SmartCard

A SmartCard is a card similar in size to today’s plastic payment card that has a chip embedded in it. By adding a chip to the card, it becomes a SmartCard with power to serve many different uses. As acces control devices, SmartCards make personal and business data available only to the appropriate users. Another application provides users with the ability to make a purchase or exchange value. SmartCards provide data portability, security and convenience. SmartCards help business evolve and expand their products and services in a changing global marketplace. Banks, Telecommunication groups, computer software and hardware companies, and airlines all have the opportunity to tailor their card products and services to better differentiate their offerings and brands. The combination of applications available on SmartCards also may help them to develop closer relationships with their customers.
Today there are fewer than one billion SmartCards in use. Market researcher Dataquest forecasts that by the year 2005 more then 6 billion SmartCards will be used world-wide. SmartCard activities are growing at 30% a year, predominately in Europe and South East Asia. Over the next five years, the industry will experience steady growth, particularly in cards and devices to conduct electronic commerce and to enable secure access to computer networks. Within the same time frame, SmartCards are expected to be used in 95% of digital wireless phone services offered world-wide. Asia, Latin America and North America are areas believed to be of greatest potential in the next three years. Globally, the uses that have emerged so far are for payphones, wireless telephony, Internet access, banking, healthcare and pay TV.