Access Control
& Security Systems

Most smart card shipments are for contact smart cards; however, contactless technology promises to add new applications and markets that will further accelerate the growth of the industry, Smart Card Alliance outgoing chairman Paul Beverly said at the group's fall conference last month.
"In 2003 alone our industry will ship more than 70 million smart cards to the United States and Canada, and the outlook for growth has never been brighter," he added. "Convenience and security are catching the attention of consumers. At the same time, U.S. card issuers from many market sectors are rapidly adding a range of value-added services to multi-application smart cards."
Here are some other issues highlighted at the conference:

• Many U.S. transit operators in urban areas are implementing smart card-based fare ticketing systems, creating a single, fast and convenient ticket."


• With more than 30 million Americans carrying smart card-equipped mobile phones, wireless is the largest sector for smart cards in the U.S. market.


• Corporate employees on the move, both physically and logically, are increasingly likely to use a smart card in their day-to-day activity. At the Alliance meeting, Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Sun all presented their smart card-based corporate ID credential programs.


• Contactless RF technology was a big focus in the presentations and panels discussing retail payment. David Owen, principal, U.S. Financial Services for Booz Allen Hamilton, estimates that more that 20 million U.S. households are already using RF-based payment systems, of which 75 percent are RF toll transponders.

This month in Access Control

• Targeting The Customer
• Electronic Pedigrees
• One Hero Among Many
• Who? What? When? Where? Why?
• More from September's issue