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Wasabi trials contactless payment system
NEWS development in our fight against the organised criminal gangs responsible for this type of fraud. To date, compromised chip and PIN terminals have been found in less than 30 retail outlets throughout the UK. Together with the banking and retail industries we are working to ensure this figure is minimised. We are sending a very clear warning to fraudsters these crimes will not be tolerated, and that we will continue to target them and disrupt their fraudulent activity.” Equipment needed to steal card details and make counterfeit cards on a massive scale – including stolen chip and PIN terminals, card account numbers, a card reader/writer, computer software and fake magnetic stripe cards – was found in the premises. Early indications are that these criminals have been tampering with retailers’ chip and PIN terminals in order to steal card transaction data and PINs from these machines. With these details, criminals are able to create fake magnetic stripe cards that can be used fraudulently in countries that have yet to roll out chip and PIN. This type of fraud – fraud abroad – increased 77% last year, totalling £207.6 million. The DCPCU was launched on 29 April 2002 as a two-year pilot. Following the successful conclusion of this trial, it was established as a permanent Unit – a funding commitment of £3m per year by the banking industry – with an ongoing brief to help stamp out organised card and cheque fraud. Since its inception, the DCPCU has been responsible for more than £230 million in savings from reduced fraud activity and has recovered more than 244,000 counterfeit cards and card numbers.
contactless
Wasabi trials contactless payment system
S
ushi firm Wasabi is piloting a fully integrated contactless payment system. Customers can now make payments in less than half a second at the Japanese restaurant chain, which previously operated on a cash-only basis. The new payment system allows Wasabi to offer its customers a fast and convenient ‘wave and pay’ method of payment on all transactions of £10 and under. On average, around 7,500 people per week visit Wasabi on Oxford Street, with an average spend of £8.00, so the restaurant is “ideally positioned to benefit from the technology”. Cardholders simply need to touch their card against the reader instead of entering a PIN or signing. A total of 16 terminals are being trialled for four weeks in two of Wasabi’s busiest locations, Canary Wharf and Oxford Street.
September 2008
Lester Sharpe, Operations Manager for Wasabi said: “All of our outlets are situated in prime, heavy footfall locations and consequently the need for a fast, smooth running solution was paramount. The feedback from both shop staff and customers has been very positive and already we are planning on extending the Contactless solution to at least four more high profile sites. We have already seen a 24% increase in credit card payments.” It is predicted that by the end of 2011, 70% of debit cards and 45% of credit cards are expected to be contactless-enabled in the UK.
statistics
Smart card numbers to hit 7 billion in 2009
N
ew research has found that by the end of next year there will be more smart cards than people on the planet. IMS Research’s latest report on the smart card market projects that the installed base of smart cards is forecast to surpass the world’s population during 2009, meaning that on average each person on the planet will be in possession of more than one smart card. From relatively humble beginnings in 1983, it has taken 25 years for the smart card installed base to approach the level where, on average, everyone has at least one, IMS said. By the end of 2009 the installed base is projected to have passed the 7 billion level, a level the global population won’t reach until 2011. Furthermore, whereas previously smart card use was concentrated in specific markets and countries, the growing breadth of applications the market now addresses means that the use of smart cards is more widespread geographically than ever before. “By far, for most of us, the most likely reason we own a smart card is for use within our cellular handsets, in the form of a SIM card. Not all handsets require them, but an estimated 2.7 billion did at the end of last year,” stated Alex Green, the author of IMS Research’s annual Smart Card and Semiconductors in Smart Cards report. “The other two sectors that are forecast to aid the cellular market in driving the card installed base past 7 billion are the banking sector and the government/health sector, the installed bases of which are both projected to pass the 1 billion level this year. Additionally both are forecast to continue growing significantly, as banks look to improve security and reduce fraud and as governments roll out large national infrastructure projects that utilise smart cards. Typical examples of the latter are
IN BRIEF • Artemis Solutions Group (ASG) was one of a number of companies who provided advanced identification technology for the recent Olympic Games in Beijing. The company’s BioCert Aegis ID system was used to help prevent unauthorized access at the Olympic Reunion Center, a location which gives Olympians from prior Olympic Games, and VIP guests a meeting place on-site during the Olympics where they can enjoy live feeds of events and refreshments. As each attendee arrived at the ORC they were issued a secure Smart Card ID which allowed them to validate their identity for access to the venue. This secure ID card incorporated an integrated chip which contained all of the information about the identity of the individual and their ability to access the facility and was designed to incorporate a biometric profile. • On Track Innovations (OTI) has announced that it has been awarded the contract to supply its contactless card readers to the ERG Group for Utah Transit Authority´s (UTA) contactless credit card bus payment solution. The contract for the full rollout of the system in the Salt Lake City area follows a successful pilot project completed by ERG and UTA where buses serving Salt Lake City area ski resorts were equipped with the new system which allowed customers to use contactless credit cards and other smart cards for both transit payment and ski resort access. OTI is supplying the front-end solutions, including readers and its proprietary software, to support ISO 14443 proximity payments and ISO 15396 vicinity payments. • L-1 Identity Solutions has closed its tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of Digimarc Corporation and completed its acquisition of Digimarc´s ID systems business. Through the extended offering period, L-1 purchased 22,093,169 shares of Digimarc common stock, representing approximately 88.37 percent of the outstanding shares of Digimarc. L-1 exercised its option to purchase newly-issued shares of Digimarc common stock directly from Digimarc in order to acquire at least 90 percent of the outstanding shares and effect a “short-form” merger. Immediately following the merger Digimarc became a whollyowned subsidiary of L-1 and changed its name to L-1 Secure Credentialing. • VASCO Data Security has announced the launch of Digipass 810 for the Asian markets. The company’s Smart Card CAP reader has been upgraded and redesigned to accommodate Asian character sets, as long as they can be represented in a 80X14 dot matrix line. This way VASCO enables its Asian retail banking customers to offer their end-users a stand alone EMV-CAP E compliant card reader with e-signature capability.
