June 16, 2005
Welcome to the June edition of ACTion News. 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 email your request to andrea(AT)actcda.com.

IN THIS ISSUE:
1. Editorial Comment
2. Payment Provider Moneris Solutions Processes Canada's First Interac Online Transaction
3. Slovenian Bank First to Deploy Added Value Chip-based Business Solutions
4. Prepaid Cards Are A Fast Growing Payment Sector
5. Mint & Affinity To Rollout 100,000 Prepaid MasterCard Cards Affinity Branded Card To Include Loyalty Programs
6. Oberthur To Supply Smart Cards To Turkish Armed Forces
7. Ingenico & OTI Form Partnership In Secure Contactless Payment and Identification
8. American Express Begins Issuing Contactless Payment Cards Nationwide (USA)
9. Smart Card For Health & Welfare
10. eFunds To Acquire Wildcard Systems
11. FacePrint Global Solutions Expands Client Base & Apometric Applications Solutions
12. India Launches Smart Card To Fight AIDS
13. Additional Stories Available In Members Only Section

 ACT CANADA WOULD LIKE TO THANK OUR NEW & RENEWING MEMBERS:

GENERAL:
Metaca Corporation ~ new member


UPCOMING EVENTS:
Last chance to register for:
Cardware 05: Smart Moves
June 27th, 2005
OBA Conference Centre, Toronto, Canada

ACT members receive discounts on registrations & exhibitions rates
This multi-track event brings stakeholders together in the financial services, government & retail sectors.

Platinum Sponsors:
Giesecke & Devrient
MasterCard
Oberthur Card Systems
Visa Canada Association

Silver Sponsors:
A La Card
Coinamatic
CPI Card Group
Mint Inc.
TSYS

Exhibitors Include:
ACT Canada
Apometrix Solutions
Coinamatic
eFunds Corp.
Giesecke & Devrient
SCM Microsystems
TranSend International
TSYS
William Exline Inc

Conference program, registration details, and exhibit hall passes are available at http://www.actcda.com/calendar/symposium.htm


 Smartcards in Transport
September 29 & 20, 2005
Paris, France
ACT Canada members receive a 20% discount - contact andrea(AT)actcda.com for discount code
http://www.lerail.com
1. EDITORIAL COMMENT
Source: Catherine Johnston, President & CEO, ACT Canada (06/14)
Visiting the Land of What If

You've heard of this place. It is right next door to the Land of Convenience and also borders on the Land of Wishful Thinking. Beyond its borders, for those who travel far enough, is another land - one of progress, rewards and dreams realized. This land, Success, is the one we want to get to, but the road through What If can be difficult and expensive. Part of the problem is that What If is unmapped and yet it has countless roads. On your way to Success there may be many routes that could get you there, but in What If they are often twisted and sometimes double back on themselves, so without a map you'll need the courage of your convictions.

On your travels you'll see many signposts, but you better question who put them there and why. Not everyone wants you to reach Success. Beware those who would tell you to hold back because there may be a bigger, better or different "something" in the future. They would detour you to the Land of Wishful Thinking. Ignore those from the Land of Convenience who are intellectually lazy and see everything as an "all or nothing" scenario and who find the "nothing" option to be the easiest. Most importantly, reject those who stand to profit if they can slow or stop your trip to Success.

In the context of card applications, success is reaching your business or policy goals. To get there you'll need access to good information from a variety of sources. Your trip to the land of What If can be useful, because there you can ask questions that will help you define your goals and develop strategic plans for reaching them. But remember, it's a nice place to visit, but you wouldn't want to stay there.

For Canadians, the road to balancing security, convenience and privacy through the use of smart and optical payment and ID management applications, takes us on an urgent journey. Many stand to benefit from slowing our progress. We need the courage of our convictions.

I hope that you will join us on Monday, June 27th for Cardware 05. We will help you with your journey because we want you to reach Success.
2. PAYMENT PROVIDER MONERIS SOLUTIONS PROCESSES CANADA'S FIRST INTERAC ONLINE TRANSACTION
Source: Canada Newswire (06/06)
Canada's leading payment processor, Moneris Solutions Corporation ("Moneris"), has become the first payment provider in Canada to process an Interac Online transaction. Interac Online is a new service that allows Canadians to pay for goods and services purchased on the Internet directly from their bank account.

