Publications – Payments

• A Guide to Prepaid Cards for Transit Agencies
  This white paper was developed by the Smart Card Alliance Transportation Council to provide an overview of the prepaid card industry and the products available, including network-branded prepaid cards. It is directed to readers who work for or support transit agencies. The paper provides guidance on what transit agencies should look for when evaluating the feasibility and benefits of using prepaid cards as one element of an open loop fare collection system. The paper also provides useful information to other members of the prepaid card industry who have an interest in collaborating with the mass transit industry to expand the use of prepaid cards. Download white paper. View full executive summary.

• Accepting Contactless Payments: A Merchant Guide
  This white paper was developed by the Smart Card Alliance Contactless and Mobile Payments Council to assist merchants who are considering deployment of contactless payments. Merchants can use the information in this guide to decide whether contactless payment is right for them and to plan for, implement, and roll out contactless payments successfully. Download report. View full executive summary.

• Co-Branded Multi-Application Contactless Cards for Transit and Financial Payment
  This white paper provides an overview of an approach for transit/financial payment convergence that leverages co-branding card business models and the multi-application capabilities provided by smart card technology. Download report. View full executive summary.

• Contactless Payment and the Retail Point-of-Sale: Applications, Technologies and Transaction Models
  This report was developed by the Smart Card Alliance to describe contactless payment applications, technology options and transaction model alternatives. Download report. View full executive summary.

• Contactless Payment Security Statement
  The Contactless Payments Council of the Smart Card Alliance prepared this statement in response to recent reports that question the security of contactless payment cards and devices. Download statement. View full executive summary.

• Contactless Payments: Consumer Attitudes and Acceptance in the United States
  The Smart Card Alliance commissioned an independent survey of consumer attitudes toward contactless payment devices in August, 2006. The survey, conducted by Javelin Strategy & Research, concluded that there is a large, untapped market for the use of these devices. This report summarizes the key findings of the market research. Download report. View full executive summary.

• Contactless Payments: Delivering Merchant and Consumer Benefits
  This Smart Card Alliance report describes the qualitative and quantitative benefits of contactless payments for merchants and consumers in the United States. Included in the report is a sample merchant business case for a quick-service restaurant implementing contactless payment. The report also provides guidance on the implementation impact and best practices for merchants upgrading point-of-sale systems to support contactless payment, and outlines key consumer and merchant issues. Download report. View full executive summary.

• Contactless Payments: Frequently Asked Questions
  This document was developed by the Smart Card Alliance Contactless and Mobile Payments Council to answer frequently-asked questions about contactless payments. Questions and answers include information about the market, contactless payment operation, signature waiver programs, merchant benefits and implementation, contactless payments security, form factors and card cost, future capabilities, and compliance with the EMV specification. Download FAQ. View full executive summary.

• Contactless Payments: Merchant ROI Model
  The Contactless and Mobile Payments Council Merchant Work Group created this Excel ROI model to assist merchants in calculating the return on investment for accepting contactless payments. The model, an example for a fast food restaurant are available. Download model. View model description.

• Contactless Payments Security Questions & Answers
  This document was developed by the Smart Card Alliance Contactless Payments Council to address questions raised by the media about contactless payment security. The questions and answers below apply only to contactless payment using contactless smart card technology, as implemented by American Express, MasterCard and Visa. Download Q&A. View full Q&A.

• Contactless Smart Chip Technology: The Business Benefits
  This briefing provides an overview of why businesses are implementing contactless smart chip technology in broadly different environments and applications both within the United States and around the world. Download briefing. View full briefing.

• EMV Chip Cards Expected for Upscale U.S. Cardholders
  The Smart Card Alliance developed this statement to comment on The Nilson Report prediction that most top U.S. issuers will have EMV-compliant [2] chip cards available to select customers by the end of 2010 and to recommend a course of action for issuers. Download statement. View statement.

• End-to-End Encryption and Chip Cards in the U.S. Payments Industry
  The Smart Card Alliance developed this position paper to present Smart Card Alliance perspectives on end-to-end encryption and to discuss how chip cards and dynamic cryptograms address card-based fraud. Download position paper. View position paper.

• Fraud in the U.S. Payments Industry: Fraud Mitigation and Prevention Measures in Use and Chip Card Technology Impact on Fraud.
  The Smart Card Alliance developed this white paper to discuss how changes to the U.S. and global payments infrastructure are expected to affect card-based fraud in the United States and how different technologies can address this fraud. The different approaches used by the U.S. payments industry to combat fraud are described, including both preventative measures and mitigating measures. The white paper also examines the opportunity presented by new technologies and processes, particularly chip card-based technologies and processes, to help mitigate card-based fraud losses. Download white paper. View executive summary.

• Hong Kong Octopus Card Profile
  This profile describes the Hong Kong Octopus card launched in 1997 as an electronic purse for public transportation. Download profile.

• Issuer and Merchant Best Practices: Promoting Contactless Payments Usage and Acceptance. The Smart Card Alliance Contactless and Mobile Payments Council developed this white paper to document issuer best practices for driving consumer awareness and use of contactless payments, and merchant best practices for driving consumer use and accepting contactless payments successfully at the point-of-sale (POS). This white paper provides practical guidance for the business and marketing staff at issuers and merchants to assist in enhancing or planning contactless payment initiatives. Download white paper. View executive summary.

• London Oyster Card Profile
  This profile describes the London Oyster Card program. Download profile.

