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August 31, 2006 |
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Welcome to the August 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. New Group Formed To Promote Smart Card
Technology To Fight Terrorism
3. UK Banks To Use Smart
Cards To Battle
Online Fraud
4. Gemalto Wins Best Vendor
Partner Award
From MasterCard
5. New Survey Reveals Generation
''P'' Leads
Migration To Payment Cards
For Purchases
Under $25
6. Chase Reaches Milestones
With ''Blink''
7. Infineon To Provide
U.S. E-Passport Chips
8. LaserCard Receives Order
For Middle Eastern
ID Cards
9. ICC Solutions Announces
Availability Of
New Products
10. Gemalto Receives Order
For U.S. E-Passport
11. NFC Forum Issues Its
First Four Specifications
12. E-Passport Cloning
Claim Does Not Constitute
Threat To Border Security
& Citizen Privacy
13. Additional Stories
Available In Members
Only Section
ACT CANADA THANKS OUR NEW & RENEWING
MEMBERS:
GENERAL:
ACI Worldwide (Canada) Inc. ~ member since
1998
Groupe Silicomp ~ new member
Ingenico ~ member since
1990
Visa Canada Association
~ member since 1995
GOVERNMENT:
Royal Canadian Mint ~ member since 2005
UPCOMING EVENTS
EMV Introductory Workshop & EMV Expert
Course
September 21 & 22,
2006
Toronto, ON, Canada
http://www.collis.nl/emv
ACT Canada members receive
a 20% discount
2006 Smart Card Alliance
Annual Conference
October 3 - 6, 2006
San Diego, CA, USA
http://www.smartcardalliance.org
Cartes & IT Security
2006
November 7 - 10, 2006
Paris, France
http://www.cartes.com
There will be special benefits
for Canadians
attending Cartes and we
will send full information
to our members next week.
COLLIS EMV ACADEMY TRAINING IN TORONTO
Collis EMV Academy announces open training
courses in Toronto, Canada on September 21
& 22, 2006.
Collis EMV Introductory
Workshop, Toronto,
21 September 2006
The Collis EMV Introductory
Workshop is an
easy-entry course for everyone
looking for
instant EMV knowledge.
Attend, and find out
all about the rationale
behind EMV, its business
drivers, benefits, costs,
opportunities and
risks. The Collis EMV Introductory
Workshop
is a non-technical workshop,
aimed at a broad
audience from both business
and IT background.
Collis EMV Expert Course,
Toronto, 22 September
2006
This course is for those
who want to know
all the details that make
EMV work. The Collis
EMV Expert Course will
cover topics from
transaction flow to issuer
scripting and
from EMV data elements
to risk management,
PIN handling and security.
Practical exercises
provide unique hands-on
EMV experience. Become
an EMV Expert with the
Collis EMV Expert
Course!
As Collis recently joined
ACT Canada, we
offer an introductory 20%
discount on the
training fees for ACT Canada
members!
For the training program,
location and pricing
details, as well as for
information about
customised in-company training,
please contact
Mr. Maarten Bron, BU Manager,
Collis EMV
Competence Center: info@collis.nl.
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1. EDITORIAL COMMENT
Source: Catherine Johnston, President &
CEO, ACT Canada (08/29) |
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If there are only a million questions that
could be asked about advanced cards in general,
the Canadian market, EMV and Secure ID, I
would be surprised.
Over the course of
any week, we get
questions
that cover a very
broad spectrum of
interests.
Member enquiries
run the gamut from
technical
and policy questions
to where to find
suppliers
and even how to find
"thrifty"
accommodations in
Paris. Others ask
about
the state of the
Canadian market.
Government
callers often ask
for our input on
policy
or legislation or
the state-of-the-art.
After
seventeen years,
ACT Canada has amassed
a
great deal of information
and developed a
global network and
we use this for the
benefit
of our members.
So to meet the needs
of our members, we
are
working on several
initiatives this
fall
and winter. Here
are a few of them.
ACT website: we will
be adding content
for
members and redesigning
the site. Members
are invited to provide
input during this
process.
AGM: the date will
be announced soon.
We
will repeat last
year's popular roundtable
networking session,
as well.
Cardware 07: planning
has started. Members
and readers are invited
to suggest topics
you would like on
the program.