Until now, credit cards were the primary payment option available to Canadians when shopping online. With the introduction of Interac Online, consumers will have the flexibility to pay for purchases made over the Internet through a direct debit to their bank account. This added payment option gives merchants access to a larger pool of potential customers who either do not possess a credit card or are looking for innovative payment alternatives.

Moneris client online retailer DVDsoon.com is currently offering the service and was the first company to accept an Interac Online payment. The Boucherville, Québec-based business was recently voted Best Canadian Web DVD Retailer by the Canadian Home Entertainment industry.

Interac Association is a member of ACT Canada. Please visit their web site at http://www.interac.org.

3. SLOVENIAN BANK FIRST TO DEPLOY ADDED VALUE CHIP-BASED BUSINESS SOLUTIONS
Source: MasterCard (05/19)
Banka Koper and MasterCard Europe announced the launch of a pilot programme to deploy two added value chip-based business programmes in Slovenia: OneSMART Authentication and OneSMART Web. This is the first project to be announced by MasterCard's Central and Eastern European (CEE) OneSMART Club, established in August last year. Other club members are expected to announce similar projects soon.

"Banka Koper sees chip as a key factor in an aggressive strategy of market growth through differentiated card payment products," said Gojmir Nabergoj, Banka Koper senior advisor responsible for the programme, at a meeting in Ljubljana to celebrate the launch.

"Banka Koper has a history of technology-enabled innovation. We were among the first banks in Slovenia to introduce ATMs, optical character recognition, and the Activa payment card in 1992. Innovation has underpinned our strategy of growth - from regional, through national to global. We already have 80-90% market share in the South West region of Slovenia and we are expanding nationally. Banka Koper intends to leverage the emerging EMV chip infrastructure, not just to provide more secure card payments, but also to launch added value products which really make a difference to our customers."
Pascal Dufour, head of chip products management at the Chip Centre of Excellence, MasterCard International, described the new Banka Koper debit and credit card product based on the OneSMART packages. "Cardholders can store personal data such as name and address, card payment details, and website passwords on the chip very securely using a simple low cost card reader linked to their PCs. This data is then used to automatically fill in the fields on merchant websites. And because the product uses MasterCard's Chip Authentication Programme (CAP), the on-line payment is highly secure. In fact it will also be used for strong authentication of on-line banking transactions."

The product is aimed primarily at young, tech-savvy professionals with security concerns, an important and growing segment in Slovenia's buoyant economy. An additional innovation is the use of a PKI application, making possible secure electronic business using digital certificates, stored on the card. "We see it as an effective tool for acquiring and locking in customers with high future profit potential at the start of their working lives, by building a rich banking relationship based on personalized service and added value functionality" said Nabergoj.

To this end, the bank is issuing chip cards supporting MasterCard's flagship M/Chip 4 EMV payment application on a Multos multi-application platform, with plenty of capacity for adding new applications in future. Nabergoj is also investigating MasterCard's OneSMART Pre-Authorised and OneSMART Retail (Loyalty) packages via the OneSMART Club.

Vendors involved in the pilot programme include: Multos/Maosco (operating system), Infineon (chips), CPI Card Group (cards), ACI Worldwide (processing), Keycorp (mask), Vasco (OTP readers), Xiring (OTP readers), nCipher (Authentication Server), Mühlbauer (Personalization), ACI Worldwide (Card management system&Processing), Thales e-Security (P3 Data preparation&HSM) and TranSend (PocketServer PC application for updating data on the card and interfacing with websites).

