Executive Director’s Letter

Dear members and friends of the Alliance,

Cybersecurity linked to a trusted identity has become the hot topic around the identity and security circles of late. After nearly two years of discussion centered on ICAM (Identity, Credentialing, and Access Management), the federal initiative defining a government-wide architecture for trusted credentials, a new cause is getting some much deserved attention. Capturing the energy behind cybersecurity awareness the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace–or NSTIC, a new national strategy initiative coming from the Executive Office of the President and being led by Howard Schmidt, the appointed Cybersecurity Coordinator and Special Assistant to President Obama. This could be a bigger deal for cybersecurity than HSPD-12 was for identity cards.

Member Profile

This month Smart Card Talk spoke with Garfield Smith, Vice President, Marketing, Americas Region, for Oberthur Technologies. In his current role, Mr. Smith is responsible for product marketing, pricing for payment and government/ID products and services, creative services, marketing communications, and the project management office. He has over 20 years of marketing experience gained from Green Dot Corporation, the leading provider of re-loadable prepaid cards, Verizon Wireless, a leading wireless provider in the U.S., and General Mills, a leading consumer packaged-goods company. Mr. Smith has an MBA from Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, and BA from Colgate University. He is active in the Smart Card Alliance, serving on the Board of Directors and Payments Council Steering Committee and chairs the Council’s Consumer Awareness Work Group. His work on the Payments Council includes active participation in the numerous activities including white papers, panels, Contactless Usage Study, and Smart Card Alliance Study on Issuers Perspectives. He is a member of the 2010 Smart card Alliance Honor Roll for contribution and participation in the Payment Council projects and activities.

Feature of the Month

Chip-Enabled Mobile Marketing

As of December 2009, CTIA reported that 286 million people in the United States–over 90% of the population–were using mobile phones. Mobile phones are clearly a mainstream consumer device. Almost one-quarter of the handsets sold in the United States are powerful, user-friendly smartphones (such as the iPhone, Blackberry, and Android). Retailers, banks, consumer product companies, and other specialty industries, such as airlines, can increasingly use such mobile phones as a key channel for customer interaction. Compared to other channels, mobile phones enable more targeted interactions, using consumer preferences and behavior to reach out to consumers in real-time.

This article is the first of two on chip-enabled mobile marketing–mobile marketing that uses an RF chip, either built in or added to a mobile phone–to enable mobile contactless transactions. This month’s article describes chip-enabled mobile marketing opportunities and applications. Next month’s article will cover implementation considerations.

New CSCIP Accreditations

Congratulations to the LEAP members who have successfully completed the requirements for professional accreditation as Certified Smart Card Industry Professionals. Most recent additions to CSCIP certifications listed in bold type.

Click here for more information about LEAP and CSCIP certification program.

New CSCIP/G Accreditations

Congratulations to the LEAP members who have successfully completed the requirements for professional accreditation as Certified Smart Card Industry Professionals / Government. Most recent additions to CSCIP/G certifications listed in bold type.

Click here for more information about LEAP and CSCIP/G certification program.