Welcome to the December/January issue of CSI-Digest. The primary objective of this newsletter is to keep you informed of major global smart card industry developments on a monthly basis.

We will also let you know, where in the world you can meet with us, and will update you on any news relating to CSI.

CSI is currently recruiting Software Developers. If you are interested or know somebody who would be, full details are available below.

We are also pleased to announce that our web site has been chosen for the final judging round of the Irish Business Web Site Awards.

The website awards are sponsored by Digital, The Sunday Business Post, and Kompass Ireland. The overall aim of the awards is to encourage, promote and reward Irish businesses for the effectiveness of their Internet presence.

Some comments made by the judges were as follows;

"A clear and logical single-level drill-down leads to interesting and relevant information."

"This corporate site loads quickly and manages to avoid the pitfalls of unattractive fonts, messy graphics and gratuitous photo content."

CSI is very pleased with this nomination, and is working hard to ensure the continual delivery of a first class web service.

Thank you for subscribing to CSI-Digest.

Regards
Sarah Flynn, Editor

Frost & Sullivan:
US Calling Card Market to grow to USD22.7 billion by 2003

The US Operator Services and Calling Card Markets are expected to grow from USD14.5 billion in 1996 to USD22.7 billion in 2003 which represents an annual compound growth rate of 6.7 percent. This is according to a recent report from Frost & Sullivan, which examines how the market is being revitalized by prepaid calling cards and "higher technology" smart cards.

Gemplus:
Global Volume of Smart Cards to reach over 6 billion by 2003

Gemplus have concluded in a recent study that by the year 2003, there will be one smart card per inhabitant on this Earth. According to Daniel Le Gal, "It's incredible to compare this data with the Earth population. In 1989 the average rate of smart card per inhabitant was 1 smart card for 100 people, 7 years later, in 1996, it was 1 smart card for ten people, within 7 years, in 2003, it will be 1 card for 1 person. The market is still lying ahead of us."

Newsbytes:
Asia's Share of the Smart Card Market to Triple

According to recent studies, Asia's share of the smart card market will triple to 30 percent by the year 2000. Growth in usage of mobile phones and payphones in the region will fuel the development of the industry, which is set to expand to four billion cards by the year 2000.

Yahoo News:
Online Bill Payment to Grow

At a recent conference on Retail Delivery, Wells Fargo Chairman & Chief Executive Paul Hazen stated that they believed the next big change to be the smart card. According to Hazen "Smart cards allow consumers to load a cash value to make small purchases in addition to serving as traditional credit cards. The cash can be added at ATMs and systems are being developed to let consumers load cash at home through personal computers".

News.com:
Verifone furthers online payments strategy

Verifone has announced that it is partnering with Canada's Northern Telecom (NT) to create screen phones with in-built smart-card readers. Consumer trials are expected to commence early next year, most likely involving multiple uses of a smart card.

NCR:
New Smart ATM from NCR

NCR and CIBC have joined together to test a new smart ATM for consumers. By using a smart card with these terminals, consumers will be able to check movie listings and purchase tickets, purchase concert tickets and bus passes.

Visa:
Visa to Pilot Business to Business SET in Malaysia

Visa will commence, over the next nine months, an electronic commerce pilot in Malaysia as part of Malaysia's Multimedia Super Corridor initiative. The project will use the SET Secure Electronic Transaction protocol in both consumer and business to business applications on the Internet. At the launch in Kuala Lumpur, a demonstration of the use of chip cards for secure Internet purchasing took place. This demonstrated how one of the other major initiatives of the MSC, the plan to put chip cards in the hands of all Malaysians, will converge with the SET 1.0 protocol to allow complete mobility in secure Internet shopping.

Visa:
30,000 Visa Cardholders in Japan Receive Multi-Function Smart Cards

Smart Commerce Japan, a consortium, of Visa International and other companies sponsored by the Japanese Government, have introduced an extensive smart card program in Kobe. Nearly 30,000 Visa cardholders have received multi-function smart cards, which will enable them to access more information and become their key to a wide range of financial and non-financial services. This is the world's largest launch of Visa chip-based credit cards.

Sun Microsystems:
Sun Microsystems & Visa to jointly promote Java based Smart Cards

Reinforcing their support for Java based smart card technology, Visa and Sun have announced that they are to jointly promote Java-based smart card processors. Visa envisages the introduction of Java Cards by mid 1998, therefore offering organizations such as banks, and financial institutions, increased performance and security capabilities while lowering the overall chip cost.

Gemplus:
Gemplus Granted Full Mondex Accreditation

Gemplus has announced that it has been granted full accreditation by Mondex International Ltd to perform application loading, enablement, and customization of smart cards for Mondex members. The Shakopee site, in keeping with Mondex accreditation requirements, must adhere to strict production procedures and meet special security standards.

Yahoo News:
PC/SC Workgroup Release 1.0 Version of Specifications

The PC/SC workgroup, a collaborative effort of leading international personal computer and smart card companies united to integrate their technologies under common standards, have released version 1.0 of the PC/SC specifications, allowing broad integration of smart card benefits into the Personal Computer. The smart card provides security and user-friendly portability for information, payment, and secure network access, while the PC/SC specification leads to lower costs and increased choice by offering interoperability among the many smart card product offerings from multiple vendors.

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