ACI Worldwide, CPI Card Group, Infineon and MasterCard are members of ACT Canada. TranSend is an exhibitor at Cardware 05: Smart Moves. For more information please visit their web sites at http://www.aciworldwide.com; http://www.cpicardgroup.com; http://www.infineon.com; http://www.mastercard.com & http://www.transendinc.net.
4. PREPAID CARDS ARE A FAST GROWING PAYMENT SECTOR
Source: Mercator Advisory Group (06/10)
Prepaid card markets will grow by over 20 per cent through 2010 to become one of the fastest growing payment segments, a recent report from Mercator Advisory Group advises. To assist new market entrants, the report, "The Prepaid Value Chain Exposed", includes a Value Chain Map for planning prepaid implementations. As the prepaid market took shape, credit and debit networks have had to adapt their rules for prepaid solutions, and Mercator warns enterprises to remove a clause from a common user agreement to reduce their exposure to potential litigation.

Retailers with prepaid malls that sell in-store cards and third-party gift cards are in a market that Mercator terms a 'footrace', where winners will have the most retail outlets or the biggest array of prepaid products. Prepaid cards offer banks increased sales, global expansion and branding, notably gift cards, which TowerGroup predicts to be a USD 90 billion market by 2007. In short, banks issuing prepaid cards gain incremental revenue, product extensions, increased deposits and customer acquisition, particularly if a low-risk reseller program is used to speed market entry.

Financial institutions entering the prepaid card market have three main options, to develop an in-house solution, to partner with a processor or to participate in a reseller program. The third option is popular with banks issuing prepaid products, as the low-cost, lower-risk and faster market entry advantages can be leveraged. Either way, banks must select a prepaid partner on the basis of industry experience, platforms supported, processing capability, technology infrastructure, Visa or MasterCard relationship and the additional value-added features a partner is able to provide.

Both MasterCard and Visa Canada Association are members of ACT Canada and sponsors at Cardware 05: Smart Moves. Please visit their web sites at http://www.mastercard.com & http://www.visa.ca.


5. MINT AND AFFINITY TO ROLLOUT 100,000 PREPAID MASTERCARD CARDS AFFINITY BRANDED CARD TO INCLUDE LOYALTY PROGRAMS
Source: M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX (06/09)
Mint Technology Corp., Mint Inc., a subsidiary of Mint Technology Corp., and Affinity Merchant Solutions announced it has signed a distribution agreement whereby Affinity Merchant Solutions will distribute prepaid Mint MasterCard cards.

Affinity Merchant Solutions will initially distribute 100,000 of Mint's prepaid MasterCard cards. Affinity Merchant Solutions will offer customized loyalty programs to their merchant network under an Affinity branded card. The Affinity Rewards card will include a loyalty program featuring numerous value-added services marketed through merchants with a focus on building a merchant coalition. Mint will provide Affinity Merchant Solutions with a prepaid MasterCard program equipped with complete services and features. By leveraging Mint's technology, Affinity Merchant Solutions will have the ability to offer a 'white label' prepaid MasterCard program to their merchant partners. Horizon Plus Card Services Ltd, an affiliate of Peoples Trust, will be responsible for card issuance.

Under the Affinity Rewards program, Mint's prepaid and reloadable MasterCard card also functions as a traditional credit card and can be used for purchases at any of the millions of global locations where MasterCard is accepted. The card is available to all applicants, including credit challenged, unbankables and youth.

"The integration of a prepaid MasterCard as a loyalty vehicle is seeing widespread acceptance by our customers - our goal is to have a million cards out in the first year," said Sue Knapper, President and CEO, Affinity Merchant Solutions, "Canadians as a whole are the largest group of consumers to embrace loyalty programs so enthusiastically and we are excited about the introduction of a new and innovative loyalty platform as a means of providing added value to both the merchant and consumer. This is only possible through our collaboration with Mint," she added.

"This agreement with Affinity marks our largest commitment to date, and, I believe, forecasts things to come," said Frank Maduri, President, Mint Inc., "A prepaid MasterCard card with customized loyalty programs offers endless benefits to merchants and consumers. It is the obvious next step for Mint and we are excited to be an instrumental part of the Affinity card's progress."

