Smart Card Talk

December 2006 • Volume 11 Number 12

Council and Task Force Report

Alliance Members: Participation in all current councils is open to any Smart Card Alliance member who wishes to contribute to the council projects. If you are interested in participating in any of the active councils, please contact Cathy Medich.

Transportation Council

Nominations are now open for 2007 Transportation Council officers and open Steering Committee seats. The Council will be electing a new chair, vice chair - transit, vice chair - parking, and vice chair - tolling, as well as 7 open Steering Committee seats. Please contact Cathy Medich if you would like to nominate an Alliance member for one of these positions.
The Transportation Council is working on the definition of the statement of work for a new white paper that will provide the overview of an approach for transit/financial payment convergence that leverages conventional co-branding affinity card business models and the multi-application capabilities provided by smart card technology
An in-person Council meeting is being planned for February, 2007. Dates and location will be announced to the Council mailing list later this year.
If you are interested in participating in the Transportation Council, please contact the Council chair, Paul Korczak (pakorcz@nyct.com), vice chairs, Chris Cipperly (ccipperly@wmata.com) and David deKozan (david.dekozan@cubic.com), or Cathy Medich.

Physical Access Council

The Smart Card Alliance Physical Access Council, International Biometrics Industry Association (IBIA) and Security Industry Association (SIA) were invited to participate in the National Maritime Security Advisory Committee (NMSAC) Transportation Worker Identity Credential (TWIC) Working Group to assist in developing the specification for a contactless biometric reader that protects the privacy of the biometric data in an operationally efficient way. As a first deliverable, members developed a briefing presentation to educate the NMSAC on the choices for key management and the impact of the choices on operations, cost and risk. If you would like to participate in this Council project, please contact Walter Hamilton (whamilton@saflink.com), who is leading this effort.
If you are interested in participating in the Physical Access Council, please contact Council chair, Dwayne Pfeiffer (dwayne.pfeiffer@ngc.com), vice chair Bob Merkert (rmerkert@scmmicro.com), or Cathy Medich.

Healthcare Council

The Healthcare Council is working on a new white paper that describes the benefits of smart cards for all healthcare stakeholders - patients, providers and payors. Target completion is February 2007.
The Council is soliciting members who would like to write case studies or implementation profiles of smart card implementations in the U.S. healthcare industry. Members would write these case studies, with the Council and Alliance editing and publishing the final documents. If you would like a copy of the case study template, please contact Cathy Medich.
If you are interested in participating in the Healthcare Council, please contact Council chair Frank Avignone (favignone@healthmeans.com), vice chair Chuck Wilson (chuck.wilson3@verizon.net), or Cathy Medich.

Contactless Payments Council

Nominations have been solicted for the 2007 Contactless Payments Council Steering Committee, with elections to be held in January 2007. The Council Steering Committee is composed of 1-2 representatives from each of the following categories: card issuers, card associations, merchants, financial payment processors, terminal vendors, card manufacturers, chip vendors, systems integrators/consultants and personalization bureaus.
The Contactless Payments Council has published an update to the position paper, "The Who, What and Why of Contactless Payments." The updated paper is available at http://www.smartcardalliance.org/pages/publications-contactless-payments-what-who-why.
The Smart Card Alliance has published a white paper, "Contactless Payments: Consumer Attitudes and Acceptance in the United States," summarizing the results of the consumer market research conducted by Javelin Strategy & Research in August 2006. The white paper is available at http://www.smartcardalliance.org/pages/publications-contactless-payments-attitudes-acceptance. Also available are: Annual Conference presentation of research results, full Javelin analysis of the research results (members only) and summary research results (members only).
The Council is working on an extensive contactless payment question-and-answer document. Publication is targeted for January 2007.
The Merchant Roll-out Work Group is finalizing the merchant implementation guide that covers infrastructure requirements and best practices, training and education.
The Issuer Work Group is finalizing a briefing document to educate issuers on the benefits of contactless payments and on key considerations for issuers who would like to issue contactless devices. The group plans to hold a web seminar, with issuers as the target audience, in early 2007.
If you are interested in participating in the Contactless Payments Council, please contact the Council co-chairs, Francine Dubois (f.dubois@oberthurcs.com), Wendy Humphrey (wendy.humphrey@firstdata.com) or Mohammad Khan (khanm@vivotech.com), or Cathy Medich.

Identity Council

The Smart Card Alliance issued a press release announcing our submission of the Identity Council-developed industry response to the Department of State Federal Register notice, "Card Format Passport; Changes to Passport Fee Schedule." The Smart Card Alliance response is available on the Alliance web site at http://www.smartcardalliance.org/pages/publications-whti-passport-card.
The Identity Council has been reviewing and editing a new document, "Best Practices for the Use of RF Enabled Technology in Identity Management." This is a high-level document targeted to policy makers and the media that states the Smart Card Alliance recommendations for best practices when implementing an identity verification system with RF enabled technology.
The Council is also reviewing and commenting on a revised Smart Card Alliance fact sheet and WHTI passport card position document developed by the Alliance government communications advisor.
If you are interested in participating in the Identity Council, please contact the Council co-chairs, Neville Pattinson (Neville.pattinson@gemalto.com) or Marty Dugan (mdugan@viisage.com), or Cathy Medich.

