|
|
Executive Director's Letter
 Dear members and friends of the Alliance:
With my obsession over smart cards because of what I do, naturally I have assembled a fairly large and diverse collection of them over the years. I also look for opportunities to purchase or subscribe to smart cards that I can actually use on occasion. This has not been an easy task as I am sure many of our readers in the United States can attest to. However, there have been some exceptions. I have been a long time American Express Blue cardholder and I installed my reader and downloaded the ID Keeper application when it came out a few years ago. My Blue card stays in my wallet as my credit card, even though I can’t use the contact chip for purchases. When American Express made its ExpressPay contactless key tag available, I was on the phone immediately ordering my own. I also carry a Target Smart Visa card, which I used twice but now I don’t have a use for anymore, and a Philadelphia Eagles (my team) NFL affinity credit card from MBNA that has MasterCard’s contactless PayPass technology inside (although I don’t have tickets to get into the Eagles stadium so I can’t make purchases with it). I also carry a Washington Metro SmarTrip card that I use quite regularly on my frequent visits to our nation’s capital and, of course, a FedEx Kinko’s card since I am always making copies and shipping packages.
Well, last week I got an unexpected surprise. I rushed in to my local CVS pharmacy near our Princeton Junction, NJ headquarters to pick up a prescription. While waiting in the checkout line, a new Hypercom POS terminal on the counter with the ExpressPay logo on it caught my eye. I looked around to see if there were any special announcements or promotions going on, but I saw nothing. When the cashier rang up my purchase, I whipped out my American Express keychain device and tapped it on the terminal. The clerk just stared at the terminal, not knowing what was going to happen. We both smiled when the printer starting spitting out the receipt after a momentary pause. She asked me to show her my ExpressPay device since she hadn’t seen one before. She even called her manager over to show him as well. Well, my first contactless transaction wasn’t so fast because everyone wanted to know what had just happened – but it worked, with no signature required, just as advertised. CVS is going to see me a lot more of me now that I’ve found another working smart card application that I can use.
The media certainly has had its curiosity raised by the Chase Blink Card announcement. CBS and NBC ran stories last week and NPR’s Talk of the Nation aired a segment on contactless payment earlier. It is interesting to see the mainstream media reaction to this new consumer payment concept. They seem both intrigued and frightened by it at the same time. They seem amazed that you can just wave a card at a terminal and collect your purchases and walk out the door. It seems too simple for them to leave it at that, so they want to know “what is the catch?” Does this mean that merchants are going to gather secret information about where we shop and what we buy? Are people going to monitor me over the web as I walk through the store from 750 miles away? Is this going to feed consumers running up personal debt like an alcoholic drawn to a beer wagon at a barbeque? It is this sinister side that finds it way into the story that I struggle with the most. It doesn’t matter if they are covering a technology breakthrough or a cure for cancer, the media always seems to find a dark side to report.
Education is the only defense, but getting the message out is never easy. Our PR team is making some real progress. We have seen better reporting recently on the claims about RFID privacy and security issues. Also, we have been successful in influencing reports on television and radio and in the press by providing the media with Smart Card Alliance position papers and frequently asked question (FAQ) documents that our members have helped create. These resources give the media reliable, easy to understand information and explanations about how smart cards work, how they add security and convenience, and how they are privacy-enabling. This is an excellent example of how our organization helps the industry as a whole and how individuals who volunteer their time and talent to the Alliance are making us a stronger voice for the entire smart card industry. To focus more resources and improve the Alliance’s effectiveness in this area, we are in the process of forming a new Government Communications and Relations Council. This Council will address the need for more resources to drive positive media messages and to support education and industry advocacy efforts on government-related smart card issues.
I can’t end this letter without mentioning the terrific work that is being done in our current technology and industry focused councils and task forces. The FIPS 140 Task Force is making good progress on defining a common card platform against which developers can certify applets to speed the process of FIPS 140 certification for government smart card users. The Secure Personal ID Task Force has published 2 briefing documents on contactless smart chip technology that are now on the Alliance web site. The Transportation Council just launched its first project, a white paper on the use of smart cards in parking, and is planning a web event to introduce the Council to Alliance members later in July. The Healthcare Council has been approved by the Alliance Board, with a steering committee formed and initial projects being defined. The Physical Access Council has a large group of member contributors, with multiple projects focused on the impact of FIPS 201 on government physical access control systems. We have also completed two planning calls for a new Contactless Payments Council and hope to have a steering committee formed and charter proposal approved by this time next month. More and more council ideas keep rising to the surface and soon there will be councils for every member to participate in.
Finally, you should all start thinking about two big Smart Card Alliance activities that are on the horizon. The first is the launch of the Latin America Chapter organization, set to happen later this month. For the last 6 months we have been traveling and talking with industry leaders, government agencies, and U.S. Department of Commerce officials supporting our outreach to Brazil, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Our U.S. members and their management have been extremely supportive and have traveled with us on many of these trips to see first hand what the smart card opportunities are in the Latin American market. Next month we begin to build the bridges between these regions under the Smart Card Alliance umbrella with the Latin America Chapter. We will be reporting on our “Foundation Members” in the Latin America Chapter in future newsletters.
The second big event is the Smart Card Alliance 2005 Fall Annual Conference and USA/Latin America Conference being held in Miami on October 18 -21, 2005. This year’s event is going to be even bigger than San Francisco last year, with more sessions and more special programs. The conference will also feature our first ever USA/Latin America smart card conference combined with our annual event. It will be four days of fun and excitement that you won’t want to miss. Conference registration information will be available on the Alliance web site very soon.
Until next month, may you all have a great start to your summer and the vacation season. Start looking for those contactless payment opportunities—you never know when a store near you will be encouraging you to “tap and go.”
Randy Vanderhoof, Executive Director
|
 |