Both MasterCard and Mint Inc. are members of ACT Canada and sponsors at Cardware 05: Smart Moves. Please visit their web sites at http://www.mastercard.com & http://www.mintinc.com.
6. OBERTHUR TO SUPPLY SMART CARDS TO TURKISH ARMED FORCES
Source: ICMA Daily News (06/08)
Oberthur Card Systems is to supply several million identity smart cards to members of the Turkish armed forces and their families. The company has not disclosed the value of the contract.

The cards will be used in access control, as electronic purses and as health cards. Oberthur says that this is one of the world's largest smart card programmes.

Oberthur Card Systems is a member of ACT Canada and a sponsor at Cardware 05: Smart Moves. Please visit their web site at http://www.oberthurcs.com.
7. INGENICO AND OTI FORM PARTNERSHIP IN SECURE CONTACTLESS PAYMENT AND IDENTIFICATION
Source: ICMA Daily News (06/08)
Ingenico and OTI will provide secure contactless solutions for the payment and identification markets.

Ingenico is integrating OTI's contactless technology with the eN-Touch 1000, as well as the i6770 and i6550 customer-activated payment terminals. Additionally, Ingenico will interface and offer OTI's flagship Saturn 5000 contactless reader as a "plug 'n play" option for merchants currently equipped with Ingenico terminals.

Initial deployment will include support for contactless payment programs being implemented by major retailers in the United States. When using a contactless reader, consumers simply tap their contactless payment card on a merchant terminal with a contactless reader that securely transmits card information using radio frequency, eliminating the time it takes to swipe the card through a magnetic stripe reader. The solution will benefit traditional cash-only environments where speed of service is essential, such as quick service restaurants, gas stations, convenience stores and movie theaters.

Ingenico is a member of ACT Canada and an exhibitor at Cardware 05: Smart Moves. Please visit their web site at http://www.ingenico-ca.com.
8. AMERICAN EXPRESS BEGINS ISSUING CONTACTLESS PAYMENT CARDS NATIONWIDE
 Source: ICMA Daily News (06/06)
American Express announced it has begun issuing Blue from American Express(R) with the ExpressPay feature in all 50 states. ExpressPay, a contactless chip for easy, convenient and secure payment, will be embedded in all new Blue from American Express(R) consumer and small business credit cards moving forward. In addition, the Company announced 7-Eleven, Inc. as the latest national merchant partner to accept ExpressPay. 7-Eleven currently has ExpressPay-enabled readers in 170 stores in a test market and plans a full roll out to its more than 5,300 U.S. stores by early 2006.

American Express has been testing ExpressPay since 2002. The pilots involved many thousands of consumers making more than a million transactions with ExpressPay at hundreds of merchants. Test results showed that, on average, ExpressPay transactions are 63 percent faster than using cash. Market research with pilot participants also confirmed that consumers view convenience and simplicity of use as two of the major benefits. Important merchant benefits include reduced transaction time and increased spending relative to cash.
9. SMART CARD FOR HEALTH AND WELFARE
Source: ICMA Daily News (06/15)
Australians are a step closer to having a government smart card that could tie together all health and welfare information and reduce paperwork. The card, which could be adopted as early as next year, would mean people get access to their government entitlements - everything from Medicare rebates to discounts on public transport - more easily. However, it has drawn strong criticism from civil libertarians who fear privacy breaches. Human Services Minister Joe Hockey confirmed yesterday the Government was moving ahead with the card with the support of the states following the Prime Minister's meeting with premiers two weeks ago. Mr. Hockey said the Government was working with the Privacy Commissioner to ensure precautions were taken to keep personal information safe. The card could help people claim their Medicare benefits directly from a doctor's surgery and their child-care benefits directly from a child-care centre, or get a pensioner's discount on public transport. It could also carry voluntary health information about allergies and organ donor information. Labor also supports the idea of smart cards with privacy protection.
10. EFUNDS CORPORATION TO ACQUIRE WILDCARD SYSTEMS, INC.
Source: PRNewswire-FirstCall via Comtex (06/05)
eFunds Corporation announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire WildCard Systems, Inc., a privately-held provider of prepaid and stored value solutions to financial institutions, retailers and other payment issuers.