Other Councils

A members-only council web site is available at http://www.sca-councils.org. This is a password-protected site that contains council working documents and contact lists. Each Council area has a separate password since Councils may have different membership policies. If you are a Smart Card Alliance member and would like access to the council site, please contact Cathy Medich.
If you are interested in forming or participating in an Alliance council, contact Cathy Medich. Click here to download a description of the council structure, proposal process and council interest feedback form.

Web Site News

New content includes:

Updated Contactless Payments Council position paper, "The What, Who and Why of Contactless Payments"
New white paper, "Contactless Payments: Consumer Attitudes and Acceptance in the United States," summarizing the results of the consumer market research conducted by Javelin Strategy & Research in August 2006
Contactless Payments Council statement and Q&A document on contactless payment security
Identity Council response to the Department of State Federal Register notice on the WHTI passport card

November / December 2006 web statistics

60,083 visitor sessions for the month
2,003 visitor sessions per day
286,115 total page views for the month
37,654 Industry News items viewed
2,893 Card Reader Catalog items displayed
3,467 PDF downloads

If you have any suggestions on content that you'd like to see on the Alliance web site, please send them to info@smartcardalliance.org.

Alliance in the News

The Alliance has an active communications program to promote industry messages in business, vertical market, and technology publications. Coverage results from both Alliance press releases and interviews with publications writing articles about smart cards. Selected recent coverage is shown below with links to online articles.

BankNet 360, 11/14/06, "Smart Card Group Trumpets Contactless Security" [ link to article ]
Card Technology, 12/6/06, "Sen. Schumer Calls For Better Contactless Payment Security" [ link to article ]
Card Technology, 11/14/06, "Smart Card Alliance Updates Web Site" [ link to article ]
Card Technology, 11/1/06, "Smart Cards Win Some, Lose One, In U.S " [ link not available ]
Card Technology, 11/1/06, "Bridging the Gap Between Cards and PCs" [ link not available ]
Card Technology,11/1/06, "Is Contactless Secure Enough For Payment Cards?" [ link not available ]
CardLine, 12/8/06, "Sen. Schumer calls for better contactless payment security" [ link not available ]
Cards & Payments, 11/1/06, "Survey Finds Most Consumers Unaware of Contactless Cards, It's natural that people want to understand the technology they're using and they will. And when people compare it to other forms of payment, they'll see that contactless payments look pretty good" [ link not available ]
Chain Store Age, 11/1/06, "Survey: Contactless payment affinity growing" [ link not available ]
Computer Business Review, 12/6/06, "Smart Card Alliance slams RFID use in US passport card program" [ link to article ]
ComputerWorld, 12/6/06, "Industry group urges caution on US plan for RFID-enabled ID cards" [ link to article ]
Contactless News,11/14/06, "New web site makes leading smart card resource faster and friendlier" [ link to article ]
CSO Online, 12/6/06, "Smart Card Alliance Cautions Feds on RFID Cards" [ link to article ]
Datamonitor, 12/5/06, "Smart Card Alliance slams RFID use in US passport card program" [ link not available ]
EE Times, 12/7/06, "Smart Card Alliance criticizes passport card plans" [ link to article ]
eWeek, 12/15/06, "Use of RFID in ePassport and National ID Cards Coming Under Fire" [ link to article ]
Federal Computer Week, 12/11/06, "GPO makes millionth e-passport" [ link to article ]
Government Technology, 12/6/06, "US Urged to Reconsider Long Range RFID Technology" [ link to article ]
Government Technology, 11/14/06, "Smart Card Alliance Updates Web Site" [ link to article ]
Greensheet, 11/9/06, "Contactless payments not well known" [ link to article]
Homeland Stupidity, 10/20/06, "State Department proposes $20 RFID passport cards" [ link to article ]
HappyNews.com, 10/3/06, "Stylish High-Tech Wallets Thwart Wireless Identity Thef" [ link to article]
Information Week, 12/11/06, "Track and Trace -- RFID On The Border" [ link not available ]
Information Week, 12/8/06, "State Dept. Seeks More Comments On RFID Passport Cards" [ link to article ]
Information Week, 12/6/06, "Smart Card Alliance Criticizes Passport Card Plans" [ link to article ]
Intelligent Enterprise, 12/8/06, "State Dept. Seeks More Comments On RFID Passport Cards" [ link to article ]
IT News, 12/7/06, "Smart card alliance criticises passport card plans" [ link to article ]
PC Advisor, 12/9/06, "US struggles with RFID plan" [ link to article ]
RFID Solutions, 12/11/06, "Passport RFID Solution" [ link to article ]
RFID Update, 12/6/06, "Smart Card Firms Challenge US on RFID" [ link to article ]
Secure ID News, 12/4/06, "Industry group asks gov to reconsider RFID as Pass Card technology" [ link toarticle ]
SecureID News, 11/14/06, "ePassport issuance cranks up in U.S" [ link to article ]
SecureID News, 11/14/06, "New web site makes leading smart card resource faster and friendlier" [ link to article ]
Security Dealer, 11/1/06, "The Credential Pays" [ link not available ]
Security Document World, 12/11/06, "Smart Card Alliance urges US government rethink" [ link to article ]
Security Technology & Design, 11/1/06, "One-Card Initiatives" [ link to article ]
Self Service & Kiosk Association, 11/14/06, "Smart Card Alliance disputes security report" [ link to article ]
Technology Daily AM, 12/6/06, "Tech Alliance Questions Standard For New IDs" [ link not available ]
Technology News Daily, 12/9/06, "RFID Technology for Passport card program" [ link to article ]
TechWeb, 12/7/06, "Smart Card Alliance Criticizes Passport Card Plans" [ link to article ]
Techworld.com, 12/6/06, "US government warned off RFID passports" [ link to article ]
TUV Product Service Industry News, 11/15/06, "Smart Card Alliance rejects loophole report" [ link to article ]
Washington Technology, 11/27/06, "More woes for TWIC" [ link to article ]
ZDNet News, 12/8/06, "State to extend comment period on RFID in border cards" [ link to article ]