• Planning for New Fare Payment and Collection Systems: Cost Considerations and Procurement Guidelines
  This white paper was developed by the Smart Card Alliance Transportation Council to present a conventional approach for planning, conducting a cost analysis, and procuring a new fare payment system or upgrading an existing system. Additionally, a cost model is presented that allows the user to input an agency’s current fare payment and fare collection costs and compare them to the costs for proposed alternative systems. The cost model is available as an Excel workbook and provides an interactive tool for agencies to use to assess different fare payment system alternatives. Download white paper. View full executive summary.

• Proximity Mobile Payments: Leveraging NFC and the Contactless Financial Payments Infrastructure
  This white paper was developed by the Smart Card Alliance Contactless and Mobile Payments Council to describe opportunities for proximity mobile payments using NFC-enabled mobile phones and devices and the contactless financial payments infrastructure. The white paper describes what is necessary to implement and deploy proximity mobile payment systems, discusses the relevant technical and business issues from the perspective of the various stakeholders (e.g., mobile operators, the financial industry, end-users, providers and vendors), and outlines the potential opportunities and barriers that may impact its market adoption. Download white paper. View full executive summary.

• Proximity Mobile Payments Business Scenarios: Research Report on Stakeholder Perspectives
  The Smart Card Alliance Contactless and Mobile Payments Council developed this report to document research conducted to assess industry stakeholder perspectives on the different business models that could be deployed for proximity mobile payments. The report contains the results of interviews with 21 leading stakeholders in the financial and mobile payments industries. Download report. View full executive summary.

• San Francisco Bay Area TransLink Profile
  This profile describes San Francisco Bay Area TransLink pilot. Download profile. View all profiles.

• Security of Proximity Mobile Payments.
  This white paper was developed to provide an overview of the ecosystem of proximity mobile payments. It introduces the stakeholders in the mobile payment ecosystem and describes their roles and responsibilities in assuring the security of sensitive data. It explains how the payment application, consumer credentials and consumer account information are securely delivered to, loaded on and stored in a mobile device. It explains how a mobile device transmits data to a merchant at the point of sale, identifies risks present during the lifecycle of the payment device, and suggests countermeasures. It also identifies industry standards and certifications organization organizations that address this ecosystem. Download white paper. View executive summary.

• Serving Unbanked Consumers in the Transit Industry with Prepaid Card
  The Smart Card Alliance Transportation Council developed this white paper to provide the transit and financial industries with an educational overview of the various methods available for providing and re-loading fare media to individuals who do not have credit or debit cards, nor checking or savings accounts, and generally lack relationships with traditional banking institutions. Download white paper. View full executive summary.

• Smart Cards and Parking
  This white paper was developed by the Smart Card Alliance Transportation Council to provide the parking industry with an overview of the technology and trends in the smart card marketplace and to provide the transit industry with an overview of the parking industry market and use of smart cards. Download white paper. View full executive summary.

• Transit and Contactless Financial Payment: New Opportunities for Collaboration and Convergence
  The Smart Card Alliance Transportation Council developed this white paper to discuss how the new financial and transit industry directions could impact transit industry fare payment. The white paper is intended to provide a framework for discussion of the opportunities and challenges in linking transit and financial payment and to present options for how standard contactless financial payment devices can be used for transit fare payment. Download white paper. View full executive summary.

• Transit and Retail Payment: Opportunities for Collaboration and Convergence
  Developed for decision-makers in transit agencies and potential transit agency partners, this report describes the potential opportunities for collaboration on a combined transit-retail payment card. The report discusses transit payment using contactless smart cards, the status of smart cards and contactless payment for financial/retail payment in the U.S., scenarios and opportunities for collaboration, and key considerations/issues for transit-retail payment convergence. The report includes profiles of several U.S. and international contactless transit smart card implementations that are extending the use of the smart card beyond transit payment to other applications. Download report. View full executive summary.

• Transit Payment System Cost Model
  The Smart Card Alliance Transportation Council Merchant created an Excel model to assist transit agencies in comparing costs of current and new transit payments systems. The model’s overall purpose is to provide a tool for transit agencies to examine the near- and long-term cost implications of purchasing new fare payment equipment and of adopting different technology alternatives. Download model.

• Transit Payment System Security
  The Smart Card Alliance Transportation Council developed this white paper to outline the approaches that the transit industry uses throughout payment systems to ensure the security of transactions and data and to discuss recent research on one contactless chip product that is used in many transit AFC systems. Download white paper. View full executive summary.

• Ventura County Transit Smart Card Profile
  This profile describes Ventura County Transit smart card. Download profile. View all profiles.

• Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA)–SmarTrip Profile
  This profile describes WMATA SmartTrip program. Download profile. View all profiles.

• What Makes a Smart Card Secure?
  This white paper was developed by the Smart Card Alliance Contactless and Mobile Payments Council Security Work Group to provide an overview of the security features available with contactless and contact smart cards and describe how the security features might apply or be important to different applications. Download report. View full executive summary.

• The What, Who and Why of Contactless Payments
  This white paper was developed by the Smart Card Alliance Contactless and Mobile Payments Council to describe the key changes associated with the use of contactless payments in North America, including the additional value such payments can provide to issuers, acquirers/processors, independent sales organizations (ISOs), retailers, and consumers. This paper is intended to facilitate communications among the various industry stakeholders by describing current market activities and standardizing definitions key to understanding contactless payments. Download white paper. View full executive summary.