Welcome to the October 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.

On November 12, CSI's Technical Director, Gerry Looby, has been invited to address a conference in Dublin entitled "Smart Cards in Business International". Gerry will be speaking on the subject of smart card multi-functionality.

The Smart Card Club in the UK has invited CSI's Managing Director, Aonghus Geraghty, to address their membership on November 18. Aonghus will be discussing CSI's experience with multi-function smart card systems worldwide and how CSI's CardBASE2000 has contributed to the success of these implementations.

Regards Sarah Flynn, Editor

TechWeb:
Smart Cards in the US - Banking & Health Care

According to an article by Kimberly Caisse of TechWeb, smart card technology acceptance in the US has been mainly hindered because of the size of the market and its decentralized nature. Deployment in the US should begin in vertical markets such as banking and health care, and Microsoft have stated that smart cards will need to be written into current applications, such as helping companies control security access to networks.

Eurodata:
European Phone Card Market Set to Grow Strongly

A new report from Eurodata predicts that the European telephone card market is set to grow to USD3.8 billion by the year 2000. This growth will include an increase in the volume of remote memory and smart cards. Simple disposable cards are set to lose market share from a current level of 98 percent to 76 percent by the turn of the century. According to Richard Cadman of Eurodata, "The market today is dominated by the traditional chip or magnetic stripe card, but this is changing fast as both smart cards and remote memory cards gain a substantial foothold."

TechWeb:
Smart Cards' Flexible Future

Smart cards are being touted as "a universal payment method" by technology vendors and financial institutions. "as portable as cash, more secure than credit cards and flexible enough to be used at both the shopping mall and the cybermall" smart cards are set to help overcome some of the many concerns about putting financial data online.

News.com:
Wireless Smart Cards at Florida State University

Using Gemplus smart cards and Motorola StarTAC digital phones, students at FSU are embarking on a four-month trial extension of their already existing campus smart card. The students will be able to purchase items and load e-cash over the phone onto smart cards, which will be fitted into the Motorola StarTACs.

Yahoo.news:
US Treasury begins Smart Card Test

The US Treasury and Veterans Affairs Departments have commenced a one-year pilot to test the use of stored value card technology. The smart card technology is expected to improve services to customers and employees, reduce government costs, and streamline federal operations. An estimate of 25,000 cards will be issued to test numerous applications including reloadable purses, ID and security access, and various card acceptance devices like vending machines.

Gemplus:
Gemplus Opens R&D Center in Canada

Gemplus has announced that it is opening a new R&D center in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The center will focus on the development of smart card operating systems and will support the implementation of smart card applications for customers in North and South America.

Farpoint:
Smart Card Gift Certificates

Soon smart card-based electronic gift certificates will be introduced to the retail market replacing existing paper-based systems. Holiday Companies of Minneapolis, which operates a chain of convenience stores and petrol stations throughout the Midwest, will roll out the system to about 250 locations in early 1998. The cards will be sold to Holiday customers as "gift certificates" that can be used to purchase petrol and convenience store items.

News.com:
Visa & Bank of America test Smart Cards

Bank of America and Visa have joined together to test a VisaCash card containing two chips. BofA employees in San Francisco will be testing these cards which will combine reloadable payment functions and secure PC access with contactless building and parking access. Multi-function cards, such as these, will be the key to smart card adoption, Industry analysts suggest.

Techweb.com:
Smart Cards hit New York

New York's two biggest banks along with Visa and MasterCard have begun the largest US smart card test to date. The pilot, set to last 6 months, will result in 25,000 reloadable cards being distributed, which may be used at over 675 merchants. The purpose of this test is to establish how well consumers and merchants will change from using cash for smaller purchases to using a smart card.

Gemplus:
Gemplus Introduces 32-bit Smart Card

Gemplus has announced that 8-bit microprocessors could soon be a thing of the past as they have introduced the first ever 32-bit based smart card. According to Gemplus, "this step represents the starting point of a new age for the smartcard, enabling it to be a powerful component in multi-tier and web-based applications".

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