisted in implementation.
EFT is now live in the club's three main
customer-facing operations at Goodison Park
and also on line via an eCommerce site. The
club is about to launch online ticketing
and membership services both of which will
interface to Solve/SE.
Before the introduction of Solve/SE, the
club originally relied heavily on PDQ machines,
especially in the bars, restaurants and the
mail order department and there were issues
with both authorisation and funds transfer
that generated a considerable amount of extra
work for Everton's staff.
"There was loads of admin involved,"
says Etheridge. "We were batching up
transactions and feeding them through the
PDQs. Any cards failing authorisation involved
getting back in touch with the cardholder
which could take up to a week, during which
time the funds weren't in our bank account."
"We have experienced very few problems
with the product and have been able to undertake
most of the day-to-day support and configuration
ourselves," adds Etheridge. "Whenever
we have needed technical assistance or support
from Retail Logic it has always been efficiently
and effectively provided. Put simply, the
support has been great and we're extremely
happy that there have been no delays in resolving
any problems.
"We've proved we can put a payment gateway
into almost everything we do," continues
Etheridge. "When we use external services,
we insist that they use our payment gateway
and Solve/SE has proved to integrate very
well into all our systems. When we decided
to implement a CRM system, it involved an
overhaul of most of our systems and software
packages. Solve/SE has been crucial to the
success of this and we have now replaced
our Ticketing, Retail, Hospitality and eCommerce
packages all of which have required new EFT
interfaces into Solve.
Retail Logic is a member of ACT Canada. For
more information please visit their web site
at http://www.retail-logic.com. |
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8. PUBLIC TRANSIT SMART CARDS MAY BE CATALYST
FOR CROSS-INDUSTRY PAYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Source: Smart Card Alliance (10/14) |
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Programs are underway with major transit
operators throughout the U.S.A. to implement
contactless smart card-based fare collection
systems. This trend may be a catalyst that
creates new collaborative opportunities between
transit operators, the retail payments industry
and other sectors. A new white paper available
from the Smart Card Alliance, "Transit
and Retail Payment: Opportunities for Collaboration
and Convergence," discusses the business
interests and technological foundations that
must be aligned to capitalize on those opportunities.
Transit agencies in Boston, New York/New
Jersey, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Atlanta,
Chicago, Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Los Angeles,
San Diego, Seattle, Houston, San Francisco
and other urban areas are investing hundreds
of millions of dollars in a "once in
a generation" effort to replace aging
automatic fare collection (AFC) systems.
First installed in the late 1970s and early
1980s, these systems are now at the end of
their useful life. Smart card technology
has become the standard for new AFC systems
because it meets customer requirements for
quick entry and exit, ease of use and convenience,
and delivers many operational advantages.
"The infrastructure is going in all
across the country, and three years from
now millions of public transit riders will
be carrying contactless smart cards,"
said Greg Garback, executive officer, department
of finance, Washington Metropolitan Area
Transit Authority. "That smart cards
are the future of public transit in America
is not conjecture; it is happening. The Alliance
working group decided to look ahead and see
what broader opportunities might come from
this new payment card in the hands of millions
of Americans. Our cross-industry team created
this white paper as a baseline for what we
hope will be an ongoing dialog about common
payment requirements and solutions."
The American Public Transportation Association
(APTA) reports that ridership on U.S. public
transportation is on the rise, increasing
22% in the last 6 years, making it the fastest
growing transportation sector. They estimate
that 14 million Americans move through public
transportation systems daily, and they took
9.4 billion trips in 2002, just slightly
down from 2001 that had the highest level
of use in 40 years. Investment is up too,
with federal, state, and local expenditures
on public transit systems in the United States
totaling $15.4 billion each year for the
past four years, according to APTA.
An important aspect of that investment is
new fare collection systems. "Transit
authorities needed to replace their aging
ticketing systems, but they wanted more than
just a replacement. Of their entire operation,
the rider 'interacts' most with the ticketing
system, so transit executives wanted the
fare card to be something that would offer
capabilities to enhance customer service
and attract new riders. Contactless smart
cards presented the ideal solution,"
said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director
of the Smart Card Alliance.
More than 17 million smart cards have been
issued for use as a payment card in the United
States, with recent initiatives focusing
on loyalty applications and contactless cards
in trials. In addition, the industry has
quietly enhanced many of its payment transaction
processing and card issuance systems to lay
the foundation for an evolution to standards-based
smart bankcards.
The Alliance paper presents the state of
the industry from both the transit and retail
payment viewpoints. It examines the opportunity
that millions of smart card-carrying transit
riders create to converge on a common card
for both transit and retail payment. The
paper also identifies and explores the technical
and commercial considerations that must be
addressed to make this a reality.
The Smart Card alliance is a member of ACT
Canada. For more information, including details
on obtaining a free copy of this report,
please visit their web site at http://www.smartcardalliance.org. |
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| 9. INSIDEID THE IDENTIFICATION SOLUTIONS
MEGA SHOW
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ACT Canada members can save $100 US on their
registration for this exciting event.
The Inside ID conference and trade show will
strive to help define and "centre"
the evolution of the emerging discipline
of Identity Management. They do not purport
to solve all the problems, nor answer all
the questions. However, they will:
Educate at both the basic and advanced levels,
Facilitate the marketplace of buyers and
sellers,
Provide a broad-based forum for interaction
between diverse constituencies, and
Provide a gathering place for standards groups
and associations around the world.
Please join ACT Canada in the exhibit hall.
For more information see http://www.insideid.com
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| ACT Canada is an international non-profit
association for the advancement of card technologies.
We work on behalf of our members to promote
the awareness, understanding and use of all
advanced card technologies; including optical,
smart, capacitive and emerging technologies.
If you would like to learn more about ACT
Canada membership please visit http://www.actcda.com or contact our office at (905) 426-6360
ext. 21. |
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| Please forward any comments, suggestions,
questions or articles to andrea(AT)actcda.com.
If you would like to be removed from our
newsletter distribution list please reply
to this email with the word "REMOVE"
in the subject field. Please note that articles
contained in this newsletter have been edited
for length, and are for information purposes
only. |
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Andrea McMullen
AVP
ACT Canada
tel: 905 426-6360 ext. 24
fax: 905 619-3275
email: andrea(AT)actcda.com
web: www.actcda.com
mail: 85 Mullen Drive, Ajax, ON, L1T 2B3 |
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