Cartes: we will highlight
our members and
are working with
Cartes on additional
benefits
for Canadians, as
we are the country
of honour
this year. Members
will receive more
information
in the coming weeks.
Consumer research:
Ipsos Reid and ACT
Canada
are working together
to conduct this research,
critically important
at this stage of
the
market.
Glossary: members
are currently reviewing
our now 39-page glossary,
helping make sense
of acronyms and the
extensive terminology
of technology, applications,
standards and
procedures.
Identity Theft Consultation:
as an issue
that plagues Canadians
and impacts many
of
our members, we were
pleased to answer
the
Department of Justice
Canada's request
to
provide input on
"IDENTITY THEFT:
Consultation
On Proposals to Amend
The Criminal Code"
Technical Specifications
for the Development
of Innovative Smart
Card Solutions for
Canadian
Transit. We have
just completed work
on "Business
Relationships between
the Financial Sector
and Transit / Transportation
Initiatives",
our contribution
to this Transport
Canada
report.
Next month I'll provide
more information
on the ACT Canada
Member council, Network
and Education meetings,
the President's Advisory
Council, the Government
Strategic leadership
team, the new Privacy
Impact Assessment
and
Design tool for Contactless
card applications
and our Web-education
program.
As you can see, providing
information, networking
and education for
the benefit of our
members
is keeping us busy.
If you would like
information
on membership or
any of these initiatives,
please contact us.
It would be our pleasure
to ACT on your behalf
in this rapidly growing
market.
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2. NEW GROUP FORMED TO PROMOTE SMART CARD
TECHNOLOGY TO FIGHT TERRORISM
Source: ICMA Daily News (08/23) |
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Several companies announced the founding
of a group that will promote the use of contactless
smart card technology, which may carve out
a large role as the U.S. government requires
a variety of secure identification cards
to protect against terrorism.
The new group, the SecureID
Coalition, includes
Texas Instruments, Philips
Semiconductors,
Infineon Technologies,
Gemalto and Oberthur
Card Systems.
The coalition was formed
to help educate
policy makers and others
on the uses of contactless
smart cards. The coalition's
creation was
also necessary because
existing organizations
represent both kinds of
competing technologies
-- contactless smart card
technology and
long-range radio frequency
identification
technology (RFID) - - currently
under consideration
for various identification
cards the government
plans to implement.
Gemalto, Infineon Technologies, and Oberthur
Card Systems are members of ACT Canada; please
visit http://www.gemalto.com; http://www.infineon.com & http://www.oberthurusa.com.
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3. UK BANKS TO USE SMART CARDS TO BATTLE
ONLINE FRAUD
Source: CardTechnology (08/18) |
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Card issuers in the United Kingdom are moving
to address a growing
threat from card-not-present
fraud, and those
plans include the distribution
of handheld card
readers to customers for
use in Internet and
telephone transactions,
according to press
reports.
Barclays Bank plans to provide cardholders
with such devices, beginning early next year,
and indications are the Lloyds TSB will do
the same, according to a report in The Observer
newspaper.
The banks are responding
to an increase in
fraud losses stemming
from Internet, telephone,
and mail-order transactions.
During the first
six months of 2006,
APACS says, such
card-not-present
fraud continued to
increase.
The handheld readers
into which customers
insert chip cards
will generate one-time
passwords that cardholders
would then enter
to conduct purchases
over the Web and
telephone
and online banking
transactions, say
the
press reports. Barclays
reportedly may also
use mobile phones
to verify smaller
purchases
by sending customers
text messages to
notify
them of transactions.
Barclays had tested
the handheld readers
last year, and Lloyds
has reportedly done
the same. They tested
the devices only
for
Internet banking,
sources say.
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4. GEMALTO WINS BEST VENDOR PARTNER AWARD
FROM MASTERCARD
Source: ICMA Daily News (08/22) |
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Gemalto announced that it has won a "Best
Vendor Partner Award" for its MasterCard(R)
OneSmart(TM) PayPass(TM) EMV Contactless
Combi Cards at the MasterCard Asia/Pacific,
Middle East & Africa Product Forum in
August 2006. Gemalto is delivering the cards
to two of Taiwan's leading banks:
"MasterCard
presented this Best
Vendor
Partner Award to
Gemalto in recognition
of
their efforts in
taking a lead in
designing
and producing MasterCard(R)
OneSmart(TM)
PayPass(TM) EMV Contactless
Combi Card to
financial institutions
in Taiwan. The convenient,
flexible and secure
MasterCard(R) OneSmart(TM)
PayPass(TM) EMV Contactless
Combi Card produced
by Gemalto will enable
banks to extend a
wide range of valuable
services to their
customers."
