Paris may be better known as the city of romance but every year thousands of the industry’s movers and shakers descend upon the French capital for a different reason – The Cartes and Identification show. This year the international trade show, now in it’s 23rd year, focuses upon Contact less payment, convergence, data and transaction security, sustainable development, and of course NFC. With Barack Obama’s appointment to the White House the talk of the town, it seemed fitting that the United States were the 2008 guests of honour. The USA is particularly advanced in their deployment of applications such as electronic documents and payment cards. Having understood the potential of smartcards in the field of security and access control, the United States were the first in the world to have adopted contact less payment using a chip capable of emulating the magnetic strip of their traditional bank cards. The Americans certainly put their mark on the 2008 show, with over fifty exhibitors including the likes of Smartcard Alliance, Sagem, Verifone, Hypercom, and ABnote making the trip across the pond.In response to increased environmental awareness, a fresh impetus was placed upon sustainable technology as the Cartes show turned a considerable shade of green. As well as an international summit, hosted by the market leaders, the event made a special effort to reduce their ecological impact. This included access badges in recycled PVC, Visitor bags made with organic material, recycling points and eco stands in the heart of exhibition hall. The industry were also keen to get involved with ABnote introducing it’s biodegradable card, Inteligensa providing PET – recycled cards, and SafeNet launching a PIN issuance innovation that totally eliminates paper-based pin mailers. Equally encouraging, World leaders Oberthur Technologies signed the United Nations Global Compact while Gemalto revealed they had cut carbon emissions by 70%. The Parisian transport workers almost got in on the ‘green’ act too. Their proposed rail strikes (which didn’t really materialize) might have forced some of the event-goers to travel by bike or foot to Villepinte!
It’s a tough call for businesses, desperate to ensure profitability and do their bit for the environment, thus maintaining relations with the global community. Frankly, going green creates a sizeable headache for the industry. While it offers an opportunity to implement efficiencies that will bring economic and eco-friendly benefits to businesses in the long term, it will involve short term additional costs – something that the fickle consumer is unlikely to accept with open arms.
Also on the agenda was the return of the Identification trade show, dedicated to security-related technologies and biometrics, and the Smart Devices Exposition – a newcomer to the event. The exposition enabled spectators to discover a selection of visionary objects enabling contact less performance. These included watches, tokens, bracelets, USB sticks and key rings to name a few. And lest we not forget the NFC Zone, set up in partnership with the NFC forum. It feels like NFC has been around for ages and appears, dare I say it, a little bit stagnant. While the industry continues to plug the technology and heap praise upon its capabilities, NFC is still plagued by standardization and usage issues. At Cartes, it was the case of the same old story. Barclaycard UK’s Richard Mould said, “as far as we’re concerned NFC and contact less technology is here to stay. It’s not a trial it’s an inevitability.” Patrick Sure from ASK emphasized the “market need in the UK” for NFC. But is there really a market need? Tier 1 merchants seem reluctant to adopt the technology and outside of the South-East (where contact less trials were conducted) NFC-enabled readers are practically non-existent.
Mould described it as a catch-22 situation. “Merchants don’t want to adapt technology until a substantial amount of customers have NFC capabilities on their mobiles or
contact less capabilities on their cards. But customers won’t require NFC-enabled mobile devices until they actually have somewhere to use it.”
If NFC is to reach the mainstream, it’s vital that players in the industry combine to expand the contact less infrastructure and also to drive usage. On a financial level it makes perfect sense – the unit cost of regular card transactions are higher compared with NFC or contact less transactions. Of course, the real question is whether retailers and businesses can afford to meddle with unfamiliar technologies in the current economic climate. Ask the majority of merchants hit by the credit crunch, and regaining a short-term profit takes precedence over any long term plans, regardless of how beneficial NFC may prove to be.
On a more positive note, there were a multitude of new and exciting products on display, changing the face of traditional applications such as payment, ticketing and access control with wireless and contact less innovations. Weneo launched ‘Neowave’ a mass storage, highly-secure USB key with e-banking, loyalty and ticketing functionalities. Oberthur Technologies introduced ‘CardBlade’ a data-encrypted USB interface providing a physical access control for transport or banking. Gemalto revealed its e-travel operating system – a large capacity microprocessor boasting 100% interoperability with passport technology. Barclaycard introduced ‘Onepulse’ a combined credit and oyster card for London’s commuters. Samsung launched ‘SWP mobile payment’ an S3FS91J IC specific offering consumers increased personal data security and user authentication reliability. Sagem displayed their A-GPS SIM, the world’s first assisted GPS SIM card forming a network –assisted receiver.
ABnote promoted their ‘smart transaction watch’ a contact less multi-application device. Frederich Tupy of ABnote said, “Watches are won – not carried, so they are literally on hand and as a result are easily accessible. The watch face represents ten times the exposure to the cardholder compared with their card and can be used for banking, transit and prepaid transactions.” Another US based company; security specialists HID revealed their contact less inlay for ID cards. HID’s Apryl Erickson told me, “The product uses the thinnest most secure prelaminate technology, as well as the most secure crack prevention technology. Best of all, the inlay is totally compliant with all relevant industry standards.”
Dutch giants NXP Semiconductors introduced their contact less, Java based ‘SmartMX’. Dominique Brule said, “SmartMX meets the needs of high-volume, multi-application markets such as banking cards, SIM cards, and public transportation.” Closer to home, Scottish based Ecebs launched the ‘ACIS ticketing solutions unit’, a touch sensitive display screen for rail, or bus information. The device has proved so successful that Cambridge shire Council is currently piloting the technology across the county. Ecebs Research and Development engineer Stephen Mcspadden said, “The solution offers the integration of real time information systems and smart ticketing. It has benefits for transport authorities and the traveling public.”
In the last three years, the Cartes show has experienced a 33% growth, the event continues to drive innovations and enable attendees to discover new technologies. Contact less and security markets are currently experiencing strong development with e-commerce and pre-payments gaining momentum. This has encouraged major players to work together across a number of sectors, increasing convergence and the adaptation of businesses. The industry landscape is rapidly changing, and Cartes has proved that the card market has plenty to fear - and look forward too.
(Smartcard News Ltd, 2008)
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