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July 2008 • Volume 13 Number 7 |
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Executive Director's Letter Dear members and friends of the Alliance, I remember a saying from an old movie about drivers in Italy that goes something like, “Mirrors? Who needs mirrors?" -- referring to the idea that Italian drivers believe if you are driving faster than everyone else, you don’t need a mirror to look behind you. I feel I must have a little Italian blood inside me. Month after month, I seem to be racing around the next bend in the road, never looking in the rear view mirror to see the accomplishments the Smart Card Alliance has accumulated behind me. July begins a new fiscal year for the Smart Card Alliance. As I have prepared for my year-end reports and new fiscal year plans for the board, I have been spending time evaluating the results of the last 12 months and also looking at the year ahead. What I discovered is a record year for membership growth, projects completed by the Alliance’s five industry councils, web site visits, and media coverage of the Alliance’s thought leadership on issues involving identity, security, privacy, payments, transportation, and emerging market adoption in healthcare and mobile payments. Let me begin with the level of participation and productivity of our five industry councils – Identity, Physical Access, Contactless Payments, Transportation, and Healthcare. Combined, the councils completed 28 projects during the year, with the Identity Council finishing 8 projects and the Physical Access and Contactless Payments Councils close behind with 7 projects each. Included in these totals were 13 published reports, 3 research projects, 3 web briefings, 3 focused industry comment submissions, and 6 physical events. What is more impressive is that the pipeline is full with in-progress reports and activities. An additional 10 reports and 5 other active council projects are nearing completion this summer. In comparison, a look back at my year-end report for 2005 proudly reported 7 projects completed. Why such a large increase? A big reason is the terrific job Cathy Medich, the Smart Card Alliance programs director , does multi-tasking with the council working groups to keep projects moving and to encourage council members to contribute to projects in a timely fashion. Another factor is the tremendous commitment and enthusiasm that Alliance members bring to the council projects -- all in addition to their "day jobs." Also, the council chairs and steering committees are always thinking about new opportunities to get more involvement from the 118 different member organizations and 415 individuals registered for one or more councils. More volunteers providing more insight and thought leadership leads to more results. It has been a winning formula for the Alliance and the smart card industry.
Member Profile: Intel
1. What are Intel's main business profile and offerings? Intel is perhaps best known for being the largest semiconductor manufacturer in the industry. However, what might not be as well known is that Intel continues to expand its focus to become more of a “platform” solution provider to the ecosystem. 2. What role does smart card technology play in supporting Intel's business? Smart cards appear to be the “de-facto” container and environment for wide ranging applications requiring security. We want to learn from this segment to determine if and how Intel can extend its platform offerings that can embrace the smart card success in these crucial applications. At this point, I would characterize Intel interest as evaluating what role smart card technology can play in our various lines of business.
Feature of the Month Using Network-Branded Prepaid Cards to Support the Unbanked Transit Customer
As discussed in last month's article transit agencies face certain challenges in deploying distribution networks for automatic fare collection at merchant locations. However, they can also enjoy certain advantages, by either autoloading transit media using a credit or debit card as a funding source or charging for fares directly on a credit or debit card. To extend these advantages further, agencies must reach unbanked customers and convert them from paying with cash. This is an effort in which prepaid card products can play an important role.
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This month, Smart Card Talk spoke with Thomas H. Calvert, with Intel. A 25 year veteran in the high tech business, Mr. Calvert is currently heading up the Personal Mobile Commerce venture for the New Business Initiatives group within Intel. Prior to this assignment, Mr. Calvert was an active Equity Investment Manager in Intel's VC arm, Intel Capital. Mr. Calvert helped start the Home Networking Group and also served on the HomePNA Board of Directors for Intel. Other experiences have included operational, engineering, and marketing roles related to new products, as well as directing European business activities based in England. Mr. Calvert holds degrees from both the University of Michigan and Pepperdine University.
This article is the third and last in a series looking at approaches to serve the unbanked consumers in the transit industry. This month's article reviews how network-branded prepaid cards could be used to serve the unbanked transit customer.
Executive Director's Letter
