Multi-application and hybrid smart cards among the top three trends for global contactless smart cards in banking, research suggests
Emergence of multi-application smart cards, introduction of hybrid smart cards and the increased adoption of electronic purses will be the top three emerging trends for the global contactless smart cards market in the banking sector until 2020, recent research from Techavio has been able to find.
Multi-application smart cards have shared storage and information processing. They have the ability to perform multiple applications such as access control, verification, and identification of an individual.
Hybrid smart cards come with a dual-interface, a combination of contactless and contact interfaces, on a single card. Such cards have shared storage and processing of information, thus eliminating the need to carry multiple cards. Hybrid smart card authentication requires smart card middleware, a smart card, a smart card reader, and a smart card PIN. As data and information can be consolidated on one smart card, it provides ease of handling. The availability of hybrid cards will lead to the increased adoption of contactless smart cards, which will support further market growth until 2020.
An electronic purse is a contactless payment card that can replace the use of currency while making monetary transactions. These cards are issued by banks and are preloaded with monetary funds. Electronic purses can be swiped at merchant POS systems and the value of the transaction is deducted from the card. Monetary funds can be transferred to the payment card using an ATM or via net banking. These cards help make quick monetary transactions.
“One of the major drivers in the market is the need for a tamper-resistant information storage system. Cards embedded with magnetic tapes only store information about end-users’ accounts. These cards can be easily tampered with, which can result in loss of information or data. This also increases the chances of identity theft. However, contactless smart cards are tamper resistant as information stored on them can only be accessed with a PIN, which is difficult to decode,” said Amrita Choudhury, one of Technavio’s lead industry analysts for enterprise application.
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