Commented by MasterCard.
The cards are compliant
with Taipei Smart
Card Corporation's
applications (stored
value
card, and Epurse
for transportation
applications)
and will simplify
and quicken small-sum
payments
for Taiwan's MRT,
bus, parking lots
and other
locations, allowing
cardholders to benefit
from high-tech, secure
and convenient transactions.
Gemalto is a member
of ACT Canada; please
visit http://www.gemalto.com.
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5. NEW SURVEY REVEALS GENERATION ''P'' LEADS
MIGRATION TO PAYMENT CARDS FOR PURCHASES
UNDER $25
Source: ICMA Daily New (08/24) |
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Visa USA reported that its volume on purchases
less than $25 in targeted small ticket segments
totaled $27.3 billion in the first six months
of the year, an increase of 17 percent over
the same period in 2005. The double-digit
growth indicates that Visa payment cards
are increasingly being used instead of cash
and checks for everyday purchases less than
$25.
According to a new
Visa-sponsored survey
of 1,154 payment
cardholders, more
than half
(55 percent) of the
respondents use payments
cards for small ticket
items less than $25,
citing several reasons
for the shift. Consumers
are turning to cards
for everyday purchases
for the convenience
(86 percent), ease
of
use (62 percent),
speed (45 percent)
and
expense management
(35 percent) benefits
cards offer.
Visa's small ticket
strategy, expanded
earlier
this year, has helped
accelerate card acceptance
and usage at cash-heavy
merchants. Visa's
No Signature Required
Program has made
small
ticket payments more
convenient for merchants
and their customers,
by waiving the signature
requirement for qualifying
transactions less
than $25 across 17
merchant categories.
To
further encourage
acceptance, Visa's
Small
Ticket Payment Service
offers acquirers
decreased
credit and debit
interchange rates
on consumer
card transactions
of $15 or less in
14 merchant
categories. Visa
is also driving speed,
convenience
and sales to merchants
through Visa Contactless,
an innovation that
makes electronic
payments
up to 25 percent
faster than cash
transactions.
Visa's survey results
also revealed that
Generation "P"
or Plastic, referring
to consumers ages
18-25, is leading
the trend
of increased use
of payment cards
for everyday
purchases. Sixty
percent of Generation
"P"
prefers payment cards
for purchases less
than $25, particularly
in new and emerging
segments such as
digital content,
vending
machines, public
transportation, parking
and newspapers.
Visa Canada Association is a member of ACT
Canada; please visit http://www.visa.ca.
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6. CHASE REACHES MILESTONES WITH ''BLINK''
Source: ICMA Daily New (08/01) |
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One year after launching its contactless
credit cards - Chase cards with "blink"
- Chase Bank U.S.A., has issued nearly seven
million cards with blink to card members
in Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Florida,
Georgia, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania
and Texas. From "blinking" Slurpees(R)
at 7-Eleven to Shorti(TM) Hoagies at Wawa,
Chase cardmembers may now use their cards
with blink at more than 25,000 merchant locations
nationwide, ranging from convenience stores
to sports stadiums.
Partnering with Visa
U.S.A. and MasterCard
International, Chase
was the first issuer
to broadly offer
contactless credit
cards
to consumers. Today,
Chase card members
across
the country speed
through checkout
lines
faster and more conveniently
at merchant
locations including
7-Eleven(R) stores,
AMC
Theatres(R), Cinemark
USA, CVS/pharmacy(R),
RaceTrac(R), Regal
Entertainment Group(R),
Sheetz, Walgreens
and Wawa.