The two Companies signed a distribution agreement in November of 2004 and have since signed two tier one financial institution deals under eFunds' existing alliance with MasterCard International. The partnership has also validated the market demand for prepaid payment products, and has proven the Companies' ability to work together to deliver an integrated debit and prepaid solution.

The addition of Wildcard's prepaid and stored value expertise to eFunds' debit processing capabilities is a complementary extension of the Company's current value proposition. As the industry moves from paper to electronic payments, there is growing demand for innovative solutions such as stored value systems, especially in financial services where eFunds already serves more than 9,000 clients across 80 countries.

eFunds is a member of ACT Canada and an exhibitor at Cardware 05: Smart Moves. Please visit their web site at http://www.efunds.com.
11. FACEPRINT GLOBAL SOLUTIONS EXPANDS ITS CLIENT BASE AND APOMETRIC APPLICATIONS SOLUTIONS
Source: PR Newswire (06/08)
FacePrint Global Solutions, Inc. announced the acquisition of Montreal-based Apometrix Technologies, Inc. This addition to FGS's portfolio provides the company with impending access to a significant and previously-established client base, as well as to mature and ready-to-market apometric smart card technologies. This acquisition further enhances FGS's mission of being a full-service provider to the multi-application smart card industry.

"The card market is ready for significant expansion in North America, and FGS has had the foresight to recognize this," said FGS CEO Pierre Cote. "This acquisition assures our customers that they will receive the highest levels of quality apometric smart card solutions and support. The market is ready for price-competitive, proven, multi-application solutions on smart cards, which Apometrix can most definitely deliver."

According to Mo Laaroussi, FGS's CTO, "Apometrix Technologies will develop and market customized apometric solutions for management (access control, e-purse), card peripherals (readers, terminals, and automated machines), and network apometric solutions on smart cards to address the fast-moving multi-application smart card North American market."

"We are excited by this acquisition and we will succeed in this growing market," assured Marc Girard, FGS's VP of Business Development. "Our first priority is to build a strong organization that understands the market and customer requirements, and is able to build the appropriate support infrastructure. We are currently presenting our offering to several private and public organizations in North America. Apometrix's current forecast of over 300 customers and sales of more than $50 million in North America over the next five years are, in my view, very realistic."

Apometrix is an exhibitor at Cardware o5: Smart Moves.
12. INDIA LAUNCHES 'SMART CARD' TO FIGHT AIDS
Source: ICMA Daily News (05/31)
India is testing a new smart cards system that will electronically keep track of its HIV/AIDS patients and is expected to facilitate medication through antiretroviral cocktails as well as track their potency.

The cards would be given to more than 300 patients receiving anti-retroviral drugs. They would need to bring the cards each time they come to the hospital for anti-AIDS drugs or for any other medical problem.

The cards would help health workers keep track of India 's more than five million HIV/AIDS affected patients and act as a portable medical record. They fast-track treatment and medical response in emergencies, provide greater security to medical records and ensure immediate access and easy storage of data.

"These cards would revolutionise AIDS treatment," said Shubhashis Gangopadhyay of India Development Foundation, which along with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Indian Business Trust for HIV/AIDS, is conducting the trials.

There are many uses of the health smart card in dealing with HIV/AIDS when most of the affected population is mobile. For instance, constant monitoring is necessary to prevent drug resistance and the need to keep information confidential due to social stigma.

With 5.1 million patients, India is the world's second largest HIV/AIDS affected country after South Africa, which has 5.3 million infections.
13. ADDITIONAL STORIES AVAILABLE IN ACT CANADA MEMBERS ONLY SECTION
These additional stories are available to ACT Canada members via the Members Only section of our web site. Click on the link below to access this section. If you are a member of ACT Canada but do not have your login details please contact me - andrea(AT)actcda.com.
http://www.actcda.com/members-only/news.htm


IDENTITY THEFT A HUGE PROBLEM

Identity theft has become an enormous problem, and governments aren't doing nearly enough to protect us from it, former White House counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke said at a conference on cyber security for state legislators and business leaders…
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.
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.
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