Executive Director’s Letter

Dear members and friends of the Alliance,

June has been a tough month for the credit card companies in the United States. In fact, the financial industry seems to have been under attack from every angle in recent months. Not only are they still dealing with the bruising results of the global economic blight that has lingered for more than 2 years, but they are now dealing with the Obama administration’s signing of the Credit Card Act of 2009 in May, that adds regulation to restrict how credit card companies can charge fees and raise rates for high risk cardholders. To make matters worse, the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is also being publicly challenged by major retail industry associations and the CEO of Heartland Payments Systems.

2009 Member Survey: Key Results

The Smart Card Alliance conducts an annual member survey to get input for developing the next year’s programs and activities. Our 2009 survey was open from June 2-22 and had excellent member response. 151 members responded from 82 member organizations (53.9% of all member organizations); respondents included 80.8% of Leadership Council Member organizations and 59.2% of General Member organizations.

This month’s newsletter profile summarizes answers from the 2009 survey.

Feature of the Month

A Healthcare CFO’s Guide to Smart Card Technology and Applications

Healthcare is seeing a steady and increasing dependence on information technology that is rapidly transforming the practice of medicine and the delivery of care.

Technology is an ever-changing and evolving aspect of modern business. In healthcare, most agree that the use of technology is essential to achieving many of the milestones critical to healthcare reform. Three primary drivers are increasing the use of technology in healthcare:

• The need to lower costs and create administrative efficiencies
• The need to improve patient outcomes and enhance physician and patient relations
• The need to meet increasing privacy, security and identity concerns, as a result of Federal and state directives mandating increased control over private information

This article outlines some of the major challenges faced by healthcare CFOs and discusses how smart card technology can provide innovative, practical and cost-effective solutions.