Contact Less Smart Card Orders
Smart cards became available during the 1960s following demands from users frustrated by swipe card technology.
This new form of identification offered intolerance to moisture, could be read by a smart card reader no matter what the orientation, and was infinitely more secure than any other device on the market.
In the last few weeks alone, orders for well over $100 million of contact less (ie RFID) smart cards and associated systems have been placed.
The business is surging forward with the percentage of smart cards that are contact less rising to 16% of deliveries in 2007 after having been stuck at around 5% for the preceding twenty years.
One can even foresee the day when those buying smart cards with contacts will be asked to explain themselves. So, the question has to be asked… why use it?
The lame reply about having the old infrastructure and not being able to afford the contact less one is the nearest to a valid excuse. A high proportion of new purchasers now seek the lower cost of ownership and the user friendliness of contact less cards and the orders are flooding in.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
A case in point involves the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, who have awarded a $11.58 million contract modification to Cubic Transportation Systems Inc to implement software and technology upgrades merging the Metropolitan Area rail, park-and-ride and regional bus systems through a common smart card and a centralized transaction processing and reporting back-office system.
Enhancements will include new contact less card readers at all Metro subway and parking facilities, expanding the SmarTrip regional smart card system. The upgrades will increase efficiency and save the agency millions of dollars in annual operating costs.
Credit, Debit, Account and Store Cards
The success of contact less card payments in the USA in 2006 was been such that Visa described its Visa Contactless product as “one of the most rapidly adopted payment innovations in Visa history”.
Since contact less bank card payments were first introduced in earnest in 2004, over 13 million MasterCard, Visa and American Express-branded cards have been issued, and can be accepted at over 30,000 US merchant locations.
Tensor Smart Cards
Tensor Time Systems Inc have long advocated the use of smart card technology within time and attendance and access control systems. With a read range that is unaffected by most external conditions, we have found that the Tensor range of smart card scanners can successfully operate within even the most exposed environment.
If you’re looking to implement smart card technology within your organisation, you may wish to consider a system from Tensor – the leading provider of smart card security systems in the US.