Card Technology Today
5
contactless
Wasabi trials contactless payment system
S
ushi firm Wasabi is piloting a fully integrated contactless payment system. Customers can now make payments in less than half a second at the Japanese restaurant chain, which previously operated on a cash-only basis. The new payment system allows Wasabi to offer its customers a fast and convenient ‘wave and pay’ method of payment on all transactions of £10 and under. On average, around 7,500 people per week visit Wasabi on Oxford Street, with an average spend of £8.00, so the restaurant is “ideally positioned to benefit from the technology”. Cardholders simply need to touch their card against the reader instead of entering a PIN or signing. A total of 16 terminals are being trialled for four weeks in two of Wasabi’s busiest locations, Canary Wharf and Oxford Street.
September 2008
Lester Sharpe, Operations Manager for Wasabi said: “All of our outlets are situated in prime, heavy footfall locations and consequently the need for a fast, smooth running solution was paramount. The feedback from both shop staff and customers has been very positive and already we are planning on extending the Contactless solution to at least four more high profile sites. We have already seen a 24% increase in credit card payments.” It is predicted that by the end of 2011, 70% of debit cards and 45% of credit cards are expected to be contactless-enabled in the UK.
statistics
Smart card numbers to hit 7 billion in 2009
N
ew research has found that by the end of next year there will be more smart cards than people on the planet. IMS Research’s latest report on the smart card market projects that the installed base of smart cards is forecast to surpass the world’s population during 2009, meaning that on average each person on the planet will be in possession of more than one smart card. From relatively humble beginnings in 1983, it has taken 25 years for the smart card installed base to approach the level where, on average, everyone has at least one, IMS said. By the end of 2009 the installed base is projected to have passed the 7 billion level, a level the global population won’t reach until 2011. Furthermore, whereas previously smart card use was concentrated in specific markets and countries, the growing breadth of applications the market now addresses means that the use of smart cards is more widespread geographically than ever before. “By far, for most of us, the most likely reason we own a smart card is for use within our cellular handsets, in the form of a SIM card. Not all handsets require them, but an estimated 2.7 billion did at the end of last year,” stated Alex Green, the author of IMS Research’s annual Smart Card and Semiconductors in Smart Cards report. “The other two sectors that are forecast to aid the cellular market in driving the card installed base past 7 billion are the banking sector and the government/health sector, the installed bases of which are both projected to pass the 1 billion level this year. Additionally both are forecast to continue growing significantly, as banks look to improve security and reduce fraud and as governments roll out large national infrastructure projects that utilise smart cards. Typical examples of the latter are
IN BRIEF • Artemis Solutions Group (ASG) was one of a number of companies who provided advanced identification technology for the recent Olympic Games in Beijing. The company’s BioCert Aegis ID system was used to help prevent unauthorized access at the Olympic Reunion Center, a location which gives Olympians from prior Olympic Games, and VIP guests a meeting place on-site during the Olympics where they can enjoy live feeds of events and refreshments. As each attendee arrived at the ORC they were issued a secure Smart Card ID which allowed them to validate their identity for access to the venue. This secure ID card incorporated an integrated chip which contained all of the information about the identity of the individual and their ability to access the facility and was designed to incorporate a biometric profile. • On Track Innovations (OTI) has announced that it has been awarded the contract to supply its contactless card readers to the ERG Group for Utah Transit Authority´s (UTA) contactless credit card bus payment solution. The contract for the full rollout of the system in the Salt Lake City area follows a successful pilot project completed by ERG and UTA where buses serving Salt Lake City area ski resorts were equipped with the new system which allowed customers to use contactless credit cards and other smart cards for both transit payment and ski resort access. OTI is supplying the front-end solutions, including readers and its proprietary software, to support ISO 14443 proximity payments and ISO 15396 vicinity payments. • L-1 Identity Solutions has closed its tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of Digimarc Corporation and completed its acquisition of Digimarc´s ID systems business. Through the extended offering period, L-1 purchased 22,093,169 shares of Digimarc common stock, representing approximately 88.37 percent of the outstanding shares of Digimarc. L-1 exercised its option to purchase newly-issued shares of Digimarc common stock directly from Digimarc in order to acquire at least 90 percent of the outstanding shares and effect a “short-form” merger. Immediately following the merger Digimarc became a whollyowned subsidiary of L-1 and changed its name to L-1 Secure Credentialing. • VASCO Data Security has announced the launch of Digipass 810 for the Asian markets. The company’s Smart Card CAP reader has been upgraded and redesigned to accommodate Asian character sets, as long as they can be represented in a 80X14 dot matrix line. This way VASCO enables its Asian retail banking customers to offer their end-users a stand alone EMV-CAP E compliant card reader with e-signature capability.
Card Technology Today
5