Merchants and consumers
benefit from blink
with the speed, convenience
and easy-to-use
contactless payment
method. Since 2005,
blink
has transformed everyday
payments for some
merchants and consumers
by:
- Increasing the
average ticket sale
for
some merchants by
40 percent more than
cash
purchases;
- Increasing the
frequency of everyday
purchases
at many contactless-enabled
merchants by
35 percent over credit
cards with traditional
magnetic stripes;
- Reducing consumers'
waiting time in line
by 15 to 20 percent
in stores and 40
percent
at the drive-thru
for quick service
restaurants;
and
- Reducing consumers'
average transaction
time by 10 to 40
percent.
MasterCard Canada
and Visa Canada Association
are members of ACT
Canada; please visit
http://www.mastercard.ca & http://www.visa.ca.
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7. INFINEON TO PROVIDE U.S. E-PASSPORT CHIPS
Source: SecurityFocus.com (08/21) |
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The U.S. government is going forward with
the public deployment of its electronic passport,
ordering millions of the wireless chips from
semiconductor firm Infineon to place in the
back cover of the nation's travel document.
While the U.S.
already began
issuing the
documents to
federal employees
as of late
2005, the nation--and
the 27 countries
that
take part in
the Visa Waiver
Program--must
start public
distribution
of electronic passports,
or e-passports,
but October
2006. In the
first year,
the U.S. will
likely issue up
to 15 million
of the new
passports, Infineon
said in its
statement.
Infineon is
a member of
ACT Canada; please
visit http://www.infineon.com.
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8. LASERCARD RECEIVES ORDER FOR MIDDLE EASTERN
ID CARDS
Source: CardTechnology (08/23) |
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LaserCard Corp. reported this week that it
has received a $1.2 million order as part
of an $11 million contract to provide optical
memory cards and personalization services
to an unnamed Middle Eastern country. The
company says this is the third of 10 anticipated
orders, and that the contracts so far total
$4 million. LaserCard says it is responsible
for managing the card-personalization process,
including printing the cardholder information
and encoding data and a hologram. The company
expects the card-issuing infrastructure will
be in place during the next quarter, allowing
the government to issue cards from 20 sites.
LaserCard is a member of ACT Canada; please
visit http://www.lasercard.com.
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9. ICC SOLUTIONS ANNOUNCES AVAILABILITY OF
NEW PRODUCTS
Source: ICC Solutions (08/25) |
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ICC Solutions is pleased to share news with
the industry of new, valuable components
within the internationally recognised ICCSim
Portfolio.
ICCSim for both card and device testing,
now fully supports the new test scripts released
to address Visa Contactless 2.0.1 Specification
requirements, incorporating qVSDC and MSD.
Visa has confirmed that ICCSim supports the
test scripts for Contactless 2.0.1.
ICCSim now also supports the new release
of ADVT 4.0 test scripts. Visa confirmed
ICCSim for correct emulation of the smart
cards within the Visa Acquirer Device Validation
Toolkit (ADVT) and is capable of supporting
the requirements of the Toolkit.
To manage the increasing global activity
and sales, ICC Solutions welcomes to the
Team, a new Technical Sales Manager, Derek
Ross. Derek will work out of the UK office
and is responsible for domestic, regional
and global sales.
The ICC Solutions Team is enjoying increased
activity in Canada and has plans to host
"drop-in" sessions at their new
office in Toronto.
ICC Solutions is a member of ACT Canada;
please visit http://www.iccsolutions.com.
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10. GEMALTO RECEIVES ORDER FOR U.S. ELECTRONIC
PASSPORT
Source: Gemalto (08/04) |
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Gemalto announced that the United States
of America Government Printing Office (GPO)
placed its first order with the company,
following Gemalto's electronic passport technology
qualification completion. The GPO and U.S.
Department of State evaluated the Gemalto
solution at their testing facilities and
confirmed it fully satisfies the agency's
requirements for privacy protection, security,
durability, manufacturing yield, and transaction
speed and communications performance. The
GPO plans to incorporate the electronic capability
in all new passports to be issued in 2007.
The United States produced over ten million
passports in 2005.
The Gemalto e-passport technology includes
the company's highly secure operating system
software running in a large capacity contactless
microprocessor chip. The chip is embedded
in a module that is highly resistant to damage
and then is integrated into the passport
booklet cover.
Gemalto is a member of ACT Canada; please
visit http://www.gemalto.com.
