Smart Card Talk

November 2006 • Volume 11 Number 11

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

The Transportation Council is working on the statement of work for a new white paper that will discuss implementation considerations for different approaches for linkages between transit and financial payment.
The new Transportation Council white paper, "Transit and Contactless Financial Payments: New Opportunities for Collaboration and Convergence," is available for download from the Smart Card Alliance web site.
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 Physical Access Council is working on a project to define best practices for using the contactless interface for physical access. As part of this effort, a joint Smart Card Alliance/International Biometric Industry Association letter was sent to the IAB recommending an industry/government group work together to determine guidelines for securing the PIV card contactless channel.
The Council is re-starting the PIV test card project with the objectives to define a PIV test card acquisition process and sample data set. If you would like to contribute to this project, please contact Roger Roehr (roger.roehr@bearingpoint.com), project lead for this PAC project.
The new Physical Access Council white paper, "Considerations for the Migration of Existing Physical Access Control Systems to Achieve FIPS 201 Compatibility," is available for download from the Smart Card Alliance web site.
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

The Contactless Payments Council was very active this month, developing the industry response to media coverage of the RSA/University of Massachusetts report questioning the security of contactless payments. The Council developed and published a position statement and question-and-answer document; both are available at http://www.smartcardalliance.org/pages/publications-contactless-payment-security-statement. The Council is now working on updating the position paper, "The Who, What and Why of Contactless Payments," originally published in October 2005.
The Brand/Mark Work Group submitted a letter to EMVCO requesting a meeting to understand licensing terms for the "wave" technology mark.
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, later this year.
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 Identity Council completed and submitted the industry response to the Department of State Federal Register notice, "Card Format Passport; Changes to Passport Fee Schedule." This notice announces that the proposed passport card will use "vicinity read" (long range) RFID technology based on the ISO/IEC 18000-6 Type C standard, instead of contactless smart card technology. The Smart Card Alliance response is available on the Alliance web site at http://www.smartcardalliance.org/pages/publications-whti-passport-card. The Federal Register notice can be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main, docket ID DOS-2006-0329-0001. Comments are due by December 18, 2006.
The Smart Card Alliance response opposes the use of vicinity read RFID technology. It recommends that the Department of State and Department of Homeland Security reconsider the technology choice and select contactless smart card technology, which is already being used in ePassports and has been proven to be effective and secure for human identity applications.
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

The Smart Card Alliance has launched our new web site! Key features include:

Fresh look-and-feel for the home page
New site architecture and menus
Quick links to the most popular content
Easy printing of all web pages
Updated information about the smart card industry including applications, frequently asked questions and glossary
New site search tool

New content includes:

Identity Council response to the Department of State Federal Register notice on the WHTI passport card
Contactless Payments Council statement and Q&A document on contactless payment security
New Physical Access Council white paper, " Considerations for the Migration of Existing Physical Access Control Systems to Achieve FIPS 201 Compatibility"

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 article

BankNet 360, 11/14/06, ''Smart Card Group Trumpets Contactless Security l ink 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]
Card Technology, 10/31/06, ''Amid Protests, U.S. Moves To Re-Bid Smart Card Contract '' [link to article]
Card Technology, 10/19/06, More Smart Card IDs Coming In the USA [link to article]
Card Technology, 10/6/06, ''Smart Cards Lose Out On US Border-Crossing Project '' [link to article]
Card Technology, 10/5/06, ''Anti-RFID Bill Killed In California, But May Rise Again '' [link to article]
Card Technology, 10/5/06, "Microsoft’s New Version Of Windows Adds Smart Card-Friendly Features"[link to article]
Card Technology, 10/5/06, ''Transit Officials Give Passing Grade To NY PayPass Pilot '' [link to article]
Card Technology, 10/5/06, ''London Transit Seeks Ways To Work With Issuers ''[link to article]
Card Technology, 10/4/06, "U.S. State Department Wins Industry Award "[link to article]
Card Technology, 10/4/06, "Brazilian Bank Plans High-Tech Debit Card " [link to article]
Card Technology, 10/1/06, "Opportunity Knocks. Who Will Answer? Making smart cards work with existing systems represents the biggest challenge today " [link not available]
CardLine, 10/10/06, ''Trade Group Reviews Contactless Transit Payments '' [link not available]
CardLine, 10/6/06, ''Contactless a Winner with Early Adopters "[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]
ComputerWorld, 9/21/06, "Storm building over RFID-enabled passports "[link to article]
Contactless News,11/14/06, "New web site makes leading smart card resource faster and friendlier" [link to article]
Contactless News, 10/9/06, "Contactless payments a hit with consumers, according to new survey [link to article]
CQ Homeland Security, 10/27/06, ''BEHIND THE LINES: Our Read of the Other Media's Homeland Security Coverage "[link not available]
The Florida Shipper, 10/30/06, "Cavalcade of cards begins"[link not available]
Government Technology, 11/14/06 ''Smart Card Alliance Updates Web Site '' [link to article]
Government Technology, 10/4/06, ''Smart Card Alliance Presents Outstanding Smart Card Achievement Awards " [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]
InternetNews, 10/25/06, "Security is in the Vicinity " [link to article]
ISO & Agent, 10/18/06, ''Contactless Guide Coming for ISOs''[link not available]
Network World,9/21/06, ''Storm building over RFID-enabled passports ''[link to article]
Paramus Post, 10/9/06, ''Feds to flash new badges ''[link to article]
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]
SecureID News, 10/20/06, ''Proposed PASSport card with RFID technology bad news for privacy and security, says Smart Card Alliance ''[link to article]
SecureID News, 10/9/06, ''Contactless loses to RFID in PASS Card debate ''[link to article]
Security Dealer, 11/1/06, ''The Credential Pays''[link not available]
Self Service & Kiosk Association, 11/14/06, ''Smart Card Alliance disputes security report ''[link to article]
TUV Product Service Industry News, 11/15/06, ''Smart Card Alliance rejects loophole report ''[link to article]
United Press International, 10/26/06, ''Industry group slams new border card ''[link to article]
UsingRFID, 10/22/06, ''Is the proposed US RFID 'passport card' bad news? ''[link to article]
UsingRFID, 10/9/06, ''Consumers in favour of contactless payments ''[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 face to face meeting and dinner during the 2006 Annual Conference recently in San Diego. The meeting was organized by Edgar Betts, Associate Director, SCALA and was attended by Mauricio Coehlo, ITI Brazil; Humberto De La Vega, HID Global, Alex Giakoumis, Atmel; Andre Martins. Rede Ponto Certo, and Gerald Hubbard, Datacard Group. Though this year’s conference did not have a Latin America theme like the one held last year in Miami we had a chance to meet during the event to discuss our plans for 2007. This turned out to be one of our most active meetings, highlighted by our discussions for our first SCALA conference event to be held in Mexico City in 2007. No date has been confirmed yet but early May looks like the likely time to hold this event. Other activates were discussed such as an exhibitor pavilion at CIAB Febraban, and the creation of our media outreach council.

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.