Contactless and Mobile Payments Council

Issuers representing all major card brands, American Express, Discover Financial Services, 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 and Mobile Payments Council was formed to focus on facilitating the adoption of contactless and mobile payments in the U.S. through education programs for consumers, merchants, issuers and mobile telecommunications providers. 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 and mobile payment and work to address misconceptions about the capabilities and security of contactless technology.

The Contactless and Mobile Payments Council activities focus in four primary areas: consumer awareness and education, merchant acceptance, mobile payments and fraud/security. The Council’s projects include web seminars and conference workshops, as well as white papers, case studies and other educational resources.

• Download description of Council mission, activities and membership

Contactless and Mobile Payments Council Resources

• Top 10 Reasons U.S. Should Consider EMV webinar, Smart Card Alliance Contactless and Mobile Payments Council webinar, January 2010

• Fraud in the U.S. Payments Industry: Fraud Mitigation and Prevention Measures in Use and Chip Card Technology Impact on Fraud, Smart Card Alliance Contactless and Mobile Payments Council white paper, October 2009

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

• Smart.Payments, LinkedIn group open to the public to stimulate discussion of payments-related topics.

• End-to-End Encryption and Chip Cards in the U.S. Payments Industry, Smart Card Alliance Contactless and Mobile Payments Council position paper, September 2009

• Issuer and Merchant Best Practices: Promoting Contactless Payments Usage and Acceptance, Smart Card Alliance Contactless and Mobile Payments Council white paper, September 2009

• Security of Proximity Mobile Payments, Smart Card Alliance Contactless and Mobile Payments Council white paper, May 2009

• What Makes a Smart Card Secure?, Smart Card Alliance Contactless and Mobile Payments Council white paper, October 2008

• Contactless Payments: Merchant ROI Model, Smart Card Alliance Contactless Payments Council Merchant Work Group, August 2008

• Proximity Mobile Payments Business Scenarios: Research Report on Stakeholder Perspectives, Smart Card Alliance Contactless Payments Council white paper, July 2008

• 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. Council officers are:

• Chair: Charles Walton, INSIDE Contactless
• Vice Chair: Ron Pinkus, Giesecke & Devrient
• Secretary: James Lock, JPMorgan Chase

Current steering committee members are:

• Troy Bernard, Discover Financial Services
• Sri Chawla, IBM
• Jason Dell, First Data
• Willy Dommen, Booz Allen Hamilton
• Simon Hurry, Visa Inc.
• Jack Jania, Gemalto
• Mohammad Khan, ViVOtech
• Paul Korczak, Metropolitan Transportation Authority New York City Transit
• Dan Loomis, VeriFone
• Paul Legacki, Infineon Technologies
• Ken Moy, MasterCard Worldwide
• Garfield Smith, Oberthur Technologies

Council Membership

The Contactless and Mobile 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.

The Smart Card Alliance recognizes the top three individual contributors in each of the industry councils and the council “honor roll” – the individuals who were leading contributors and participants in the council projects and activities.

• 2010 Council Honor Roll

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

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

• ActivIdentity
• American Express
• Assa Abloy ITG
• Booz Allen Hamilton
• Capital One
• Chase Card Services
• Collis America
• CPI Card Group
• Cubic
• Device Fidelity
• Digital Identification Solutions
• Discover Financial
• First Data Corporation
• Gemalto
• Giesecke & Devrient
• IBM
• Infineon Technologies
• INSIDE Contactless
• ITC Systems
• JCB International Credit Card Co., Ltd.
• MasterCard Worldwide
• MTA New York City Transit
• Multos International
• NXP
• Oberthur Card Systems
• OTI America
• Sagem Orga
• Scheidt & Bachmann
• SCM Microsystems
• STMicroelectronics
• Thales Group
• Ubiq, Inc.
• Venyon
• VeriFone
• Visa USA
• ViVOtech
• WMATA

For more information about the Contactless and Mobile 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.