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11. NFC FORUM ISSUES ITS FIRST FOUR SPECIFICATIONS
Source: Contactless News (08/15) |
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The NFC Forum, a non-profit industry association
advancing the use of near field communication
(NFC) technology, announced the publication
of its first four specifications. The specifications
are available to the public for download
at no charge from the NFC Forum Web site.
NFC technology is a short-range, standards-based
wireless connectivity technology. It allows
consumers to perform safe contactless transactions,
access digital content and connect electronic
devices with a single touch.
The new specifications make it possible for
any manufacturer to create NFC-Forum-compliant
devices that will be interoperable with other
manufacturers' devices and compatible with
the NFC-Forum-compliant offerings of service
providers, ensuring successful communication
between devices and tags.
For more information, please visit http://www.nfc-forum.org/news.
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12. EPASSPORT CLONING CLAIM DOES NOT CONSTITUTE
THREAT TO BORDER SECURITY AND CITIZEN PRIVACY
Source: Smart Card Alliance (08/08)
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The new electronic passports planned for
the United States rely on multiple layers
of security to increase border security and
protect citizen privacy, and electronic cloning
does not constitute a threat, says the Smart
Card Alliance, a group of industry and government
organizations specializing in the secure
contactless smart card technology used in
the program.
"People do not need to be concerned
about the security or privacy protection
features of the new e-passport program,"
said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director
of the Smart Card Alliance. "Recent
reports that there is a 'major vulnerability'
that criminals could use to 'enter countries
illegally' are untrue and demonstrate a lack
of understanding of how the multiple security
layers in place at the U.S. border work in
the new e-passport system."
The reports came out after a security consultant
demonstrated reading and copying the electronic
information in his German e-passport at a
security conference last week.
"Even if someone could copy the information
on your e-passport chip, it doesn't achieve
anything, because all of the information
is locked together in such a way that it
can't be changed. It's no different than
someone stealing your electronic passport
and trying to use it. No one else can use
it because your photo is on the chip and
they're not you," said Vanderhoof.
The global electronic passport program makes
passports virtually impossible to counterfeit
and prevents anyone other than the passport
owners from using them. The layered security
features also prevent anyone from spying
on e-passports as you walk by with a passport
in your purse or pocket. Here's how it works:
First, the information on the printed page,
including the bearer's photograph, is stored
on the chip and displayed on a screen at
passport control. By comparing the digital
information, the printed passport and the
person, passport control can confirm everything
matches. They will immediately see a discrepancy
if someone is attempting to use someone else's
e-passport chip information.
Second, the information on the chip is digitally
signed by the issuing country's passport
authority. That information is locked together
and any changes to it would be detected at
passport control. It also means any attempt
to create false data and a fake passport
credential would be detected. Unlike paper
passports, where a photo can potentially
be replaced, the digital photo and other
information on the e-passport chip cannot
be changed.
Third, the e-passport book design requires
that it be handed over and opened before
any information stored on the chip is communicated.
Then, a unique code printed inside the cover
must be optically scanned and presented to
the e-passport chip before it will communicate
the passport information. All information
exchanged between the reader and the e-passport
chip is encrypted.
Together these capabilities mean that no
one could use a lost or stolen passport,
or even a copy of one, to illegally enter
the country. They also prevent anyone from
spying on U.S. e-passports when the passport
cover is closed. This makes the new e-passports
far more secure than today's documents and
protects people's privacy.
"People need to be cautious about some
claims made by so called 'experts' when it
comes to RF-enabled applications. There is
too much misleading and inaccurate information
being reported, simply because fear gets
people's attention," Vanderhoof said.
The Smart Card Alliance is a member of ACT
Canada and a founding member of ISCAN - the
International Smart Card Associations Network;
please visit http://www.smartcardalliance.org.
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| 16. ADDITIONAL STORIES AVAILABLE IN ACT CANADA
MEMBERS ONLY SECTION |
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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
ONE YEAR AFTER NATIONWIDE LAUNCHES, BIG THREE
U.S. PAYMENT CARD BRANDS REMAIN BULLISH ON
CONTACTLESS
After two-plus years of pilots in various
parts of the U.S., each of the big three
credit card providers rolled out their own
contactless payment version last year. So,
after a year in operation how are things
going…
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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. |
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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
Vice President, Operations
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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