Contactless Payments Council

Issuers representing all three major card brands, American Express, MasterCard and Visa, are rolling out contactless credit and debit cards and fobs for fast, secure payments. Major retailers across the United States, such as McDonald’s, 7-Eleven and CVS/pharmacy, have deployed new point-of-sale terminals and are accepting the contactless payment devices.

The Smart Card Alliance Contactless Payments Council was formed to focus on facilitating the adoption of contactless payments in the U.S. through education programs for consumers, merchants and issuers. The group is bringing together financial payments industry leaders, merchants and suppliers. The Council’s primary goal is to inform and educate the market about the value of contactless payment and work to address misconceptions about the capabilities and security of contactless technology.

The Contactless Payments Council’s projects include web seminars and conference workshops, as well as white papers, case studies and other educational resources.

Contactless Payments Council Resources

• Contactless payments resources, up-to-date information and news on contactless payments programs in the U.S.

• Proximity Mobile Payments: Leveraging NFC and the Contactless Financial Payments Infrastructure, Smart Card Alliance Contactless Payments Council white paper, August 2007

• Contactless Payments: The Retailer Experience, July 19, 2007, web seminar produced in partnership with STORES Magazine

• Contactless Payments: Issuers Meet Demand for Speed and Convenience, May 3, 2007 web seminar produced in partnership with SourceMedia

• Accepting Contactless Payments: A Merchant Guide, Smart Card Alliance Contactless Payments Council white paper, July 2007

• RF-Enabled Applications and Technology: Comparing and Contrasting RFID and RF-Enabled Smart Cards, February 2007

• Contactless Payments: Frequently Asked Questions, Smart Card Alliance Contactless Payments Council publication, February 2007

• Retail Contactless Payment Systems Benchmark Report: Improving Customer Retention and Loyalty, Aberdeen Group report, January 2007

• The What, Who and Why of Contactless Payments, Smart Card Alliance Contactless Payments Council position paper, December 2006

• Smart Card Alliance Contactless Payments Security Q&A, December 2006

• Smart Card Alliance Contactless Payment Security Statement, November 2006

• Contactless Payments: Consumer Attitudes and Acceptance in the United States, Smart Card Alliance and Javelin Strategy & Research report, November 2006

• Contactless Payments: A New Era of Payments for Retailers, February 22, 2006 web seminar produced in partnership with the National Retail Federation STORES Magazine. The seminar includes presentations by Bob Riesenbach, Wawa, David Sanderson, KeyBank, George Wilcox, Chase Paymentech, and Randy Vanderhoof, Smart Card Alliance.

• Americas Smart Card Market Analysis, Frost & Sullivan report developed in collaboration with the Smart Card Alliance, September 2005

• Paying with a Wave, Tap and ‘blink’: Contactless Payments in the U.S., Smart Card Talk article, August 2005

• Contactless Payments: Delivering Merchant and Consumer Benefits, Smart Card Alliance report, March 2004

Council Management

The Council is managed by a steering committee composed of a cross section of the financial payments industry and contactless smart chip technology vendors. Co-chairs of the Council are Mohammad Khan, ViVOtech, and Charles Walton, INSIDE Contactless.

Current steering committee members are: American Express, Chase, CPI Card Group, First Data Corporation, Gemalto, Giesecke & Devrient, IBM, Infineon Technologies, INSIDE Contactless, MasterCard Worldwide, Oberthur Card Systems, PricewaterhouseCoopers, VeriFone, Visa U.S.A, Inc., ViVOtech, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

Council Membership

The Contactless Payments Council is one of several Smart Card Alliance Technology and Industry Councils, a new type of focused group within the overall structure of the Alliance. Council participation is open to any Smart Card Alliance member who wishes to contribute to the Council projects.

Merchants and issuers are invited to participate in the Council’s Retailer and Issuer Advisory Groups.

Smart Card Alliance members who are active in the Contactless Payments Council include:

• American Express
• Assa Abloy ITG
• Bank of America
• Booz Allen Hamilton
• Capital One
• Chase Card Services
• Citi
• Collis America
• CoreStreet
• CPI Card Group
• Datacard Group
• Digital Identification Solutions
• Discover Financial
• First Data Corporation
• Gemalto
• Giesecke & Devrient
• Hypercom
• IBM
• Infineon Technologies
• INSIDE Contactless
• JCB International Credit Card Co., Ltd.
• Keycorp
• Link2Gov
• MasterCard Worldwide
• Mobile Candy Dish
• MTA New York City Transit
• NXP
• Oberthur Card Systems
• OTI America
• PricewaterhouseCoopers
• Texas Instruments
• Thales Group
• Ubiq
• USA Technologies
• Venyon
• VeriFone
• Visa USA
• ViVOtech
• WMATA

For more information about the Contactless Payments Council or for more information on becoming a member of the Alliance, please contact the Alliance office via email at info@smartcardalliance.org or via telephone at (800) 556-6828.