SCA Latin America News

The Smart Card Alliance Latin America project kicked off on October 19, 2004 with the presentation of the Department of Commerce Market Developer Cooperator Program (MDCP) award totaling $288,000 that forms a partnering effort between the International Trade Administration and SCA to develop international trade and support education, training, and resource development for smart cards in Mexico, Brazil, and the Caribbean Islands. The Alliance staff has held organizing meetings with ITA field office personnel in Mexico and Brazil to discuss ways to bring smart card awareness and education to the government and commercial markets in those countries. The Alliance has also met with ITA personnel based in Washington, DC, Philadelphia, and Miami who are in support roles and are prepared to assist the Alliance's Latin American project.

In July 2005 the Latin America Chapter was launched. Organizations with smart card-related business interests in all Latin American countries and the Caribbean, plus any organization based in North America or internationally with interests in the Latin America markets, should contact Edgar Betts, Manager Business Development - Latin America at 1-954-590-3795 or ebetts@smartcardalliance.org. Memberships are available for Leadership Council, General, Government, and Associate levels.

A recent report released by Frost & Sullivan called The Americas Smart Card Market Analysis projected microprocessor smart card shipments of 136.4 million in 2005, and with over a 59 percent annual growth rate projected through 2010. The Latin American smart card market growth is due to many market factors including the migration of mobile telecommunications operators to GSM technology, the migration to EMV in the financial sector, the move to smart transit fare cards and new government and commercial secure identification initiatives. Responding to these market factors, the Smart Card Alliance today announced the formation of a new Latin American chapter to bring together smart card suppliers, partners and customers in order to address the challenges facing smart card deployment in the region.

“The Latin American smart card market is now emerging and could develop more rapidly than other markets by effectively learning from similar smart card initiatives and by forming business partnerships that can quickly deliver successful implementations,” said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance.

The main mission of the Smart Card Alliance Latin American chapter is in line with the overall goal of the Alliance: to stimulate the understanding, adoption, use and widespread application of smart cards. The Alliance plans to use specific projects such as bi-lingual education programs, market research, advocacy, industry relations and open forums to keep Latin American chapter organization members connected to industry leaders and innovative thought.

“The Smart Card Alliance has played a valuable role in developing the U.S. market in both the public and private sector. Our organization provides an educational and collaborative forum in which all of the stakeholders—manufacturers, issuers and end users—can work together to develop the cross-industry real-world solutions needed to deploy smart card systems. Our organization is uniquely positioned to bring a collective energy and focus to this technology in Latin America,” said Vanderhoof.

Next Steps:

The SCALA Chapter held a lunch meeting at the Cartes 2007 Conference in Paris in November. The meeting was organized by Edgar Betts, Associate Director, SCALA. At this meeting the members of the Latin America Chapter Advisory Committee in attendance heard about the SCALA plans to holding an Educational Institute and smart card exhibit space at the CIAB Febraban banking conference and the Expo Seguridad security conferences this spring. Also, we we pleased to announce that the Smart Card Alliance and Global Platform will be partnering on a new conference, Cards Mexico 2007 on May 8-9, 2007 in Mexico City. This two day event will feature advances in smart cards for government ID and security on the first day and smart cards for payments on the second day. A steering committee made up of representatives from both organizations will work on the agenda and promotion of the conference. The formal announcement and event registration will be available in January.

As we all work on building the image and awareness of the Smart Card Alliance Latin America (SCALA) it is very important to provide a unified impartial voice of the industry. So it is our job as the Alliance members and representatives to reach out to our fellow industry leaders and get them involved in our activities. The Alliance Latin America members will become stronger if everyone works together and the smart card industry grows.

How to get involved:

If you would like to get involved in any of the Latin American activities listed above or wish to be added to the contact list for future announcements, please send an email to info@smartcardalliance.org.